Project Manager - Carbon Capture: Opportunity Brief
Ford & Stanley Executive Search (Part of the Ford & Stanley Group) are specialists in Executive Interim and Permanent appointments to the UK, European, US & North American, Rail, General Manufacturing, Digital & Tech Industries.
We have been exclusively entrusted and appointed by Aggregate Industries on a retained search for a Project Manager – Carbon Capture.
Below you will find an ‘opportunity brief’ developed from notes taken during the scoping meetings (Situational Discovery) held between the Ford and Stanley Executive Search Business Manager, Research Manager and the Aggregate Industries executive leadership team. This brief is designed to give candidates deeper insight into the opportunity inherent within the role, the challenges the role presents and provide access to the detail that sits behind the job specification.
Client Opportunity Statement:
“Aggregate Industries are specialist manufacturing business and part of the global Holcim Group. Our Cauldon cement plant has operated since 1957 and was the UK’s first dry-process cement manufacturing Plant. Innovation has always been in our DNA and we are now looking Project Manager who is going to help us on our journey of being a net zero business by 2050, leading a project that is ‘first in kind’.”
“We are at the beginning of our journey with our carbon capture project, imperative to it’s success is the hiring of a commercially bias project manager. You will be joining at the beginning and managing this project from ‘cradle to grave’, starting with delivering feasibility and Pre-FEED studies.”
“What the business needs is a technically minded project manager who, someone who is an excellent communicator at all levels, builds strong relationships and isn’t afraid to ‘roll their sleeves up’ and get stuck in. You will be working with specialist engineering businesses to come up with innovative solutions and then report these to the Board. It is vital that we have someone who can explain technical details to non-technical people as this person will be managing/interfacing with a number of stakeholders ranging from executive business leaders to community groups.”
Client Overview:
Aggregate industries are one of the leading building materials suppliers. Our aim is to be the UK leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. We are committed to grounding sustainability in the future of the construction industry.
BUILDING PROGRESS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
We are transforming our business and driving our growth through sustainable thinking. We are dedicated to decarbonising our own operations and driving decarbonisation across the sector, as well as playing a significant role in enabling the UK to transition to net zero.
OUR CAPABILITIES
With over 200 sites and around 3,700 dedicated employees, we offer a full range of construction products to help our partners work sustainably, safely, professionally and profitably.
Home to everything from aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, cement and precast concrete products, we also produce, import and supply construction materials, export aggregates and carry out national road surfacing and contracting solutions.
We’re a proud member of Holcim, which is the leading global building materials and solutions company with around 70,000 employees in over 80 countries. It holds leading positions in all regions with a balanced portfolio of developing and mature markets.
OUR PEOPLE
Our people are at the very heart of our business. It’s in how our people build strong partnerships through a shared commitment to sustainability that drives business growth.
Our teams can be counted on to add value, make a difference and truly care about what they do. By being supportive and open, we work together, striving for mutual success – and we encourage all our people to be curious and develop their skills.
OUR VISION
To be at the heart of construction. We see our people at the forefront of the construction industry, transforming it into a more sustainable future.
OUR MISSION
We want to be recognised as the safest, most customer-focused company in our industry. We're one team who are constantly growing, innovating and developing together to create continuous value.
The Opportunity
Aggregate Industries is one of Europe’s leading suppliers to the construction industry operating across the UK and Northern Europe. Aggregate Industries is part of the Holcim group which, with 75,000 employees across 80 countries, is a world leader in the building materials industry. In 2020 Holcim became the first global building materials company to sign the UNGC’s “Business Ambition for 1.5°C“ initiative, with a 2030 SBTi-verified action plan and committed to become net zero by 2050, with a key part of this plan being the capture and storage of CO2.
Reporting to the Cauldon Plant Manager, with dotted line responsibility to the Energy & Carbon Manager, the role will be responsible for delivering feasibility and Pre-FEED (Front End Engineering and Design) studies for carbon capture at our Cauldon cement plant. This will include the management of 3rd party engineering and solution provider contracts, reporting to funders and senior business leaders, and maintaining a broad range of stakeholder relationships. The role will manage all associated risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies of the project and regularly report using the appropriate methodologies on progress and escalates key items.
Main Challenges the role presents:
- Getting to grips with and understanding Aggregates as a business and organisation. It would be fair to say that it is a fairly complex organisation and may take some ‘getting used to’.
- There will be a significant time pressures to ‘get the ball rolling’ on this project. There is somewhat of a ‘spotlight’ and interest from key stakeholders at group level and industry on how this may work - as such, our incoming Project Manager will need to be used to working under the spotlight.
- In this role, you will have a large of number of stakeholders to manage and will need to invest a significant amount of time and resource to ensure understanding and trust is built with each stakeholder such as community groups, council, colleagues the public.
Top three deliverables in first year:
- Come up with a range of solutions for the carbon capture project with a preferred option selected to move forward with.
