Getting a project over the finish line takes more than a plan and a timeline. It requires experience, clear communication, and the ability to spot potential risks before they become costly problems. At Ubique Risk Management, that’s the approach we bring to every project, and it’s one that Senior Project Manager Jack Machin demonstrates in every project he leads.
Jack joined Ubique in November 2024 as Senior Project Manager, and with him came nearly nine years of experience built across public sector highways, construction, and infrastructure. His career has been defined by a focus on delivery rather than process for its own sake, and on the conviction that clarity, governance, and proactive risk management are what separate a successful project from an expensive one.
Jack’s background is in public sector project management, working primarily with local authority clients on highways and construction initiatives. It is a sector that demands precision: timelines are scrutinised, budgets are public, and the consequences of uncontrolled change are visible and political. That environment shapes a certain kind of project manager, one who understands that robust controls are not bureaucracy but protection.
In July 2023, Jack was officially recognised as meeting the Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) standard by the Association for Project Management (APM). ChPP is one of the most rigorous professional benchmarks in UK project management, requiring candidates to demonstrate sustained competence, leadership, and a commitment to the profession. It is not a course certificate. It is a professional judgement.
Ask Jack which delivery stands out, and he will point to the St Helens CYCLOPS Junction. A CYCLOPS (Cycle Optimised Protected Signals) junction is a specialist piece of active travel infrastructure, and the St Helens scheme came with the kind of complexity that tests every project management skill simultaneously: multiple risks, stakeholder sensitivity, technical constraints, and the need to keep a public highway environment safe throughout construction.
Successful delivery of a scheme like that does not happen through optimism. It requires exactly the structured, methodical approach that Jack describes as the foundation of his practice: clear scope definition, proactive management of risks and issues, and a discipline around change control that prevents scope creep from becoming the project’s undoing.
When asked what makes a project succeed, Jack is direct: a collaborative and forward-thinking team, a clear definition of scope, robust project controls, and a firm hand on change management. That last point matters more than it is often given credit for. Uncontrolled change is one of the most common causes of project failure, and it tends to be treated as a problem only once it has already caused damage. Jack’s approach is to address it before it does.
His advice to anyone managing a complex project is equally direct: do not be afraid to ask the awkward questions. Difficult conversations, handled early, resolve bottlenecks. Delayed, they become crises.
Jack describes what motivates him as the opportunity to be challenged on projects that push beyond the familiar, and to do that alongside a talented and supportive team. That is consistent with how Ubique operates across its project management work: experienced practitioners, applied to genuinely complex public sector challenges, with the governance discipline to deliver.
Outside of work, Jack plays golf, runs, and follows Liverpool FC with the kind of loyalty that probably requires its own risk management strategy.
If you would like to discuss how Ubique Risk Management can support your next project, get in touch with the team.
