Illusion
Projects Director
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Reports to: Company Directors Direct reports: Senior Project Managers, Project Managers (currently six), plus freelance project resource as required Key relationships: Technical Director, Production Director, Client Services Director, Internal Operations Director Seniority: Member of the Senior Leadership Team
The Projects Director owns project delivery at Illusion: that jobs land on time, on budget, and at the margin they were quoted at. That is the thrust of the role and the measure of it.
You will lead a team of six project managers delivering complex work across theatre, live events, exhibitions, themed experiences and attractions, brand activations and fit-out - jobs ranging from £20k to well over £2m, often running concurrently and often to immovable public dates.
You will be accountable for the commercial performance of every live job, and for building genuine commercial discipline across the team: margin understood, variations priced, change controlled, and problems surfaced while they can still be solved rather than after the money has gone.
This is a role for someone who builds routines and keeps them running. Illusion is a business with real creative and technical strength and a loyal, long-serving team; what it wants from this appointment is consistency - reporting that happens every week, reviews that happen every job, and a project management function that a director does not have to step into.
You will also inherit our delivery platform: an in-house system covering timesheets, resource planning and deliverables tracking, which will be largely rolled out by the time you arrive. Embedding it, keeping it genuinely used, and developing it from there is part of the job rather than an addition to it.
Accountability and responsibility
Accountable for - the buck stops here
- Delivery. Every live job landing on time, on budget and at the margin it was quoted at.
- Job margin. Gross margin on live work, and each project manager's accountability for their own jobs.
- The project management team. Resourcing, capacity, performance, development, recruitment and structure.
- Commercial control on live work. Subcontractor terms, variations and change control.
- The delivery platform. Project tracking, reporting, the deliverables list and the system behind them.
Responsible, with others, for
- The client relationship. Owned by the Client Services Director, who stays involved across the whole lifecycle. You are responsible for the delivery half of it - programme, progress, change and sign-off - and for the client's confidence while a job is live.
- The master production schedule. Owned by the Production Director. You are responsible for giving it project programmes it can actually be built against, and for resolving conflicts with them directly.
- Technical standards and drawing release. Owned by the Technical Director. You are responsible for respecting them and for building programme around them rather than against them.
- Company reporting discipline. Owned by the Internal Operations Director. You are responsible for the quality of the project data that feeds it.
Key responsibilities
Project delivery
- Oversee multiple complex projects simultaneously, across a broad mix of sectors and scales
- Own the project programme for every live job, held against the master production schedule agreed with the Production Director
- Manage resource allocation and capacity planning across the project management team, including booking and managing freelance project and design resource as required
- Implement and maintain effective project tracking, reporting and financial control
- Own project risk management, including early escalation of jobs going wrong
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Commercial accountability
- The area needing the most development, and the clearest test of the role.
- Hold each project manager accountable for the gross margin of their own jobs. This does not happen consistently today, and changing it is the single most important thing this appointment is for. Build the routine, and make it stick through the busy months as well as the quiet ones.
- Run a weekly job-level financial review: the SimPro report taken to the Monday morning meeting, with the status and margin position of every live job discussed, so variances are caught during a job rather than at the end of it
- Make margin performance a standing item in every project manager's objectives and reviews
- Build commercial literacy across the team: cost control, valuation of variations, and the discipline of pricing changes rather than absorbing them
- Ensure milestone and client sign-off timelines are issued alongside every quote and enforced during delivery
- Ensure every significant job is debriefed as routine, with findings recorded and applied to the next job of that type
Systems, data and AI
- Own the delivery platform - timesheets, resource planning and the deliverables list - inheriting it on arrival, embedding it across the team and developing it from there
- Ensure freelance engagement follows the agreed booking, timesheet and payment process, so labour is coded correctly and people are paid promptly
- Ensure the quality assurance process is used as intended on live jobs, so that what is built is documented correctly
- Contribute to AI-assisted estimating as it matures, ensuring quoted assumptions and actual outturn are captured as usable data
- Apply automation to reduce administrative load across project management, within the company's AI usage policy
Client delivery
- Ensure client requirements are understood, interpreted and communicated accurately to production and technical teams
- Own delivery communication with the client on live jobs: programme, progress, change and sign-off
- Support pitches and bids with delivery and programme input, with the Client Services Director leading the relationship
Team leadership
- Lead, develop and recruit the project management team
- Manage performance and development of direct reports, prioritising commercial capability
- Build strong working relationships with Technical, Production, Client Services and Internal Operations
- Contribute to Senior Leadership Team decisions as the delivery voice in the room
The job in practice
An indicative operating rhythm rather than a prescription - but the cadence matters more than the detail, and a candidate should recognise this shape.
What this looks like
Daily
- Morning check on live jobs and anything that moved overnight. Decisions that project managers need to unblock them. On site or in the workshop where a job needs you.
Weekly
- The Monday morning meeting: SimPro report reviewed, status and margin of every live job discussed. Programme held against the master production schedule with the Production Director. Change and variation sign-off. Forward look at resourcing pinch points and freelance bookings.
Monthly
- One-to-ones with each project manager. Forecast outturn reviewed job by job, with a recovery plan where a job is drifting. Reporting into the SLT and delivery input to the board pack.
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Per job
- Kick-off with milestone and sign-off timeline agreed and issued. Mid-job commercial checkpoint. Debrief at completion, recorded and circulated.
Quarterly
- Team capacity and structure review. Objectives and development reviews. Delivery performance assessed against target and the year to date.
Ongoing
- Embedding and improving the delivery platform. Recruitment into the team and growth of the freelance pool. Process and template development.
Skills and experience
Essential
- Experience leading a team of Senior project managers within bespoke construction, fit-out or production - 5+ years at a senior level
- A demonstrable track record of holding a team accountable to commercial targets, not simply managing budgets personally
- Evidence of building reporting or review routines that survived a sustained busy period
- Strong commercial control: budgets, margin, variations, change control and cash
- Resource and capacity planning across concurrent projects, including freelance resource
- Confidence having direct conversations about performance, and following them through
- Comfort with delivery systems and data, and an appetite to drive digital adoption
Desirable
- Experience in scenic construction, exhibitions, themed attractions, events or high-end fit-out
- Exposure to AI or automation applied to estimating, reporting or project administration
- Enough technical literacy to interrogate a programme and a build sequence - though technical approval sits with the Technical Director
Personal
- Excellent organisational skills and strong interpersonal abilities
- Able to work effectively under pressure in a fast-paced environment
- Able to work autonomously, taking responsibility for your own work and that of your team
- Pride and attention to detail in the work that you do
What success looks like
First six months
- The weekly job review running without fail, with every project manager able to state the current margin position on their own jobs
- Gross margin reported reliably at job level
- Milestone and sign-off timelines issued alongside every quote and enforced in delivery
- Debriefs happening as routine rather than on request
- Established as the first point of contact for delivery questions across the business
First twelve months
- Gross profit percentage improved measurably against the prior year and tracking toward target
- A marked reduction in delivery decisions escalating to the Company Directors
- The delivery platform embedded across the projects function, with resource planning and deliverables live and genuinely used
- Team capability developed, with succession identified for at least one senior role
- Effective working relationships established with Technical, Production and Client Services
Location & Package
- Location: Illusion Design & Construct Ltd, Unit 8A, Fishers Way, Belvedere, DA17 6BS
- Competitive salary based on experience
- Performance-based bonus scheme
- 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Opportunities for training and career advancement
- Occasional travel and out-of-hours work
Our Commitment to Inclusion
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone is treated with respect. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and will provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and employment where appropriate.
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