Project Manager

KEY RESPONSIBILITIESConcept and design

• Take the approved site and lease terms and produce the project brief: scope, budget, key dates and the landlord’s fit-out conditions
• Brief and manage the designer or architect, and run the concept through to construction drawings
• Sign off that the design meets ELC and The Entertainer brand guidelines and the category layout and range plan agreed with the buyers
• Coordinate design approval with The Entertainer UK brand and store development teams where required under the franchise agreement
• Review and mark up construction documents for errors and omissions before tender
• Plan fixture, fitting and equipment requirements and place orders with suppliers to the programmeTender and contractor appointment
• Prepare tender packs and obtain competitive quotes from approved fit-out contractors
• Select contractors on track record for this type of work, not on lowest quote, and put a written recommendation to the General Manager for approval that says why
• Scope every job so the specialist items are named in the contract rather than assumed: fire alarm cause-and-effect matrix, output and interface testing to the mall panel, air and water balancing, commissioning and a witnessed live test
• Document the tender process and the award decision, including any declared interests, so the record stands up to audit
• Build and maintain a rate card for standard fit-out and refit works so repeat projects across the estate do not need re-tendering from scratch
• Appoint and manage specialist trades and suppliers: shopfitting, MEP, signage, flooring, IT cabling, security and fire systemsMall, landlord and authority approvals
• Own the mall process end to end: design submissions to the mall’s retail delivery team and its consultant, design approvals, fit-out permits and their renewals, contractor all-risks (CAR) insurance, the pre-permission-to-trade checklist, and permission to trade
• Own the authority sequence and know it before the project starts. In Abu Dhabi: Tawtheeq tenancy registration, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Abu Dhabi Civil Defence (fitness certificate and attested AMC), TAQA and Hassantuk. In Dubai: Ejari, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Civil Defence, DEWA and Hassantuk. In Qatar: the municipality, Qatar Civil Defence and Kahramaa. Know which items a mall will and will not let a store open without
• Know what a Civil Defence inspection tests before it happens, and make sure the cause-and-effect matrix, interfacing to the mall panel and the live test are done and witnessed before the inspection is booked
• Obtain landlord fit-out approvals, site possession and access arrangements, and manage every landlord issue through the build
• Track permit expiry dates, government weekends and known authority timelines so none of them stops the site
• Be the single voice to the mall and its consultant. Treat them as a client to be kept informed, with consistent, factual updates in writing
• Manage the landlord handover and snagging process at completion, and the return of any deposits or fit-out contributionsBuild and delivery
• Run the project programme and critical path from possession to opening, and report progress weekly
• Manage the project budget: track spend against approved cost, control variations, and escalate anything that moves the cost by more than the agreed tolerance
• Conduct regular site visits and hold the contractor to programme, quality and safety
• Communicate every design change to the contractor, suppliers and internal teams in writing
• Complete the final inspection and snagging list, and follow every item to completion with the contractor
• Check delivery of all fixtures, fittings and display items, and chase damaged or missing items
• Make sure the contractor delivers all completion paperwork, certificates, warranties and as-built drawingsOpening programme and handover
• Hold every other workstream to the opening date: HR (recruitment, visas, transfers and training), buying and planning (range, opening order and delivery sequencing), IT (tills, systems, barcodes and connectivity), finance (licences, insurances and float) and marketing (launch plan, signage and opening event)
• Run a weekly opening meeting with the workstream owners and keep a single opening checklist that everyone can see
• Coordinate the fixture installation, opening stock delivery and merchandising set-up with the Area Manager and the visual merchandising lead
• Hand the store over to operations fully complete, clean, stocked, licensed and trading, with a written handover record
• Run a short post-opening review after each project: what went well, what to change, and update the standard programme accordinglyRefits and relocations
• Plan refits to minimise trading downtime, including out-of-hours and phased works where possible, and agree the trading plan with the Area Manager
• For relocations, sequence the new unit to open before the old one closes wherever the lease allows, so no trade is lost
• Build the rolling refit programme for the ELC estate, with a cost per store, a sequence and a view on downtime
• Manage minor works and pop-up builds to the same standards and documentation, scaled to the size of the jobThe tracker, verification and reporting
• Run one tracker for each project: every item with a date, a reference number, an owner and any blocker, shared with the mall where appropriate and chased daily. “Working on it” is not a status
• Nothing is marked done on the tracker without evidence: a reference number, a certificate, an approval in writing or a witnessed test. The Project Manager is accountable for the truth of the tracker
• Maintain the programme and critical path, re-cut every time something moves, so the General Manager always has a one-page answer to why the store is not yet open
• Escalate early: slippage is flagged the same day it is known, not at the end of the week
• Maintain a single programme view covering every live and planned project, with status, next milestone and risk
• Report weekly to the General Manager in writing, with facts, dates and references, and present the store development section at the monthly management review
• Keep a complete project file for every store: submissions, approvals, contracts, drawings, certificates, test records, costs and handover records
• Contribute to the standard new store P&L template with accurate capital cost and programme assumptions