National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
Senior Project Manager @ The National Timing Centre (NTC)
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Senior Project Manager @ The National Timing Centre (NTC)
Senior Project Manager – National Timing Centre (NTC) Programme
About the Role Our world-leading Time & Frequency department is seeking a Senior Project Manager with proven expertise in delivering technical projects within scientific, engineering, or IT environments.
This is an exceptional opportunity to join the global authority in precision timing at a defining moment for UK digital infrastructure.
Backed by a government investment of £180 million in the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme, we are developing a world-first resilient time distribution capability that will provide industry with a robust alternative to satellite systems such as GPS—which are increasingly vulnerable to disruption from solar storms, jamming and spoofing. This innovation will underpin essential services, including:
- Telecommunications
- Online banking
- Emergency response
- Transport networks
- Digital and data-driven operations
These services form the backbone of modern society, and your leadership will help ensure they remain secure, reliable, and robust even if global navigation satellite systems fail.
As a contributor to this transformation, you will shape the delivery of critical project activity within the NTC programme across NPL, delivering an era-defining enhancement to the UK’s timekeeping capability.
Key Responsibilities
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Project Delivery & Scheduling
- Independently manage 2–3 concurrent science or IT-based projects, maintaining clear schedules, milestones, RAID logs, and progress tracking against baseline plans.
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Technical Coordination & Planning
- Translate technical input from scientists, engineers, and specialists into actionable, sequenced delivery plans, without needing deep technical expertise.
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Risk, Issue & Change Management
- Proactively identify, manage, and escalate risks, issues, and scope changes, ensuring all impacts are assessed, approved, and reflected in controlled project updates.
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Governance, Reporting & Documentation
- Maintain high-quality project documentation and produce timely reporting in line with NTC governance standards, supporting audits, assurance activities, and programme-level forums.
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Stakeholder & Team Engagement
- Build strong working relationships across technical, HR, and programme colleagues, communicating progress clearly while fostering cross-programme collaboration and sharing lessons learned.
About You
To succeed in this role, you’ll bring the following skills, experience, and qualifications:
Essential
- Proven project management experience: 6–10 years delivering projects in science, engineering, IT, or similar technical environments, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects.
- Strong planning, scheduling and governance capability: Experienced in creating and maintaining project plans, RAID logs, and governance outputs within a structured programme environment.
- Highly organised with strong communication skills: Ability to manage competing priorities while producing clear reports and engaging confidently with diverse stakeholders, both technical and non-technical.
- PM accreditation: Degree-level education (or equivalent) and a recognised project management qualification (e.g., APM PMQ or PRINCE2 Practitioner).
Highly Desirable
- Experience in the public sector, government-funded, or regulated science/technology environments.
- Exposure to workforce or capability development (e.g., learning and development frameworks, training needs analysis, or people capability planning).
- Experience supporting early-career development (e.g., graduate schemes, apprenticeships, or talent pipelines).
- Knowledge of programme-level governance, including IMS, change control processes, and RAID log management.
- Interest or awareness of metrology or timing systems.
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Nationality, Security & Legal Requirements
We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our Time & Frequency department requires adherence to specific security and residency criteria. Applicants will need to obtain an SC security clearance with no restrictions (or demonstrate the ability to do so).
Diversity & Inclusion
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is committed to:
- Diversity and equality of opportunity, encouraging applications from underrepresented groups, including:
- Women
- Disabled candidates (guaranteed interview under the Disability Confident Scheme if meeting criteria)
- Black, Asian, and minority ethnic candidates
- A culture that values individual talent, merit, and inclusion.
Flexible working, wellbeing support, and social activities are embedded in our culture, along with accessible adjustments for all applicants.
Application Note
Applications will be reviewed and interviews conducted on an ongoing basis. We encourage early submissions and may close the advert at any point. All approvals are subject to meeting UK government nationality and security requirements.
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