Principal Project Manager - Project Controls and Contract Management

At Mott MacDonald, we trust our brilliant people to do brilliant things in engineering, management, and development services, supporting multisector project work in over 150 countries. As one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world, we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes through our network of 20,000+ talented consultants. With sustainability and innovation at the heart of all our sectors in North America, including, Buildings, Energy, Transportation, and Water.

We believe in empowering our people to excel, learn, and grow, offering diverse opportunities to contribute to career-defining work. Join us and be part of a collaborative environment where your ambitions are united with ours, and you can truly shape your story.

If you share that vision, even if you don’t meet every requirement listed, we’d still love to hear from you. We value potential and diverse perspectives as much as experience. Let’s explore how we can support your growth and help you take the next step in your career, while contributing to an exciting new chapter for Mott MacDonald in North America.

Our Project, Program and Commercial Management (PPCM) team builds upon established client partnerships and enhances our traditional engineering services to more effectively address client needs and achieve their objectives. With expertise through the technical disciplines of program management, project management, project controls, scheduling, cost management, estimating, procurement, commercial and change management, our team is experiencing ambitious growth.

We are seeking a Principal Project Manager to provide senior, client-embedded leadership across complex infrastructure projects and programs. This role combines project management with strong commercial and project controls capability and focuses on assisting client projects, developing crucial deliverables, and proactively seeking opportunities for growth. The candidate will help deliver several strategic initiatives for clients, including taking the lead on procurement commercial analysis and project controls, overseeing project setup for major infrastructure undertakings, commercial and contract change management.

The candidate should show excellent ethical judgment, think ahead, and be well-organized when leading the planning and coordination of negotiations in an environment with strict governance and high standards of probity.

As a senior member of the Project, Program, and Commercial Management team, the successful candidate will shape project delivery strategy, strengthen client decision-making, lead high-performing teams, and protect project and commercial performance. The role will also support client development, bid management, innovation, and the continued growth of Mott MacDonald’s PPCM capability in North America.

Principal Project Management Services to include:

• Act as a trusted adviser to senior client stakeholders, translating strategic objectives into clear delivery priorities, governance arrangements, success measures, and decision pathways whilst maintaining goals and objectives of the project.

• Act as a key interface within the client-embedded delivery team, supporting real-time decision-making and collaboration.

• Support the client to establish and procure the project team.

• Define the project success factors including time, cost, quality, environmental, and social outcomes.

• Define and agree project governance structure aligned to client and legislative requirements.

• Produce a detailed project execution plan that outlines how the project will be managed.

• Establish reporting requirements and production of progress reports.

• Leading and acting as an integrator of multidiscipline services at all stages of the project life cycle.

• Establish and manage the change control process.

• Monitoring and advising upon project performance against success indicators.

• Implement performance management techniques, including the use of KPI’s to improve project performance.

• Establish a communication strategy and information management plan and implement this across the project managing the interface between all parties and the client.

Additional Internal Project Management and Business Development services to include:

• Manage Mott MacDonald projects in accordance with the Business Management System, maintaining strong resource, risk, quality, client, and commercial performance while identifying opportunities for follow-on work.

• Capturing project capability and add value evidence through Project Case studies and Client feedback.

• Partner with account and market leaders to identify, shape, and convert opportunities that address client priorities and expand the use of Mott MacDonald’s multidisciplinary services.

• Manage bids through the WIN process, developing differentiated propositions, delivery strategies, commercial positions, and evidence-based value narratives.

• Champion innovation, digital delivery, and continuous improvement to increase efficiency, improve decision quality, and enhance the consistency of PPCM services.

• Mentor project managers and emerging leaders, strengthen succession capability, and promote high standards of ethics, inclusion, accountability, and professional practice.

Candidates who can demonstrate the following skills and experience will be considered for the role:

• 15+ years of career experience related to Project, Program and Commercial Management delivery.

• Experience working in client-facing or embedded delivery environments on large programs.

• Ideally, the candidate should possess a background in contracting, with knowledge of construction scheduling, risk transfer, and the ability to provide informed opinions on buildability concerns.

• Familiar and proficient with project management processes.

• Experience of projects in transit, water, tunnels, or highways projects are preferred.

• Knowledge and experience of risk identification, management, and mitigation.

• Excellent interpersonal skills and experience of leading and working within a team.

• Excellent written and presentation skills.

• Able to work independently and unsupervised.

• Positive attitude, team player.

• A relevant degree or equivalent professional experience; recognized project management, commercial, engineering, construction, or related professional credentials are preferred.

Benefits & Reward

At Mott MacDonald, our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, providing them with a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses. We provide a comprehensive benefit package that includes 401k, medical, dental and vision insurance, short-term/long-term disability, paid holidays, PTO, parental leave, and company paid life insurance.

Individual pay is determined based on several factors such as work location, education, experience, and unique skills.

Collaboration at Our Core

At Mott MacDonald, we believe great ideas happen when we’re together. Our hybrid approach centers on an in-office culture, with most of your time spent collaborating face-to-face and a minimum of three days per week in the office. We balance flexibility with connection, so you and your manager can choose how to meet client, team, and personal commitments.

Equal opportunity is the law.

We seek to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, creed, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status or disability status.