Senior Construction Manager

About the Role

Originally named Great British Nuclear, Great British Energy - Nuclear is an arm’s length body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, dedicated to supporting the development and deployment of new nuclear technologies in Great Britain. We play a crucial role in advancing nuclear new build, ensuring the UK’s energy security and achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Great British Energy - Nuclear focuses on fostering innovation, facilitating investment, and coordinating efforts across the nuclear industry to build a resilient and sustainable energy future.

Great British Energy - Nuclear is aiming to deliver fast, based on a supportive and collaborative culture which values equality and diversity and creates an inclusive workplace. We draw on deep nuclear expertise – our Executive Committee has over 100 years of nuclear experience at home and abroad. GBE-N will unlock billions of pounds of private and public investment from design to operation, helping to get sites ready for development, and working to grow manufacturing capacity and skills capability.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at recruitment@greatbritishnuclear.uk and we will talk to you about how we can assist.

Job Title: Senior Construction Manager – SMR Main (Owner’s Scope)

The Senior Construction Manager – SMR Main (Owner’s Scope) will lead construction planning, site mobilisation, logistics, contractor coordination, delivery, and handover of the SMR main site works packages within Great British Energy – Nuclear’s (GBE-N) SMR programme. The role requires a construction-led professional with proven experience on comparable complex infrastructure projects, including power plants, power stations, large railway stations, depots, or similarly complex, interface-rich environments. This includes early works and essential site capability that prepares the site for safe, efficient main works delivery, such as site establishment and temporary facilities, access and logistics, earthworks and civils, drainage and temporary water management, utilities diversions and temporary power, water and communications, security and welfare facilities, laydown and storage areas, and other supporting infrastructure.

The candidate will lead construction delivery across site ancillary buildings, structures, facilities, logistics areas, and integrated site development, together with the supporting Associated Development infrastructure, all of which are critical components of the SMR first-of-a-kind main site works. The role requires strong leadership across construction management, temporary works and enabling infrastructure, on-site and off-site logistics, multi-disciplinary engineering interfaces, regulatory and stakeholder engagement, and supply chain coordination. Contractor-side delivery experience is essential, including the ability to manage sequencing, constructability, productivity, site constraints, logistics routes, laydown, temporary facilities, and handover of both temporary and permanent infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead the construction delivery of early works, site ancillaries, and supporting infrastructure, ensuring safety, quality, schedule, cost, productivity, and handover targets are met consistently.
• Lead the development of an integrated, area-based construction sequence plans and a robust construction delivery and site logistics strategy that coordinate engineering, procurement, enabling works, site ancillaries, logistics, and main construction activities, protecting the critical path and supporting safe mobilisation.
• Lead constructability, buildability, and safe-by-design reviews, ensuring construction requirements, access, temporary works, logistics, sequencing constraints, surveys and investigations, procurement support, testing, commissioning readiness, and handover requirements are incorporated into master planning, design development, and procurement packages.
• Define construction need dates for design information, plant, equipment, materials, and temporary infrastructure, with proportionate readiness reviews, early-warning controls, and recovery plans before work packages are released to site.
• Manage complex construction interfaces and dependencies with nuclear island, turbine island, BoP (Balance of Plant), grid connection, logistics routes, and local authority works to protect critical path and ensure a ‘construction-ready’ site.
• Lead construction supplier engagement, procurement input, contract mobilisation, contractor coordination, and performance management for multiple early works contractors, logistics providers, specialist suppliers, and service providers.
• Manage the construction logistics of both on-site and off-site supporting infrastructure, including access routes, temporary traffic management, haul roads, laydown areas, material movements, welfare, security, utilities, and the transition from temporary to permanent arrangements.
• Ensure material and component movements are aligned with the integrated schedule, manufacturing and installation sequence, with effective controls for identification, chain of custody, receipt, inspection, preservation, configuration traceability, and handover.
• Ensure construction and logistics strategies, plans, and delivery arrangements are developed and assured in accordance with applicable health and safety legislation, CDM Regulations, planning and environmental commitments, security requirements, transport regulations, quality standards, and nuclear assurance expectations.
• Coordinate closely with licensing, safety case, security, environmental, and stakeholder teams to ensure enabling works outputs support the wider site consent, safety, and readiness strategies.
• Lead on construction matters for cross-programme interfaces and stakeholder engagement, establish governance and performance reporting, champion digital planning and logistics tools including 4D/BIM, simulation, delivery management, data visualisation, and field-based digital tools, and embed collaboration, innovation, and lessons learned across GBE-N, the Technology Partner, and delivery partners.
• Maintain rigorous H&S, quality assurance, and site governance processes, embedding a nuclear safety culture and robust construction quality standards from first mobilisation.
• Promote a collaborative, inclusive, and learning-oriented environment across GBE-N, delivery partners, and site teams, enabling rapid issue resolution and effective handover into main works.