Associate Director - Major Projects Advisory -Commercial Advisory & Assurance (Commercial Strategy)

The team

KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory (MPA) team works with industry-leading organisations, helping to solve some of the biggest challenges in infrastructure. As a true market leader, we boast an impressive client base across the commercial and public sectors, delivering lasting results on projects and programmes which are household names.

We focus on providing clarity to Boards, Executives and Senior Responsible Owner at major public and private sector organisations, on the delivery of their projects and programmes. We work on some of the UK’s most strategically important programmes, and across all infrastructure sectors including transport, natural resources, energy, power and utilities, corporates, oil & gas, defence, health, housing & education.

Our team comprises specialists with deep construction industry experience, from working for project owners, contractors, engineering consultants and others in the UK and overseas.

On the back of continuing growth, we are once again investing in our team and boosting our numbers, which means you will be joining one of the fastest growing areas of the firm at a time of real significance.

The role

This role is for an innovative professional at associate director level with strong major project and programme procurement experience. This role will work alongside our existing team to use their lived experience of the full project and programme lifecycle in the construction industry and their procurement / commercial acumen to solve complex problems.

You will be providing advice to a broad range of clients on many different matters, helping them to achieve successful outcomes through planning and implementing innovative and robust procurement and commercial interventions.

The MPA team in the UK are based in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. This role will be based in one of these locations but will require travel to client locations throughout the UK and occasionally overseas.

The team member

This role is ideally suited to those with significant post-qualification experience in procurement and commercial management / quantity surveying. This experience will have been gained on very high-value, complex major projects and programmes. The role requires experience with the following attributes:

• An excellent understanding of procurement in construction and project contexts, across the whole lifecycle of an asset
• Experience in developing and implementing procurement, supply chain and market management initiatives such as procurement strategies, alliancing agreements, market analysis, and modern methods of construction enablement
• A robust understanding of procurement law and regulations, with a demonstrable interest and understanding of procurement implications because of the UK’s exit from the European Union
• Familiarity with industry-standard contract forms such as the NEC suite and PPC2000 and a working understanding of contract law
• A good understanding of issues which impact project performance
• An ability to assess new situations and data quickly to provide a basis for developing an understanding of causal factors
• Ability to set out a clear approach to tackling a new challenge in the most efficient manner
• Clear, concise, fact-based reporting
• A relevant professional qualification, such as MCIPS or MRICS

In addition to the above, experience in some of the following areas would also be of benefit to the candidate in the environment that we work in:

• Project / programme management
• Project / programme controls
• Earned value management
• Cost management, estimating and benchmarking
• Risk management
• Claims, disputes, and dispute avoidance
• Governance and control of projects

The role will also include the end to end lifecycle of managing client engagements, using KPMG systems, for which comprehensive training is provided):

• Management of project teams to deliver client engagements
• Financial management of engagements including budgeting, reporting and invoicing processes
• Performance management and mentoring of junior employees

• The role will be client facing and have direct impact on the reputation and perception of KPMG

In addition to the technical requirements of the role we also expect the right candidate to:

• Be capable of working alone or within a team, including quickly building rapport and delivering with new teams
• Provide clear and concise advice to clients and manage client relationships
• Maintain your requirements for continuing professional development
• Play a key role in business development and team strategy development/implementation

A final word from us…

Everybody likes to say they’re different... but we really think we are.

We’re hugely proud of what we’ve managed to achieve so far, but we’re only just getting started. We’re looking for people to grow with us and are committed to helping everybody reach their destination, regardless of what that is.   

Should you choose to join us, you can expect an attractive benefits package, which typically includes:

Financial

• A competitive salary
• Pension options
• Bonus scheme that reflects firm and individual performance
• Rail and Oyster Card reimbursement
• Staff discounts
• Access to preferential banking

Lifestyle

• 25 days holiday, with the option to buy up to an extra 10 days, plus an additional day of leave for your birthday
• Competitive maternity and paternity leave
• 6 days of work time each year for volunteering
• Daily lunch allowance
• Flextra – a flexible benefits scheme that allows you to choose benefits for you and your family, such as, travel insurance, critical illness insurance, dental insurance and discounted gym memberships

Health and Wellbeing

• Private medical insurance
• Personal accident insurance
• Life assurance of 4 x salary with the option to increase this via flexible benefits scheme
• Access to private, remote GP appointments anytime and anywhere via a smartphone
• Online health risk questionnaire
• BeWell employee assistance programme for confidential information, advice, or counselling for life’s daily challenges
• Group Income Protection

No matter what skills you bring to our team, you’ll be surrounded by spirited, naturally curious people. People who want to learn from you, and who’ll also teach you a thing or two along the way. It’s how we make a collective impact, greater than the sum of its parts.

And if this isn’t the role for you but you like what you see, keep in touch. There will be other opportunities to join us.  For more details about a career at KPMG, visit: www.kpmgcareers.co.uk