Project Manager
Lead Consultancy and Market Research assignments for a BCorp at the heart of the global Food and Agriculture industry
South Devon coastal office – hybrid working
£35,000 p.a + Benefits
HRA Global seeks an organised, confident, entrepreneurial, and decisive critical thinker to join our welcoming and diverse team of management, research and strategy consultants. We are looking for someone with project management and/or food industry experience and a professional qualification/Masters or equivalent. The role is hybrid working and based on the South Devon coast, but projects and clients are international.
ABOUT HRA GLOBAL
We are a premier tier international management and strategy consulting business with strong market research capabilities that specialises in the global food, drink and agriculture space. We work up and down the value chain; from retail and foodservice to food manufacturers and processors through to agricultural producers and inputs. As an established BCORP we have a growing Sustainability practice which sits alongside our Strategy, Management and Commercial consulting offers.
We are based in Babbacombe, South Devon with offices close to the beach. We are in an alliance with the Context Network, the pre-eminent US Agricultural Strategy and Management consulting firm and together we work on joint international projects as part of a 370 strong team.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Reporting to the Head of Client Relationships, the Project Manager (PM) will take the lead and manage client projects from the initial briefing session all the way through to a successful client debrief. The PM will organise each project team, leading by example to keep track of all timings, tasks and costs using our proprietary software (e.g Asana, Synergist) keeping the team, the Head of Client Relationships informed throughout and pulling in the MD where necessary.
Projects can be in Market Research (quant and qual), Commercial Consulting (e.g M&A, due diligence, supply chain optimisation, securing co-manufacturing partners) and Strategic Consulting (e.g Portfolio, Market Entry, Value Proposition, Go To Market). You are not expected to be an expert at all the areas, although some exposure to these situations from either client or agency side is helpful. The PM role is to pull all the talent together in a timely, enjoyable and efficient way to deliver for clients.
The PM champions the full range of project processes that span the lifetime of individual projects:
- Proposal and costing/quoting (offer a constructive critique/challenge to every proposal to ensure robustness and leverage prior learning).
- Project inception (kicking off the work, assigning responsibilities, setting metrics, milestones and deadlines).
- Project Planning (organising the team to achieve deliverables/milestones, managing projects via our Asana and Synergist software platforms, highlighting issues and roadblocks and suggesting course corrections).
- Project budgeting (managing team time, third party cost and our PO process, including invoice submission to finance team).
- Working on the project as a contributor/subject matter expert (in an area of defined expertise/strength/knowledge).
- Project portfolio health – deploy out tools to offer a running summary of project progress versus plan, highlighting which projects require additional resource and focus to hit deadlines.
Whilst also championing practices and process which contribute to building team capacity and capability:
- Independent contractor skills gap identification (highlighting where the team need additional third-party resource and support the MD on selection, management and payment approval of long term collaborators and freelancers)
- Organisational learning – ensuring every project has a full After Action Review (AAR) post project and that lessons and learning from previous AAR’s are incorporated and designed into project proposals.
- Liaison with our alliance partners to ensure that learnings and approaches on previous projects are captured and included in our team ways of working and on individual projects.
- Team process and ways of working improvement – ensure our process and setup moves with the times and in response to clients and real world experience.
Day-to-day activities are often complex, dynamic, and varied. The job is essentially entrepreneurial in nature and project based. Projects may vary in length and can involve micro teams of one project resource or a large team comprised of in-house staff and specialist Independent Consultants working across a couple of time zones.
They can be based in one geography or across multiple international borders – current projects span the EU, China, West Africa, USA and ANZ. Typically, projects involve analysis/research to identify root causes of problems or key opportunities and recommending approaches that maximise value creation for the client.
BENEFITS:
As well as a competitive salary and holidays which build to 30 days a year + bank holidays on top, we offer the following benefits:
🦋 Flexibility: Everyone works differently. Whether it’s early mornings, late nights or a day at home, we support what gives you energy and makes you effective.
💼 Office: We’re a hybrid working company, but when we’re at the office, we’re based close to the beach in South Devon. We also have flexibility around remote work.
📚 Development: Learning and development budgets for books, conferences and courses. We encourage, and fund, professional study.
🌳 Financial wellbeing: Pension contribution and bonus scheme
🚴🏽♀️ Cycle-to-Work: We are registered on the UK’s Cycle-to-Work scheme, so you can buy a bike and cycling accessories tax-free.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- 3+ years of related industry experience in Project Management in a Market Research, Consulting or Food industry setting
- MBA, MA or professional qualifications eg Prince 2, Market Research Society
- Strong preference for management consulting/ market research management or experience with an FMCG, food, or agriculture company
- Role is hybrid working (office based 3 days a week) and must be able to travel up to 10% of the time if needed
PERSON SPECIFICATION
You have made a good start to your career in consulting, market research or within the food industry and you have started to take on more responsibility. You are keen to work on a wide variety of projects alongside a friendly, international team for ‘A list‘ global clients across many continents.
You are ambitious but want to develop a good work/life balance close to the beach and to work as part of a BCorp balancing people, profit and planet.
You are keen to learn and develop and looking for a role that will give you both breadth and depth of skill development, stimulation and challenge and the opportunities that come from working for a leader in the international business environment.
The focus of this position is a candidate who is confident enough to take independent action with a sense of urgency. The ideal candidate has the ability to make difficult decisions and take responsibility for them. A well-suited candidate can react and adjust quickly to changing conditions and come up with practical ideas for dealing with them, communicating any changes to the team. The working style sought is purposeful, directed at getting things done quickly. There are challenges in any project, and people and problems must be handled with empathy, confidence and determination.
As this role delivers high quality, organised and repeatable results, the position requires a self-disciplined person who can handle details and has self-assurance and drive but is able to work as part of a team. The responsibilities are broad in scope, encompassing a wide variety of activities sometimes requiring rapid shifts in priorities.
APPLICATION PROCESS
As a BCorp we are committed to hiring the right person regardless of background, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexuality or age. The process will be an online interview in the first instance followed by a chance to visit the office and meet the team for a more formalised discussion. Please drop your CV to [email protected] together with a covering letter outlining your suitability for the position.
Closing Date – 30th June.
