Project Management Associate
Plexal · London, England, United Kingdom
- On site
- Full-time
- £35,000 / year
- London, England, United Kingdom
Job highlights
- Support multiple projects, ensuring governance and efficiency.
- Manage documentation, reporting, and stakeholder communication.
- Assist with supplier and financial management tasks.
- Drive continuous improvement in project processes.
- Requires strong organizational and Microsoft Office skills.
About the role
Project Management Associate
Plexal is seeking a Project Management Associate to join their Innovation Services Operations team. This role is crucial for effective delivery, governance, and control across Plexal's programmes, commissions, and projects. The PMO Associate will provide structured administrative, governance, and commercial support, collaborating with internal delivery teams, suppliers, and external partners to ensure efficient and compliant project management. This position supports both day-to-day project execution and continuous improvement initiatives, aiming to enhance ways of working across innovation, delivery, commercial, finance, and go-to-market activities.
What You'll Do
Project Management and PMO Enablement
- Provide end-to-end administrative and project management support for multiple projects, commissions, and workstreams.
- Maintain comprehensive project documentation, trackers, logs, and shared repositories to ensure accuracy, up-to-date information, and governance compliance.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional project teams to deliver planning, coordination, and operational activities.
Governance, Meetings and Reporting
- Organize, schedule, coordinate, and facilitate governance meetings, planning sessions, workshops, and retrospectives.
- Prepare and circulate agendas, take minutes, track actions, and follow up with stakeholders for timely completion.
- Support the creation of regular status reports, ensuring data accuracy, quality, and timely submission.
- Facilitate close-out reviews and retrospectives, documenting lessons learned and contributing to process improvements.
- Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, such as GDPR, in collaboration with the project team.
Supplier, Commercial and Procurement Support
- Manage third-party suppliers and delivery partners, overseeing deliverables and trackers, and ensuring timely receipt and upload of submissions.
- Coordinate supplier reporting and escalate risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, and opportunities as needed.
- Support commercial governance, including validation of supplier pricing, issuing/tracking Customer Task Forms (CTFs), and compliance checks.
- Ensure suppliers and their staff are fully onboarded, including IT and system access, before contract start.
- Manage invoicing, timesheets, purchase order chasing, and liaise with finance for timely payments, under the oversight of the delivery lead.
Risk, Change and Issue Management
- Maintain and update risk, issue, change, and non-conformance logs.
- Track corrective and mitigating actions, ensuring clear ownership and agreed timelines.
- Support audits of project documentation and shared spaces to ensure governance and compliance standards.
Financial and Administrative Support
- Assist with budgeting and tracking of project spend.
- Manage supplier timesheets, ensuring timely submission and approval.
- Arrange evaluators for supplier assessments and monitor completion against deadlines.
Bid & Framework Support
- Provide administrative support for bids and frameworks, including completing compliance information.
- Research and collate information to support bid submissions.
Continuous Improvement
- Identify opportunities to enhance PMO, project, and operational processes.
- Support the documentation, rollout, and adoption of new tools, templates, dashboards, and working methods across Innovation Services.
Your Skills
Essential
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Office skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
- Experience using Microsoft 365 tools (SharePoint, Teams).
- Proficiency in data handling, maintaining trackers, and producing management information.
- Strong stakeholder management and interpersonal skills.
- Proactive, self-motivated, collaborative, and able to work with minimal supervision.
Desirable
- Experience in a PMO, project coordination, or project support role.
- Experience in an innovation, startup, venture, or high-growth environment.
- Familiarity with tools like JIRA or similar project management platforms.
Your Experience
- Professional Qualification e.g. PRINCE2, Agile, P3O, PMQ, PMP (Desirable)
- Experience working across multiple stakeholders, including internal teams, suppliers, and external partners.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment with changing priorities.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to high-quality outputs.
- Collaborative team player with a pragmatic, solutions-focused mindset.
- Comfortable working in a startup or scaleup environment where flexibility is essential.
Who You Are
- Ability to thrive in ambiguous scenarios.
- Ability to work in a high-pace environment.
- Energised by challenges and opportunities in a high-growth company.
- Highly effective communicator with strong interpersonal skills.
- Team player and motivated self-starter.
- May require working on client sites for a set number of days per week.
- Needs the ability to manage and influence through both face-to-face and virtual team environments.
- The role will likely require SC clearance, NPPV 2+ CTC and/or NPPV3.
Key Skills/Competency
- Project Management
- PMO Support
- Governance
- Reporting
- Supplier Management
- Risk Management
- Stakeholder Management
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Microsoft 365
- Communication Skills
Skills & topics
- Project Management Associate
- PMO
- Project Support
- Governance
- Administration
- Reporting
- Supplier Management
- Excel
- SharePoint
- Teams
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight PMO, project coordination, and administrative support experience. Quantify achievements where possible.
- Showcase relevant skills: Emphasize your organizational abilities, Microsoft Office proficiency (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), and experience with Microsoft 365 tools like SharePoint and Teams.
- Demonstrate understanding: Research Plexal's mission, values, and their work in innovation and national security. Articulate how your skills align with their goals.
- Prepare for assessment: The assessment centre on May 20th, 2026, will likely involve practical exercises and behavioral questions. Practice time management and problem-solving.
- Highlight adaptability: Showcase your ability to thrive in fast-paced, evolving environments and your collaborative, solutions-focused mindset.
Technical preparation
Master Excel for data tracking and reporting.,Become proficient in SharePoint and Teams.,Practice preparing meeting agendas and minutes.,Familiarize yourself with project management tools.
Behavioral questions
Describe managing competing project priorities.,How do you handle ambiguity in tasks?,Give an example of improving a process.,How do you manage stakeholder expectations?
Frequently asked questions
- What are the key responsibilities for a Project Management Associate at Plexal?
- The Project Management Associate at Plexal is responsible for providing end-to-end administrative and project management support across multiple projects. This includes maintaining project documentation, coordinating meetings, preparing reports, managing supplier relationships, assisting with financial tracking, and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives within the Innovation Services Operations function.
- What skills are essential for the Project Management Associate role at Plexal?
- Essential skills for this role include strong organizational abilities, excellent written and verbal communication, intermediate to advanced Microsoft Office proficiency (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), experience with Microsoft 365 tools (SharePoint, Teams), data handling capabilities, strong stakeholder management, and a proactive, self-motivated, and collaborative attitude.
- What desirable experience or qualifications would make a candidate stand out for the Project Management Associate position at Plexal?
- Desirable experience includes prior work in a PMO, project coordination, or project support role, particularly within an innovation, startup, venture, or high-growth environment. Familiarity with project management platforms like JIRA is also beneficial. A professional qualification such as PRINCE2, Agile, P3O, PMQ, or PMP is also considered a plus.
- What is the assessment centre date for the Project Management Associate role at Plexal?
- Plexal will be holding an assessment centre for this Project Management Associate role on 20th May 2026.
- What is the typical work environment like at Plexal for a Project Management Associate?
- Plexal is a startup that thrives in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment. The company values collaboration, equality, and care, aiming for a harmonious work-life balance. The role may also require working on client sites for a set number of days per week and involves managing stakeholders in both face-to-face and virtual settings.
- What kind of clearance is required for the Project Management Associate role at Plexal?
- The role will likely require SC clearance, NPPV 2+ CTC, and/or NPPV3. Candidates should be aware of these potential security clearance requirements.
- Can I apply for the Project Management Associate role if I don't have all the desirable qualifications?