Lead Program Manager
IT Programme Lead
Contract | £800-£900/day (Inside IR35)
London (2 days onsite)
3-month initial contract
18-month programme
Start: ASAP
A leading professional services firm is undertaking a firm-wide back-office transformation, with the IT programme now a critical and accelerating workstream. We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Programme Lead to take ownership and drive delivery from day one.
This is a programme ownership role — not a coordination or reporting position. The successful candidate will be expected to lead, structure, and deliver.
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🎯 Key Responsibilities
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→ Take ownership of the IT roadmap within the first 4–6 weeks
→ Restructure and shape the programme where required
→ Establish pragmatic, right-sized governance appropriate for a mid-sized organisation
→ Manage multiple concurrent workstreams and cross-programme interdependencies
→ Engage and influence senior stakeholders with confidence and credibility
→ Define and help build a delivery team to support programme execution
→ Work alongside a parallel AI programme, managing dependencies and alignment
The programme is expected to compress from 24 months to 12–18 months — this hire will be central to making that happen.
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✅ Essential Requirements
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✔ Demonstrable end-to-end programme ownership — across multiple concurrent workstreams
✔ Strong track record in IT, digital or back-office transformation programmes
✔ Ability to design and implement pragmatic governance frameworks tailored to mid-sized businesses
✔ Senior stakeholder management experience — able to challenge, influence and drive decisions
✔ Hands-on delivery approach — willing to engage with detail as well as strategy
✔ Multiple repeatable examples of delivering complex programmes end-to-end
✔ Comfortable operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments
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⭐ Desirable Experience
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→ Professional services or consulting environment background
→ Post-M&A integration, operating model change or organisational transformation
→ Experience scaling delivery functions or standing up programme management capability
→ Exposure to AI or data programmes and cross-initiative dependency management
→ Familiarity with benefits realisation tracking and commercial impact measurement
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❌ This Role Is Not Suited To...
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✗ Candidates who have only managed single workstreams or delivery lanes
✗ Those who default to heavy governance frameworks and excessive process documentation
✗ Profiles focused solely on stakeholder management without strong programme structuring capability
✗ Purely strategic or advisory backgrounds with limited hands-on delivery experience
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💡 The Ideal Candidate
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An experienced, delivery-focused programme leader with a proven track record of driving complex transformation programmes to completion. You will bring the credibility to engage at the most senior levels, the structure to build a scalable delivery function, and the pragmatism to get things done — without over-engineering the solution.