Project Manager

Company Background
The Retrac Group is a world-class specialist supplier to the largest global manufacturers in Formula 1, Motorsport, Automotive, Aerospace, Defence, Medical and R&D / Innovation. Based in Swindon, Retrac provides its established blue-chip client base with award-winning engineering solutions in advanced materials, tooling and component manufacture.
We are a market leader in high precision engineering excellence. Specialists in design and manufacturing we offer an end-to-end service with expertise across all composite materials and metals. We also specialise in the design and production of advanced patterns, tooling and components for the most demanding industries, using high precision engineering and manufacturing techniques. With a 50-year history of innovation and manufacturing excellence, Retrac Group has been a key supplier to more than half the Formula 1 World Champions across the past two decades.
Performance. Precision. Pride. The Retrac Group’s core values drive our complete service, offering a single-entity manufacturing solution with an outstanding reputation for our ability to undertake the shortest possible lead time and still deliver on cost and quality.

Purpose of the function
An important customer-facing position within Retrac Group’s, the Project Manager sits within Retrac Group Ltd’s Project Team and is assigned responsibility for customer accounts or projects.
Core duties involve daily customer relations management and interfacing the customer’s requirements with Retrac’s production team. They are responsible for building and maintaining strong, long-term customer relationships, securing enquiries, quotations and orders, then facilitating Production to process orders by providing technical information flow, resource planning, progress monitoring and customer updates to support provision of a premium manufacturing service that exceeds customers’ expectations on quality, delivery & cost, and delivers against Retrac’s business objectives. This role is supporting customers within the automotive, aerospace & F1 sector.

Key responsibilities
Operate as the main point of contact for assigned customers and selected programmes of work.
Develop and maintain long-term relationships with relevant customer personnel (buyers and/or senior buyers & technical personnel) ensuring overall customer satisfaction that exceeds their expectations.
Proactively secure customer enquiries, and connect to internal departments and data records to verify estimates to generate 'Request for Quote' (RFQs) that are accurate, deliverable and meet business commercial objectives, and which are delivered to the customer in a timely and structured manner to secure purchase orders on a timescale that both protects the business and expedites production to meet customer needs.
Create job packs about each project by gathering all necessary customer technical information to facilitate Production, identifying and assessing risks, and maintain communication flow and progress updates to the customer through each project.
Maintain oversight on each project’s progress and costs, fully utilising the company’s business system (Progress Plus) by accurately inputting enquiries and project information through sales orders, works orders, BOMs & routings, ensuring target hours are monitored and adjusted to promote efficiencies, and adapt to any shop floor production challenges.
Collaborate with colleagues and feed information through status reports about on-going and future customer projects into internal operations and production planning to maintain schedules.
Generate and/or maintain an internal handbook about each main customer, logging their technical, commercial and communication requirements. Ensure the Project Team is in compliance with customer SLA and NDA obligations, and that customer data is securely and properly archived.
Deliver to line manager or senior management regular updates on status of all assigned customer relationships, and support the business in determining optimum strategies to strengthen that relationship, increase share of wallet, and capture new business in line with company objectives.
Adhere to the Company Policies, and be committed to striving to meet personal and business objectives and customer requirements.

Competencies
Good communication and organisational skills with excellent attention to detail
Good project management skills, managing multiple projects and relationships simultaneously
Good time management and prioritise tasks effectively
Ability to work to strict deadlines, resilient under pressure in a demanding & reactive environment
Ability to communicate customer requirements with colleagues
Ability to follow instruction but also to use initiative in finding/offering solutions to difficult tasks
Ability to learn and fully utilise MRP system
Ability to efficiently and accurately respond to RFQs, estimating in a method endorsed by the business
Good presentation and teamwork skills
Self-motivated, enthusiastic, reliable, flexible and approachable
Ability to respond to people in a professional manner and deliver outstanding customer service

Knowledge/Experience
Previous experience within the automotive, aerospace & F1 sector is preferred
Excellent verbal and written communication skills are essential
Customer-focused experience
Project Management skills
Competency in Microsoft applications including Project, Word, Excel, and Outlook
Competent experience in using a Production Control Software System
Good knowledge of CNC Machining and manufacturing processes & procedures is preferred
Ability to understand and interpret engineering drawings, and determine process and routing
Experience of organising, prioritisation and problem solving

This is a permanent full time in-house role.

Working Hours are Monday to Thursday 8am to 4pm, Friday 8am to 3.30pm