Risk Manager - Construction Projects

ABP is the UK’s leading and largest ports group, providing essential gateways for trade and enabling green infrastructure essential for the UK’s energy transition. We are a major landlord and port operator with 21 port locations in the UK. We have 87km of Quay and 5000ha of port estate handling approximately 100 million tonnes of cargo every year.

ABP handles more than a quarter of all ports industry volumes, provides support for over half the UK’s offshore wind and catalyses investment, jobs and prosperity in coastal communities. We are also a vital enabler of the UK's transformation to net zero, with exciting plans to develop our port estate so that they play a leading role in supporting the energy transition through onshore and offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCUS).

To support our ambitious growth, it is key for ABP to have a strong delivery engine for transforming new opportunities into reality. The Major Projects team lead the development and delivery of our complex, multi-disciplinary port infrastructure projects with a high strategic importance for the business to deliver our twin missions of ‘Keeping Britain Trading’ and ‘Enabling the Energy Transition’.  Individual project CAPEX values typically range from £20m to in excess of £200m.

The Role:  Risk Manager

Purpose:

To support project teams identify, assess, manage and report risks and opportunities. To provide risk assurance, and help mature early-stage risk information into credible allowances, forecasts and decision-support insight. The Risk Manager is responsible for establishing, maintaining and improving risk management arrangements across the Major Projects portfolio.

Accountabilities:

• Standardise and embed risk management processes, registers, scoring approaches, reporting requirements and governance behaviours across major projects.
• Maintain risk management templates, guidance, process flows and quality expectations aligned to ABP governance, the Project Lifecycle Process (PLP) and portfolio reporting requirements.
• Champion an active risk culture where project teams own risks, manage actions and use risk information to make better decisions.
• Facilitate early-stage risk identification, including development and DEVEX risks, key assumptions, interfaces, constraints and critical uncertainties.
• Support feasibility, concept and developed design stages by maturing risks from initial identification to assessed threats/opportunities with clear ownership, controls, response actions and escalation routes.
• Help projects develop the level of risk maturity needed to support confident CAPEX risk allowances and stage-gate decision-making
• Facilitate risk workshops, reviews and deep dives with project teams, consultants, contractors and functional specialists.
• Ensure risk information is integrated with schedule, cost, change control, early warning and compensation event processes.
• Advise on risk allowances, contingency drawdown, risk response planning and movement between risk, issue, change and forecast positions.
• Coach Project Controllers and project teams to improve risk literacy and consistent risk management behaviours.
• Support AI and automation opportunities where recurring risk reporting, trend analysis or data-to-narrative outputs can improve efficiency and insight.

About you:

You have the ability to cope with uncertainty, conflict and change. You are flexible, and persistent and have well-developed creative problem-solving skills.

You will be able to work independently with a strong bias to getting things done.  Understand the true value to the business of meeting objectives and timely delivery. 

You will possess a firm belief in the values of customer service and ABP’s core values of openness and honesty, teamwork and respect, along with the ambition to make a difference and exceed expectations.

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Essential

• Demonstrable experience in risk management on complex infrastructure, construction, engineering or capital projects.
• Strong practical knowledge of risk identification, assessment, ownership, mitigation planning, reporting, risk workshops and escalation processes.
• Ability to integrate risk with cost, schedule, change control, governance and project decision-making.
• Experience reviewing and challenging consultant or contractor risk outputs, including risk registers, quantified outputs where appropriate and mitigation/action plans.
• Experience improving risk management maturity and embedding standard risk processes across a portfolio.
• Strong facilitation, communication and stakeholder engagement skills, including ability to challenge constructively and influence project teams.
• Strong working knowledge of MS Office, risk registers/databases and project controls reporting tools.
• Full UK driving licence required

Desirable

• Experience supporting development and delivery of capital infrastructure projects above £20m.
• Experience with quantitative cost and/or schedule risk analysis, risk allowances and stage-gate investment decision support.
• Professional qualification or membership in APM, IRM, PMI, ACostE or equivalent risk/project controls body.

Want to see what it’s like to work for the UK’s largest port operator? Our virtual work experience programme gives you an inside look at trade, sustainability, safety, and careers in one of the UK’s most vital indutries- https://www.talentxp.co.uk/track/e2e029cd

Additional Information:

When joining ABP you will find an environment that is both welcoming and challenging. We reward our employees well and offer a generous remuneration package, employer pension, private health insurance and a range of other benefits.

Please note that ABP undertake random screening for substance abuse and operate a zero-tolerance policy. A medical will be required before starting this position also.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their background, which helps us to provide a diverse and inclusive working environment.

As part of our recruitment process, all successful candidates will be subject to pre-employment screening to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). Please note your consent will be required and further information on this check can be found using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels