Emerging Project Professional of the Year Award
Finalists for this category have now been announced.
Recognising talent in all sectors in those aged 29 years or under, or who have less than three years’ experience in their project management career.
The judges are looking for project practitioners who are demonstrating excellence in the delivery of their project(s) and/or programme(s), showing thoughtful engagement with the companies and clients they work with, and contributing to the profession more widely.
This award is open to project, programme or portfolio managers and practitioners aged 29 years or under at the entry closing date (21 May 2025), or over 29 years of age at the entry closing date with less than three years’ experience in their project management career.
Entrants for this category have a choice about how to they submit an entry, either:
produce a submission of up to 1,000 words (in English) based on the judging criteria through delivery of a project or programme where their involvement has been greater than six months.
Or
produce a video submission (in English) based on the judging criteria through delivery of a project or programme where their involvement has been greater than six months. The video must be no longer than eight minutes in length and must only show the entrant speaking to the camera, no additional persons may be present, no graphics, images or documents included in the video entry.
In addition, video and written entrants may also submit up to four pieces of supporting evidence - images or graphics only (no text apart from captions). Evidence must support information already included in the submission and must not introduce additional elements. Please see further details on the ‘Supporting evidence’ tab of the Awards platform. Video and audio are not accepted as part of the submission evidence.
The Emerging Project Professional of the Year category is a two-stage judging category, the first stage is the written or video submission mentioned above. The second stage requires all finalists to present virtually to a panel of judges on Monday 1 September 2025.
Project professionals from all sectors, and from across the globe, may apply. Entrants can be members or non-members of APM. In this category we also encourage nominations (with the individual’s approval) from employers or colleagues. Please note that we can only accept one entry per nominee. Hint/tip: Nominated individuals who write their own entry, tend to score higher (does not apply to Outstanding Achievement category).
Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 17 November.
Congratulations and good luck to all our finalists...
Finalist | Sophie Dolan - Natural History Museum
Sophie Dolan, 28, is a professionally qualified Senior Project Manager and Team Manager in the Estates, Projects and Masterplanning Team at the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, UK.
She has a Construction Management degree, eight years’ experience in the construction industry, attained the APM PMQ in 2025, and has managed four projects for the NHM since joining in 2023, including the £2.1M NHM Tring Roof Restoration Project (TRRP) which she delivered ahead of schedule and under budget.
Finalist | Jasreet Kaur - Severn Trent
The A435 Cycleway project is part of the wider Gloucestershire Cycle Spine. As Assistant Project Manager, I supported S2.1 and S2.2 of this scheme, later becoming Project Manager for emergency works caused by a landslip.
Key achievements included completing accelerated design and procurement, managing traffic management processes, and ensuring on-time delivery. Scope changes, programming and funding constraints added challenges to the scheme and were addressed through proactive risk management, and client and stakeholder liaison. The project enhanced AtkinsRéalis’ reputation, and the public’s trust with Gloucestershire County Council in resolving matters quickly and efficiently.
Finalist | Hannah Kirsopp - United Utilities
I have played a key role in the £183 million Oswestry WTW project, enhancing water supply for 1.4 million customers on a live, uninterrupted site. As Junior Project Manager, I’ve supported governance, facilitated collaborative meetings, developed and executed a communication plan and led a team on a work package to refurbish an existing process asset.
As Lessons Learned Champion, I captured and shared lessons to improve future project delivery. I also progressed personally by achieving my PFQ and PMQ qualifications. My contributions have helped deliver resilient, user-friendly assets and embed valuable lessons for future capital projects across the organisation.
Finalist | Alex Maidment - Department of Transport
I successfully delivered the first phase of the Manchester Programme, a programme of infrastructure upgrades across Greater Manchester. The 1st phase was split into two stages, a timetable change in December 2022 and the introduction of longer trains from the Summer of 2024. To enable these, I delivered 23 platform extensions and 3 depot upgrades across the Northwest.
In delivery, I delt with the collapse of the main contractor (Buckingham) and the unplanned closure of the railway for 9 days to rebuild a platform. Throughout the programme I managed complex interfaces and led a series of lessons learnt industry workshops.
Finalist | Callum McGregor - Gist Ltd
I work for PL Projects, an award winning project management consultancy & training firm. I have worked with our client Asda since early 2022 following my graduation from the APM accredited Project Management degree at Leeds Beckett University.
My role at Asda has given me the opportunity become closely engaged within high profile interrelated complex projects, within the largest retail digital transformation programme in Europe. This opportunity has allowed me to grow from a fresh graduate to a competent project professional. I am learning constantly, with my real world experience contributing to achieving my APM PMQ.