About This Role

ap16 is looking for a technically minded, organised and customer-focused Graduate Technical Project Manager to help deliver software development projects from initial requirements through to implementation and ongoing support.

This is an opportunity for a Software Engineering or Computer Science graduate who enjoys understanding how software works, solving problems and working with people as much as writing code. You will work closely with developers, customers and other stakeholders to turn business requirements into practical technical solutions, ensuring projects are delivered effectively and customers remain informed throughout.

The role combines technical investigation, project planning, customer communication and hands-on problem solving. You will develop a detailed understanding of our software, help define solutions to technical challenges and coordinate development work through to successful delivery.

You won't be expected to arrive as an experienced project manager. We are looking for someone with strong technical foundations, excellent communication skills, a methodical approach and the enthusiasm to take ownership and develop into the role.

As Graduate Technical Project Manager, your responsibilities will include:

• Project management and delivery: Coordinate software development projects, maintaining plans, priorities, milestones and deadlines. Track progress, identify risks and dependencies, and ensure outstanding work is followed through to completion.

• Technical understanding and investigation: Develop a working knowledge of our software, codebase, databases and integrations. Read and understand code, investigate bugs, review logs and data, reproduce issues and work with developers to identify root causes and appropriate solutions.

• Requirements analysis: Work with customers and internal stakeholders to understand business needs, clarify requirements and translate them into clear, actionable development tasks.

• Customer communication: Build effective customer relationships, lead project discussions, provide progress updates, explain technical issues in plain English and manage expectations around scope, timescales and delivery.

• Developer coordination: Work closely with software developers to agree priorities, clarify requirements, monitor progress and resolve blockers, balancing customer needs with technical considerations and available resources.

• Testing and quality assurance: Coordinate testing, test and validate completed work against requirements, help identify defects and ensure issues are resolved before release.

• Problem solving: Take ownership of issues from initial investigation through to resolution, ensuring that problems are understood, communicated clearly and not allowed to drift.

• Release and implementation: Help coordinate deployments, customer acceptance, documentation and post-release support.

• Continuous improvement: Identify opportunities to improve project processes, software quality, customer experience and the efficiency of development and delivery.

As your experience grows, you will take increasing responsibility for managing projects independently, making informed technical decisions and owning delivery from initial customer discussions through to successful implementation.

Requirements

We are interested in your ability, attitude and potential, rather than simply the experience listed on your CV.

Essential

• A degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science or a closely related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

• A sound understanding of software development principles, including programming, databases, APIs and debugging.

• The ability to read and understand code and communicate technical issues clearly, even when you are not the person implementing the final solution.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Excellent organisation and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple tasks, competing priorities and deadlines.

• A logical, analytical approach to problem solving and a willingness to investigate issues rather than simply pass them on.

• A proactive attitude, taking responsibility for actions, following through on commitments and raising potential problems early.

• The ability to work collaboratively with developers, customers and colleagues while also working independently when required.

• A genuine interest in how software is designed, built, tested, deployed and maintained.

Desirable

• Experience with C#, .NET, SQL Server or similar technologies.

• Familiarity with web applications, APIs, integrations and software deployment.

• Experience of version control, issue tracking, testing or agile development practices.

• Personal software projects, university team projects, industrial placements or other evidence of applying technical knowledge to real problems.

• Experience communicating with customers, gathering requirements or coordinating work within a team.

• An interest in project management, business analysis, technical consultancy or software delivery.

• A placement year in industry or 1 year post-graduation relevant work experience

Previous employment as a project manager is not required. We welcome graduates who can demonstrate technical ability, initiative, sound judgement and the potential to take responsibility for delivering successful software projects. 

Benefits

• Competitive graduate salary: £30,000–£34,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience.

• Structured development: The opportunity to build project management, technical investigation and customer-facing skills with support from experienced colleagues.

• Real responsibility: Involvement in live software development projects and direct exposure to customers, technical decisions and business requirements.

• Career progression: A clear opportunity to progress towards independently managing software projects and taking ownership of increasingly complex technical deliveries.

• Technical variety: Exposure to software development, databases, integrations, troubleshooting, testing and implementation.

• A varied role: A combination of technical problem solving, communication, organisation and practical delivery, rather than a purely administrative project coordination position.

• A supportive environment: The opportunity to learn, ask questions, contribute ideas and develop your strengths as your responsibilities grow.

The ideal candidate

You enjoy understanding how things work, communicating with people and getting problems solved. You can move comfortably between a technical discussion with a developer and a project update with a customer. You are organised enough to keep work moving, curious enough to investigate difficult issues and confident enough to take responsibility when something needs doing.

If you want to build a career at the intersection of software engineering, customer relationships and project delivery, we'd like to hear from you.