Junior Project Lead – Gas Turbine Engineering
About the role
We are looking for a Junior Project Lead to coordinate gas turbine engineering work packages from initial scope through to delivery and close-out. Working with design and analysis engineers, you will help deliver component design, engineering substantiation and repair packages to agreed scope, schedule, cost and quality requirements.
Reporting to a Project Manager, you will maintain project plans, track progress, coordinate dependencies and flag issues early. This is an opportunity to develop practical project leadership skills, with a career pathway towards Project Manager within a business operating across multiple engineering domains.
Key responsibilities
Coordinate work packages through scoping, planning, design, analysis, technical review and final delivery, working with technical leads to confirm deliverables and acceptance criteria.
Develop and maintain Product Breakdown Structures (PBS), Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), network diagrams and Gantt charts, with support from the Project Manager.
Track task ownership, milestones, dependencies and critical-path activities, following up with engineers to maintain an accurate picture of progress.
Maintain proportionate earned value management controls, tracking planned hours, actual hours, progress against agreed deliverables and forecast effort to complete.
Report work-package status to the Project Manager, highlighting schedule and cost variances, delivery risks, blockers and decisions required.
Maintain risk, issue and action registers; follow up agreed mitigation actions and escalate matters beyond your authority.
Coordinate engineering inputs, review meetings and handovers between design, analysis and repair activities.
Record scope changes and emerging resource requirements, supporting the Project Manager in assessing their impact on delivery.
Support delivery and close-out by checking that required reviews, approvals and documentation are complete, with technical accountability retained by the relevant engineering leads.
What you will bring
Some experience supporting engineering delivery, project coordination or technical work packages. This could come from an engineering role, apprenticeship, placement or early project management position.
Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and the ability to follow through on actions across several work packages.
Confidence working with engineers to understand progress, clarify dependencies and communicate delivery concerns.
An understanding of basic project planning principles, including scope, milestones, dependencies, effort and risk.
Confidence using Excel and a willingness to develop skills in scheduling, reporting and project controls.
Clear written and verbal communication, including the confidence to raise issues promptly and ask for support when needed.
An interest in gas turbine engineering and developing a career in project management.
Desirable experience
Exposure to aerospace, gas turbines, mechanical design, engineering analysis or repair development.
Familiarity with PBS, WBS, network diagrams, Gantt charts or earned value principles.
Experience using Microsoft Project or equivalent scheduling software.
Awareness of engineering lifecycle processes, gated reviews, configuration control and quality requirements.
An engineering or project management qualification, or progress towards one.
Career development
You will gain hands-on experience coordinating multidisciplinary engineering work, supported by a Project Manager and experienced technical leads. As your capability grows, there is a pathway to greater delivery responsibility and progression into a Project Manager role, with opportunities to broaden your experience across the business’s engineering domains.
