Senior Legal Project Manager

Description:

We’re looking for a Senior Legal Project Manager (DCO) to join our Legal Project Management (LPM) team, working closely with our market‑leading Infrastructure Planning practice on complex Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).

This role focuses on the end‑to‑end project management of the Development Consent Order (DCO) lifecycle, from pre‑application through examination and, where required, post‑examination activity. You’ll play a critical role in guiding clients and internal teams through the Planning Act 2008 regime, ensuring delivery is structured, compliant and well‑governed throughout.

As part of Pinsent Masons Vario, our LPM team partners with legal teams and clients to deliver strategically important, high‑value projects to target margins, while improving efficiency, quality and client experience. The team also supports Vario’s wider mission to deliver commercially and legally sustainable solutions that promote flexible and inclusive ways of working.

Please note, this is a 12 month fixed term contract with potential to becoming permanent in the future.

What You’ll Do

Project Coordination & Delivery 

Support the strategic planning and day‑to‑day coordination of DCO/NSIP matters, ensuring that timelines, examination deadlines, key activities and dependencies are accurately maintained and communicated
Facilitate the delivery of all workstreams by organising inputs, monitoring progress, and ensuring legal teams and workstreams remain aligned to the agreed programme
Maintain robust control, including project plans, action logs, risk and issue registers, and specifically designed DCO-reporting tools
Track changes in project timelines, resource needs, risks and deliverables, escalating impacts to client

Governance, Meetings & Communication

Arrange and manage governance forums including Kick‑Off Meetings, Project Team Meetings and various Workshops as needed
Prepare agendas and ensure actions are captured, assigned and followed through
Provide clear, consistent communication across project teams, clients, Counsel, and external consultants —ensuring all parties understand what is required and by when

Stakeholder Management & Process Navigation

Apply advanced stakeholder management skills to coordinate complex interactions across legal teams, planning specialists, environmental consultants, and client organisations
Guide project teams through the procedural demands of the Planning Act 2008 and the DCO examination process, ensuring deadlines and statutory requirements remain front‑of‑mind
Promote collaboration between all workstreams and support issue resolution through proactive engagement and cross‑team communication

Risk, Issues & Programme Assurance

Identify programme‑level risks and issues, ensuring they are captured, assessed, monitored and escalated appropriately
Contribute to post‑project reviews and lessons learned exercises, feeding improvements back into the DCO PMO and wider LPM processes

Tools, Innovation & Continuous Improvement

Support the development and enhancement of project templates, trackers, tools and standard operating procedures for DCO matters
Promote lean working practices and process efficiencies to improve the consistency and quality of DCO project delivery
Identify improvement opportunities and support ongoing innovation within the Infrastructure Planning team

Broader Team & Organisational Support

Collaborate with pricing and legal teams by providing delivery insights needed to support client proposals and matter initiation 
Support large bids, and tenders where DCO project management expertise is required
Mentor more junior project managers
Provide general project management support across other teams/matters where required, while maintaining a primary focus on the DCO portfolio

About You

Demonstrable experience delivering key stages of Development Consent Orders
Experience coordinating complex, multi‑workstream and multi‑organisation projects]
A strong understanding of the Planning Act 2008, the NSIP regime and DCO process
A project management qualification (desirable)
Excellent planning, coordination, communication and stakeholder management skills
Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities
Confidence using Microsoft Office tools including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, SharePoint and Copilot
Commercial awareness, sound judgement and a proactive, problem‑solving mindset
The ability to challenge constructively and question assumptions
Resilience, flexibility and comfort working with limited supervision
Sensitivity to cultural differences across project teams

What We Offer

Agile working options, including home working
Carers’ leave of up to five paid days
25 days’ annual leave, with the option to buy or carry over up to five additional days
Contributory pension (up to 5%)
Private healthcare and death‑in‑service cover (4x salary)
Access to benefits including an electric car scheme, cycle‑to‑work scheme, and interest‑free loans for season tickets, gym membership, or rental deposits