Role Profile

Job Title
Position
Hours

Holidays
Manager
Location

Project Director
Fixed Term (24 months)
Part-time 28 hours per week (normally worked over four
days)
27 days (including pro rata public holiday entitlement)
The Director
Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, London
SW3 4HS

1.

Equal Opportunities

Chelsea Physic Garden is a place for everyone. As an equal opportunities’ employer,
Chelsea Physic Garden is committed to championing equality, diversity, and inclusion
in our workplace. If you are a suitably qualified applicant, we encourage your
application whatever your age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or
belief, sexual orientation or background.

2.

About Chelsea Physic Garden

Chelsea Physic Garden (CPG) is an independent charity set up in 1983 to promote and
preserve the four-acre garden of the same name. The charity’s mission is to
demonstrate the medicinal, economic, cultural and environmental importance of
plants to the survival and wellbeing of humankind. We are open to visitors six-days a
week, eleven months of the year. There has been a teaching Garden on our site since
1673, and today we hope that all our visitors leave inspired, having learnt something
new.

3.

Our Values

We have a set of five inter linked reinforcing values that support each other

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Openness and
Transparency

•Sharing and

being generous
with information

•Being open to
new ideas and
opinions

Respect &
Care

•Respecting

others' roles
feelings and
opinions
•Listening

sensitively and
encouraging
dialogue

Inclusion

•Working

collaboratively
•Reaching  out to
involve others in
and outside the
organisation

Discovery &
Enrichment

•Actively seeking

out new
knowledge
•Inspiring and
motivating
intellectual
curiosity and
learning

Sustainability

•Embracing
change and
innovation
•Woprking to
build on our
heritage

4.

Purpose of the job

This is an exciting and critical time for Chelsea Physic Garden (CPG) as we continue
our transformation journey. The organisation is in the middle of an ambitious
programme of strategic growth and change.

We are seeking an experienced Project Director who will bring their expertise to serve
our bold vision. The ideal candidate is someone who can help us realise our creative
direction and aspirations for all aspects of the capital and any supporting activity
programmes.

The Project Director will lead a review of the RIBA 1 report against the Garden’s
emerging ten-year Strategy and subject to any review re-engage the professional team
to commence RIBA 2 onwards supported by a complementary capital fundraising
campaign.

Able to lead a team of contractors, developers, designers, engineers and other
professionals who are essential to a project’s success, the Project Director will also be
responsible for managing various capital projects from inception through design to
completion within agreed costs and timescales.  They will plan and organise projects
to achieve the ambitions and purpose of CPG, to deliver against agreed business
cases. They will work closely with senior leadership team colleagues and their teams
to ensure that activities align with the overall vision and priorities of the Garden as a
whole and are programmed to ensure maximum impact including meeting any
revenue targets without compromising the integrity or fabric of the listed Garden and
its botanic collections.

The Project Director is a key member of the Senior Leadership Team.  The successful
candidate will need to hit the ground running; devising an effective plan that supports
the Garden’s strategic plan and emerging architectural masterplan.  It will ensure that
business as usual can be sustained through any major capital or infrastructure works,
ensuring continued relevance and visibility throughout.

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This role requires a highly effective and proactive organisational leader. The Project
Director will liaise with key internal and external stakeholders and develop projects
from concept and business case to the point where they can be evaluated for practical
and financial purposes and approved for project and programme delivery.   The
Project Director will be committed to providing the highest level of service to both
internal and external stakeholders.  They will be comfortable multi-tasking, overseeing
the operational delivery of projects whilst driving a clear strategic project roadmap.
They will be able to influence successfully and provide strong leadership and an
enabling and empowering culture in which individuals can succeed.

5.

Key Responsibilities & Duties

5.1  Project Direction, Management and Delivery

•  Provide a complete project management service on behalf of CPG as

client.

•  Manage projects in accordance with CPG’s delegation of authority and

governance matrix.

•  Ensure suitable standards of quality and workmanship are obtained.
•  Prepare  the  necessary  specification  and  tender  documents  for  projects,

together with any required progress reports.

•  Ensure that (where appropriate) quotations and tenders are obtained
evaluated and awarded in line with any agreed procurement process.

•  Recommend the make-up of a consultant design team for each project (if
required) and to ensure that they are appointed under appropriate terms
and conditions.

•  Appoint, manage, monitor, and control any consultants to successfully

deliver a particular project and to ensure that appointed consultants carry
out their duties in accordance with their contract.

•  Supervise the overall performance of consultants and/or contractors and
act when undue delay or negligence occurs, recommending legal action
or the removal of consultants or contractors where necessary.

•  Either directly or through others, liaise to ensure the smoothest possible
execution of work and ensure the proper management of contractors
whilst on site, understanding and acting on contractual responsibilities
and liabilities as they occur.

•  Ensure appropriate commissioning/witness testing of works takes place in
a timely manner and that snags and defects are rectified in the shortest
possible time. Handover the project to ‘business as usual’, including the
project health and safety files and operation and maintenance manuals,
ensuring these are to the required standard and received by the time a
contractor is awarded ‘practical completion’.

•  Pro-actively ensure that contractor, consultant, and supplier ‘final
accounts’ are agreed and verified in a timely manner. Submit final
accounts at the end of a project to finance.