- Stakeholder management – You will build trust and relationships with a number of internal and external stakeholders including local community groups and councils.
- Manage the change process without, losing faith or trust – this is a business first for aggregate industries as such may not it right first time of asking. Resilience, optimism and perseverance will key.
Candidate Essentials:
- The successful candidate will be a proven engineer able to understand the complexity of the project and able to use their engineering experience to be a genuine ‘problem solver’.
- Extensive background, degree level qualified or similar.
- Able to manage large groups stakeholders and build relationships and trust effectively.
- Comfortable and competent managing projects and stakeholders through large periods of change
- Relatable industry experience from similar ‘heavy industries’ such as Oil & Gas, Cement, Petrol, Chemical, and Mining.
- Able to have a full, on site presence and travel in line with project requirements locally.
Good to know:
- The Couldon plant has a rough headcount of 120.
- This requirement is a brand new role within the team as a direct result of this ‘flagship’ project, notably an exciting opportunity for a proven individual to have full ownership of.
- Although there are other initiatives underway within the Couldon plant to reduce Carbon emissions (Such as reduced fuel usage and renewable electricity) the Carbon Capture project is the ‘ultimate’ project and the one that will have the most profound effect.
- The role has management responsibility for a Project Engineer and several Sub Contractors.
- It’s important to note that the incoming candidate will be operating under significant pressure, the project is operating to pre-defined timescales and is dependent on this person landing and getting ‘the ball rolling’.
- The incoming Project Manager will be responsible for first assessing the feasibility of the project, able to articulate this with a number of key stakeholders.
- Additionally, they will be expected to pull together a recommendation document ‘ranking’ the methodologies on offer for delivering the project. Ranking each based on their merits and challenges.
- Stakeholders involved within the role include (But are not limited to), Internal leadership, local workforce, parish council, local authority, environment agency, legal team & and local representatives.
- It’s vital that the incoming candidate is comfortable taking these stakeholders through an extensive period of change, moving the project forward whilst building trust and understanding. Worth noting that they will need to confidence to challenge and inform where necessary.
- Important to note there are limited communications between Aggregates and other members of the Peak Cluster.
- The role will require someone who is a qualified engineer with a strong track record and the ability to act as a ‘problem solver’. This project in many senses is ‘first in kind’ and as such, will require the PM to apply innovative solutions.
- With the commercial and relationship-building skillset being vital to this role, we are comfortable working on the understanding that the successful candidate may come from closely related industries and not specifically Cement. (Oil & Gas, Cement, Petrol, Chemical, Mining).
- Specifical Carbon Capture experience would be beneficial for the role but agreed that this isn’t essential.
- The incoming candidate will be based at Couldon with the flexibility of ADHOC if required. It’s important to note that this will be case by case and not a prerequisite.
- Roughly 30% local travel is expected with the role although this will increase and fall as the project moves through different phases.
Budget:
- Base Salary Banding: Low of £90k, Mid of £95k and top end of £100k
- Annual Salary Reviews
- Car Allowance of £6,900 P.A or Car lease limit of £762
- Bonus – up to 20%
- Single Healthcare
- 4 x salary life insurance
- 25 days Holiday + 8 Statutory
- Holiday purchase scheme – buy up to 5 additional days.
- Pension Scheme
Likely Job Titles:
Lead Project Manager, Head of Project Manager, Programme Manager, Business Manager, Senior Programme Manager, Senior Project Manager, Sustainability manager, Carbon Capture manager, Engineering Director, Head of Engineering
Executive Search Delivery Team:
- Oliver Nunn – Research Manager
- Tom Norton – Business Manager
- Cat Lane – Executive Assistant
About Ford & Stanley Executive Search:
At Ford & Stanley Executive Search we go beyond a recruiting transaction with our core mission being that of every interaction we have with clients and candidates is best in class. We are select in the opportunities we represent, as such, work under strict exclusivity or retained agreements with forward thinking and proactive companies that place their trust in our ability to deliver a winning shortlist at the first time of asking.
Our Search Directors (who are themselves members of the F&S Group Board) and Search Consultants supported by an in-house research team invest time at the front end of process with our client’s leadership team or stakeholders to consult, understand the opportunity inherent within the role, business need, map and agree timescales with supporting delivery plan well in advance of conducting the search.
All candidates both active and passive (head-hunted) can expect full and professional engagement from the Executive Search team in addition a timely, thorough and engaging recruitment process from a committed employer that seeks to secure ‘cream of the crop’ from a busy and noisy Global Rail candidate market.
Ford & Stanley Group Ltd is committed to a policy of equal opportunities for all opportunity seekers and approach all opportunity with a mindset of who is right for the job irrespective sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, age, disability, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief or political beliefs and we place an obligation upon all staff to respect and act in accordance with the policy. We shall adhere to such a policy at all times and will review on an on-going basis all aspects of recruitment to avoid unlawful or undesirable discrimination