PMO – Project Lead

McLaren Automotive is progressing a significant manufacturing investment programme – a multi-year transformation of our manufacturing capability that will help shape the future of the business and unlock the next phase of the McLaren Automotive business plan.

The PMO is the dedicated programme office established to govern, coordinate and drive delivery of the programme through to 2029. Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office, the Project Lead is the delivery engine of the PMO – an established project manager and change delivery lead responsible for translating programme strategy into disciplined, visible, on-time execution across a complex, multi-workstream manufacturing investment programme.

Principal accountabilities

• Own and maintain the integrated programme plan and PMO delivery framework across the project workstreams – keeping milestones, critical path, dependencies and delivery status visible, current and actively managed.
• Drive the programme’s delivery cadence, supporting the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office in defining, operating and continually improving the project governance model.
• Maintain a clear audit trail of key programme actions, decisions and escalations, using the programme’s agreed tools and forums to drive follow-up, closure and transparent reporting.
• Establish and maintain rigorous risk, issue, dependency and change-control management, creating timely and robust mitigation plans, challenging workstream assumptions and escalating appropriately to protect critical path, cost, quality and programme outcomes.
• Act as owner and champion of the programme’s project and portfolio management (PPM) tooling (Jira), configuring and administering it as the single source of truth for delivery tracking, ensuring workstreams keep it accurate and current, and using it to surface progress, blockers and risk.
• Produce accurate, insightful and timely programme reporting – including milestone, KPI and OKR tracking – for the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office, the Chief Manufacturing Officer and programme governance forums.
• Engage, coach, challenge and influence stakeholders across a matrixed organisation – including workstream leads, functional partners, senior leadership and external delivery partners – to drive accountability, resolve blockers and maintain delivery pace without direct authority.
• Provide day-to-day direction, coaching and development to the Project Graduate and other junior team members, building delivery discipline and PMO capability within the team.
• Support and foster a cross-functional and cross-company approach, representing the PMO positively in internal reviews and in inter-company Business Office and PMO alignment.
• Take direct, end-to-end delivery ownership of discrete initiatives and ‘special projects’ within the programme as required, ensuring outcomes are delivered to agreed scope, timing, quality and governance expectations.
• Maintain independence and objectivity to protect the integrity of programme delivery data and reporting.

What You'll Bring

• A proven track record as a project manager and change delivery lead, having successfully delivered complex, cross-functional projects or workstreams to time, cost and quality in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience working with external delivery partners, specialist advisors or third-party consultancy support is advantageous, including the ability to operate effectively across both strategic partner relationships and smaller discrete advisory engagements.
• Demonstrable experience operating within a programme or PMO delivery function – building and maintaining integrated plans, governance cadences, and risk, issue and dependency management.
• Experience delivering change through a matrixed organisation, driving accountability and pace through stakeholder management and influence rather than direct authority.
• Hands-on experience using project and portfolio management (PPM) tooling – Jira in particular – to plan, track and report delivery.
• Experience coaching, mentoring or developing more junior colleagues.
• Experience within automotive, advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction or another complex operational or programme environment is advantageous.