Project and Programme Management

Project and programme management is an integral part of the Airbus organisation, to ensure that the company continues to meet and deliver aircraft to its customers on time, to cost and meeting the correct specification.

Programmes are usually at a company-wide level, and include initiatives such as managing the development of new products such as the A350, the re-engineering of an existing aircraft or ‘continuous improvement’ activities. This may well include involvement throughout the entire lifecycle of a product or system. As such

they usually last for a significant period of time, often for periods up and exceeding 10-12 years – from initial product definition and design all the way through withdrawal from service.

Each programme can be made up of numerous projects, which are more specifically focused, and therefore by nature have shorter timelines (for example the development of wings for a particular aircraft).

Key responsibilities/objectives:

• Agreeing objectives, managing financial goals and ensuring the resources are available to meet the agreed objective.
• Drive and motivate teams that can be based across a number of sites.
• Meet project objectives within the agreed timescales.

Roles:

• Team members for the Project Management Office
• Project Leaders

Qualification required: a Masters Degree in Business, Engineering or a related discipline would be ideal but not essential.

Experience: candidates should have experience of managing a large project in a relevant industry, and be familiar with project management tools and methodologies such as schedule planning, cost control, earned value & risk management and configuration management. They should be able to display ‘architect’ type thinking – to see the ‘bigger picture’ of a programme, and realise that attention to detail is critical as a change in one part of a project could have major impacts across other areas.