Project Management Office Lead

Grade and Salary Grade D (€59,898 - €89,848)*

Job Description

This project is funded by PEACEPLUS a cross-border funding Programme supported by the European Union, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government of Ireland, and the Northern Ireland administration, and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.”

We are Uisce Éireann. Every day, we are responsible for the delivery of secure, safe, and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland. As Ireland’s national regulated water utility, our vision is a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected, for the planet and all the lives it supports.

Our purpose at Uisce Éireann is to rise to the challenge of delivering transformative water services that enable communities to thrive. That means we are proud to take on the responsibility of protecting our water supply and passing on a safe and secure water system to a rapidly growing population and empowering Ireland’s social and economic growth.

So, we’re passionate about helping our people to do the best work of their lives, to enable them to make a positive difference to communities all over Ireland. Our aim is to attract and develop talented and skilled people with diverse backgrounds and an evolving range of expertise and insight. We believe that such a strong workforce will help us achieve our goals and allow us to continue investing in, and advancing, Ireland’s water services.

The Role:

The Asset Management and Sustainability area is responsible for the development of asset policies, strategies and plans to determine the significant investment required into Ireland’s infrastructure. The area drives investment and the Sustainability and Innovation agenda for the organisation and leads on Environmental Regulation and Compliance activities, ensuring the quality of water and wastewater is continuously monitored. The Asset Management function is responsible for strategic planning, prioritisation, and development of Uisce Eireann’s Capital Works pipeline. The function plays a key role in promoting collaboration and co-ordination of activities across the three asset functions as well as providing environmental assessment and management expertise across Uisce Éireann.

The Asset Strategy Team responsibility is to develop strategic plans for all water, wastewater, and natural assets and to ensure the authorisation of the asset base. The scope of the team's responsibility covers 5 main areas: environmental strategy, water asset strategy, wastewater asset strategy, forward planning and planning strategy.

Uisce Éireann, in partnership with Northern Ireland Water (project lead partner) are progressing an application for EU funding through the Peace Plus Programme for the delivery of the WEST (Water Enhancements through Sustainable Treatments) Project. 

The Water Enhancements through Sustainable Treatment (WEST) project represents a cross-border partnership between NI Water (NIW) and Uisce Éireann (UÉ) working collaboratively to improve water quality within the eligible cross-border area of Lough Erne, Lough Melvin & Donegal Bay.

The overall programme-specific objective is to improve water quality in the catchments of Lough Erne, Lough Melvin & Donegal Bay. Catchment Modelling has been identified as the optimum method of investigating the most effective interventions and remedial actions for the eligible area.

The WEST project will deliver the following outputs / results as contained in the Cooperation Programme document:

Jointly deliver 2 strategies and action plans for the eligible area through development and use of robust catchment modelling techniques. Liaise / align with environmental regulators to facilitate acceptance of the developed strategies.

Undertake 4 Nr capital wastewater upgrades at selected WwTW sites to promote the use of sustainable treatment technologies. This will provide upgraded treatment capacity for a current population of 5,000, with future provision for an additional 3,000 due to growth.

Reporting to the Integrated Catchment Manager in Uisce Éireann, the WEST PMO will be responsible for managing day-to-day interactions of the WEST project on behalf of Uisce Éireann, working closely with the IDD project manager and with all partners of the cross-border Project team. 

Responsible for the financial management, financial reporting and project reporting, in line with SEUPB rules for the peace plus WEST project.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Maintain and regularly review the Uisce Éireann elements of the programme and project progress, budgets, changes, risks and issues, and report regularly to the UÉ Asset Strategy Lead.
• Ensure quality programme management of the Uisce Éireann elements of the Peace Plus programme funded WEST Project & provide regular updates to the cross border project team, SEUPB and the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government (DHPLG) 
• Drive engagement with all internal and external stakeholders (e.g. DHPLG, EPA, Local Authorities) of the project, to enable project deliverables are met effectively.
• Provide technical input to ensure that Uisce Éireann Processes, Financial and Procurement comply with SEUPB/EU standards, in consultation with financial partners and SEUPB.
• Actively coordinate and manage cross functional department meetings, ensuring that the meeting agendas are adhered to in an efficient manner.
• Working with the IDD Project Manager, assign actions and responsibilities to ensure that the programme delivery schedule is achieved.
• Working with the IDD Project Manager, develop appropriate KPIs for the programme in conjunction with the project team.
• Provide technical input to ensure that specifications comply with standards.
• Facilitate WEST initiatives including the preparation of Project Initiation Documents and other supporting information.
• Exercise professional judgement on issues to facilitate resolution. 
• Perform other such duties in relation to Peace Plus as Uisce Éireann may require.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Relevant third level qualification and or accreditation is desirable
• Minimum 5 years’ experience working on complex programmes and projects.
• Experience with programme & project methodologies and supporting tools and processes related to risk management etc.
• Understanding of different water management sectors, statutory and non-statutory in Northern Ireland and Ireland.
• Experience using project and finance management tools such as Oracle or Primavera P6.
• Proven track record with dealing with complex issues, proactively and in a timely fashion, along with the ability to communicate complex information to others. 
• Ability to develop relationships to accomplish team goals coupled with dealing effectively with differences of opinion and conflict management; 
• Secure and compare information from multiple sources to identify any arising project issues; 
• Committing to an action after weighing alternative solutions against decision criteria;
• Set high standards, by encouraging others to assume responsibility and accountability for tasks;
• Connect project goals to project portfolios and to drive results.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Limited travel in Ireland and Northern Ireland to project offices and locations will be required.

*Please be advised that if successful you will be placed on the salary range based on your skills and experience. Please note the Market reference point (midpoint) of the range is generally the upper end of the offer where someone is deemed to be fully competent to take on the duties of the role, and leaves room for the employee to progress through the pay range as their experience develops further

We are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive place of work and have a robust strategy and framework called ibelong to enable this. We are an equal opportunity employer and through our recruitment process we welcome and encourage applications from interested and suitably qualified individuals regardless of gender, age, racial or ethnic origin, membership of the traveller community, religion or beliefs, family or civil status, sexual orientation/gender identity or disability.

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