Programme Manager & Operations lead in Uxbridge

Programme & Operations Lead

to act as the trusted operational partner to the Head of GenAI & Automation. Operating across the breadth of the function, this role will translate strategic direction into coordinated execution, create structure across competing demands and ensure the department runs with pace, discipline and clarity.

This is a highly visible, hands-on role with responsibility for the day-to-day operating rhythm of the function. The successful candidate will act as the Head of GenAI & Automation's trusted operational partner, translating strategic direction into coordinated execution and ensuring that priorities, resources, governance, investment and delivery remain aligned. They will combine programme and portfolio leadership with strong commercial judgement, exceptional organisation and the confidence to challenge, unblock and drive matters through to resolution.

Contract

initially until the end of Dec 2026 with a high possibility of extending further

Location

UB7 0GB (3 days on-site)

Pay

attractive daily rate (inside IR35)

Key Responsibilities

• Own the day-to-day operating rhythm of the GenAI & Automation function, ensuring annual and quarterly planning, priorities, leadership meetings, governance forums, portfolio reviews, decisions and actions operate as a coherent management system.
• Translate leadership direction into clear plans, actions, ownership and outcomes, maintaining visibility of decisions, commitments and dependencies.
• Lead leadership and governance forums, including agendas, inputs, papers, actions and decision tracking, ensuring stakeholders are prepared, decisions are explicit and follow-through is completed.
• Produce clear, accurate and compelling executive packs, presentations, briefings and communications for senior stakeholders.
• Develop concise insights and reporting that bring together delivery progress, portfolio health, risks, dependencies, performance and decisions required.
• Create structure in an evolving environment, bringing together information from multiple products, teams and stakeholders to establish a coherent view.
• Coordinate activity across Group Functions and operating companies, maintaining clarity between Group and local responsibilities and identifying opportunities for reuse, shared investment and common delivery patterns.
• Operate as a flexible, hands-on member of the function, stepping into priority areas to unblock issues, improve ways of working and ensure important activities progress.
• Maintain a 360-degree view of the GenAI & Automation portfolio, including priorities, roadmaps, milestones, risks, issues, dependencies and delivery confidence.
• Ensure products and initiatives have clear ownership, up-to-date roadmaps, appropriate governance and proportionate delivery plans.
• Operate the portfolio intake and progression process, ensuring opportunities are appropriately assessed, prioritised, sponsored, funded and governed from initial demand through discovery, delivery, adoption, benefits realisation and eventual retirement.
• Maintain a consolidated view of investment, forecast benefits, realised benefits and delivery confidence, working with business sponsors and Finance to ensure benefits are clearly owned, evidenced and tracked through to realisation.
• Ensure initiatives have clear product ownership, business sponsorship, funding, adoption plans, production support arrangements, success measures and accountable benefits owners before progressing through key life cycle stages.
• Promote adherence to agreed delivery standards, controls and governance requirements, working constructively with product, engineering and business leads to address gaps.
• Maintain an integrated view of demand, delivery capacity and resource allocation across internal teams, partners and business-owned initiatives, identifying trade-offs and driving evidence-based prioritisation and sequencing decisions.
• Provide accurate and insightful reporting to governance forums and senior leadership, with clear recommendations and decisions required.
• Support financial and commercial management of the function, including budgets, forecasts, supplier commitments, statements of work, delivery milestones and consumption-based technology costs.
• Ensure adoption, communications, training, business readiness and change activities are integrated into delivery plans, with outcomes measured beyond technical go-live.

Targeted Programme & Delivery Ownership

• Take direct ownership of selected initiatives, work streams or improvement activities where additional leadership or coordination is required.
• Lead risk, issue and dependency management for assigned activity, escalating and resolving blockers at the appropriate level.
• Work with product managers, engineering leads, delivery teams and business owners to strengthen planning, readiness and execution.
• Apply Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery practices pragmatically, according to the needs and maturity of the work.

Skills and Experience Required

• Proven experience as a Programme Manager, Senior Delivery Lead or Portfolio Programme Manager within a complex technology, digital or transformation environment.
• Demonstrable experience establishing or running the operating rhythm of a technology, transformation or product function.
• Experience managing demand, capacity, portfolio investment and resource trade-offs across multiple teams and delivery partners.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including business cases, budgets, supplier commitments, consumption costs and benefits realisation.
• Experience tracking business adoption and realised outcomes, rather than delivery milestones alone.
• Programme or portfolio management experience across multiple products, work streams, teams or business areas.
• Exceptional organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to create structure, maintain momentum and manage multiple competing demands.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience creating executive-level presentations, governance packs, briefings and performance reporting.
• Strong stakeholder management, influencing and facilitation skills, with confidence in operating with senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of governance, delivery assurance, roadmaps, RAID management, dependencies, milestones and delivery standards.
• Ability to synthesise complex or incomplete information into clear insights, recommendations, actions and decisions.
• A proactive, adaptable and hands-on approach, with the judgement to identify where support is most needed and take ownership through to resolution.
• High levels of discretion, personal ownership and reliability, with the confidence to challenge constructively, close loops and operate effectively with limited supervision.
• Practical understanding of Generative AI and automation delivery, including data and privacy considerations, responsible AI, evaluation, adoption, production support, consumption costs and the implications of rapidly evolving technology.
• Experience working across Agile, Waterfall and hybrid delivery models.
• Experience working across a federated or highly matrixes organisation, balancing enterprise standards and shared priorities with local accountability and delivery ownership.