•  Lead an organisation-wide ‘lessons learned’ process after each major project,

and pro-actively work with other relevant staff / consultants / contractors
or suppliers to use these lessons to help in providing improved outcomes.

•  Act as Project Liaison Officer where appropriate.

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•  Work with the colleagues and appropriate consultants (Principal Designer
and/or CDM lead) in ensuring all assigned projects are safely delivered.

5.2  Meetings and Communications

•  Manage the administration processes of the Project Board, Project Team
and Capital Design Team ensuring that meetings are scheduled and
undertaken, agendas and papers issues and minutes taken and approved.

•  Prepare Board and Project Board reports for capital and supplementary

revenue projects and, where applicable, present reports to the Board and
relevant committees.

•  Act as liaison with all internal and external stakeholders, including the
client team, audience and community groups, local residents, planning
authorities, interest groups and others, as appropriate.

•  Keep stakeholders updated of progress, be mindful of risks and act to

ensure these do not become issues. CPG is a “live” working environment
and so the Project Director must ensure  that  expectations  are  managed,
disruption  is  kept  to  a  minimum  and  all parties are aware of when the
works are and the impact these will have on business as usual.

•  Work with the Director and the Board on key matters of governance, ensuring all

work is delivered with clarity and excellence.

5.3   Risk and Compliance

•  Ensure regular and robust risk management, ensuring legal compliance across

all areas of work.

•  Take reasonable care of your own health and safety, and that of other

persons that may be affected within the relevant working environment, in
accordance with Health & Safety procedures and ensure that contractors
meet and comply with current health and safety regulations.

•  Ensure that all insurance conditions and safeguarding are in place at all time.

•  Ensure that any project monitoring systems are populated with all
relevant project information and to be updated at least monthly.
•  Actively seek to implement the Garden’s Health and Safety Policy in

relation to the duties of the post and always give due regard to the health
and safety of both themselves and others when carrying out their duties.

•  To undertake any other duties that may reasonably be requested

appropriate to the grade

5.4  Financial Leadership

•  Monitor and control capital and revenue expenditure within agreed

budgets.

•  Work closely with the directors and SLT to identify opportunities to improve the
charity’s financial position through increased income generation and operating
efficiencies.

•  Ensure compliance and excellence in all systems and processes and the overall

financial integrity of the organisation to upheld.

•  Proactively work with SLT to support the development of an ambitious income

growth strategy for the organisation.

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•  Enable a values-based team learning culture that promotes an inclusive culture,

collaboration, proactivity, and responsibility, ensuring that individuals are
focused on providing the foundations that will allow CPG to meet its vision and
ten-year goals.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities you may be required to
undertake any other duties and reasonable requests that are in keeping with the
nature of this role

6.

Person Specification

Knowledge Skills and Experience – to be updated

Demonstrable experience of managing capital and activity projects in a
heritage setting, preferably NLHF grant funded
Suitable project or demonstrable experience in project management
software or programmes
Ability to ensure a critical path is prepared for each programme of
activity and monitor these with each programme lead, identifying and
supporting progress requirements or barriers
An ability to demonstrate a good understanding of current building
conservation principles and techniques
Sound financial management skills and understanding of budgets and
procurement in a construction context
Demonstrable experience of procuring and managing consultants and
contractors and managing successful contract negotiations
A sound general business understanding including an appreciation of
current market trends and activities in the heritage sector
An ability to influence senior colleagues and work as part of a multi-
disciplinary team.  Confident, articulate, self assured with an ability to
work with the minimum of supervision

Essential/
Desirable
E

E

E

E

E

E

E

E

7.

Competency Framework

We have a set of eight competencies that are common to all employees and within the
framework each competency has four levels which relate to the level at which
individual roles need to operate.  The competency assessment for this role is set out
below and more information will be provided to support this assessment.

  Competency

Descriptor

1  Leadership
2  People

Management

3  Analysis and

use of Evidence

Setting the pace and behaving with integrity
Making clear what you expect and what is to be
achieved; enabling and supporting your staff to
deliver
Collecting, analysing and using information
and evidence, assessing risk and taking
decisions

Level for this
role
4
3

4

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4  Communication  Communicating with colleagues, visitors and

5  Collaborative
Working
6  Delivering
Results
7  Using and
Managing
Resources
8  Know How

stakeholders
Working together with people within and
outside of CPG to help us achieve our goals
Organising and managing the work to deliver
results
Using resources cost effectively

The knowledge, skills and expertise you need
to do your job and help others to do theirs

4

3

4

4

3

8.

Terms and Conditions

The post holder will be required to work an average of four days per week but the
nature of the role means that flexibility over the days and hours worked is required to
meet the needs of the business.

There may be a requirement to work irregular hours to meet a particular deadline and
if called upon, time off in lieu will be provided in line with the Garden’s policy.

The Garden operates a salary exchange pension scheme currently with Royal London
which means that gross salary is reduced by the amount of pension contribution made
by the employee which is then paid directly into your pension. The equivalent
contribution rates are 6% employer and 3% employee at the end of the probationary
period.

Probation period three months.

If you require this document in an alternative format, or have any barriers to making
an application, please contact us and we will do our best to help.

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