About the role

There’s never been a more exciting time to join National Grid!

Great Britain's electricity infrastructure is undergoing an ambitious, exciting and vital transformation. Together with industry, we are creating a cleaner, greener system, one that protects the planet and serves generations to come.

As a Senior Development Consent Order ( DCO ) Project Manager, you will lead and coordinate a successful DCO on major National Grid Strategic Infrastructure projects with a right first-time approach. You will work within the project senior leadership team to lead and manage a direct team of project managers, external partners and wider team of land, external affairs, legal and consenting experts to ensure the delivery of DCO to agreed schedule, budget and quality expectations. You will drive understanding of the process into the project team ensuring lessons learned from each stage are reviewed and shared across Strategic Infrastructure. This is a great opportunity to work on the Great Grid Upgrade, and as part of this National Grid will be one of the biggest promoters of DCO’s in England and Wales at this time.

National Grid continues to offer hybrid working from office and home, as well as flexible working arrangements.

About you

What we do isn’t just important – it’s essential. That’s why we look to recruit experts in their field. In this case, we’re looking for someone who has:

Interpersonal

• Good stakeholder management skills and ability to build strong relationships with multiple internal and external stakeholders
• Good communicator, confident presenter and well organised
• Ability to work in a collaborative integrated project team
• Supplier and team management

Technical or Specialist

• Experience of working on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project Project(s) within an integrated project team and what it takes to deliver a successful submission and eventual consent.
• Understanding of the statutory requirements, guidance and advice associated with promoting a NSIP to ensure successful submission of a DCO application and examination.
• Proven track record in leading, managing and developing a high-performing integrated project team.
• Proven track record in developing effective business-wide networks and successful stakeholder relationships to drive the development and delivery of major infrastructure projects.
• Demonstrable willingness to find better ways of working, maximise efficiencies to improve quality, schedule certainty and accurate forecasting.
• Experience of Project Management within major project environment and awareness of commercial contracts.
• Awareness of regulatory mechanisms and the how National Grid works with Ofgem.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At National Grid, we’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace for everyone. So if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one.

What you'll do

• Lead, develop and performance manage direct reports and effectively lead matrixed team members to deliver a successful DCO application and examination to time, cost and quality expectations.
• Manage coordination of key internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely delivery of DCO application and through examination leading to a successful consent.
• Coordinate delivery of the DCO products to a high degree of quality with a right first-time approach.
• Manage key suppliers to ensure their contracts, schedule and deliverables align with expectations.
• Lead the production management and document control process and work collaboratively with the appointed supplier to ensure they support delivery of the DCO products to maintain schedule.
• Coordinate and lead collaborative planning workshops to accurately plan the DCO schedule to ensure deadlines are met.
• Work with integrated project team to coordinate technical inputs and outputs required for DCO submission.
• Drive understanding of the DCO process into the project team ensuring lessons learned from each stage are reviewed and shared across Strategic Infrastructure.
• Collaborate closely and effectively with other DCO project leads, ensuring that the DCO programme accounts for all known risks and lessons learned from other DCO Projects.
• Lead and embed positive safety and wellbeing culture within team to improve collective safety performance ensuring adherence to company policy, aims and objectives.
• Work with a team of project managers to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting and forecasting is provided by suppliers.
• Be involved in defining and agreeing project consenting and communication strategies considering interfacing projects and dependencies in particular with the consents and external affairs teams working on the project.
• Coordination of project design change control process to ensure any design changes affecting the DCO products are captured, assessed and are tracked to mitigate any risk to schedule.
• Be involved in agreeing and implementing and coordinating consultation activities for the project with the Project Director aauthorities per the requirements of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended).

What you'll get

A competitive salary between £70,000 - £77,000 dependent on capability.

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 15% of your salary for stretch performance and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. You will also have access to a number of flexible benefits such as a share incentive plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

About us

National Grid Strategic Infrastructure is a Business Unit created to propel our grid forward to deliver in 5 years, what has been achieved in the previous 30. By 2030 we aim to have 17 new major infrastructure projects live across England, Scotland and Wales.

Here at National Grid, we connect homes and businesses to power, making sure supply and demand match each other. We make sure the lights are on in schools, operating theatres, and sporting arenas; we’re thousands of people working on behalf of millions of people.

Our investment in Strategic Infrastructure via the Great Grid Upgrade will mean more home grown power, greater energy security and a cleaner future.

Whatever your role, wherever you work with us, you’ll help us hit stretching targets and achieve our far-reaching goal: to secure, clean energy that supports our world far into the future. Here, you will be at the heart of energy.

More Information

This role closes on April 14th 2025, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary.

We work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

We're committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

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More Information

Grade: Band D, SI

Closing Date: 14.04.2025

Location: UK wide, Hybrid

Hiring Manager name and job title: James Leeming, Project Director.