Shared Services Transformation Consultant

As a Consultant within the Sourcing, IT Strategy and Corporate Services capability at PA, you will be given the opportunity to work on complex and interesting challenges faced by public and private sector organisations in the UK and internationally. You will be trusted to work across diverse programmes with our clients to improve their back‑office functions, offering a rare opportunity to build unrivalled expertise and experience.

As a Shared Services Transformation consultant, you will deliver value to clients by guiding them through the design of multi‑function shared services models, helping them effectively utilise enabling technology platforms, and supporting the transition from fragmented legacy delivery to consolidated, AI‑augmented operations. You will provide client‑side advisory across the full lifecycle of transformation: from vision and business case through to design, implementation, and benefits realisation.

Key responsibilities

• Lead or support shared services strategy development, including operating model design, sourcing options appraisal (in‑house, outsource, hybrid), and business case development.
• Manage transformation workstreams across Finance, HR, Procurement and IT shared services, including SI and vendor oversight.
• Align business processes with enabling technology platforms (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Workday, ServiceNow) and AI‑powered automation tooling.
• Lead or support the development of Target Operating Models and governance frameworks for shared services environments.
• Provide client‑side advisory across the full transformation lifecycle — from diagnostic through to hyper‑care and steady state.
• Support change management, workforce transition and benefits realisation planning.
• Drive AI‑led transformation opportunities — identifying use cases for intelligent automation, agentic AI and data‑driven service delivery within shared services functions.

Hybrid working – our approach is to be in the office or on client site a minimum of 2 days per week. The actual time you spend and where you spend it will vary by role or assignment, including up to 5 days per week on a client site.

Qualifications

• Practical industry experience in a Finance, HR, IT or Procurement leadership or operational role – ideally within a shared services centre or GBS environment – or consulting or advisory experience supporting shared services transformation programmes.
• Experience acting as a Business Integrator in technology‑enabled transformation, bridging client stakeholder needs and technical delivery.
• Familiarity with process standardisation, continuous improvement and operational excellence methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma).
• Proven capability in change management and organisational design in the context of service consolidation or outsourcing.
• Knowledge of shared services enabling platforms (SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Fusion, Workday, ServiceNow or similar).
• Understanding of AI‑led transformation in back‑office operations – including intelligent automation, LLM‑enabled workflows, agentic process handling and AI governance considerations.
• Strong consulting skills and senior stakeholder engagement capability.
• Ability to work across sectors (Financial Services, Public Sector, Healthcare, Energy) and adapt to varied client environments.
• Experience in business process design, data migration strategy and reporting/analytics transformation.
• Experience in operating in public and private sector shared services environments.
• A drive for personal and professional progression and genuine enthusiasm for AI‑enabled operating model innovation.
• Business process mapping, cost modelling and operational process improvement.

Benefits

• Health and lifestyle perks accompanying private healthcare.
• 25 days annual leave (plus a bonus half day on Christmas Eve) with the opportunity to buy 5 additional days.
• Generous company pension scheme.
• Opportunity to get involved with community and charity‑based initiatives.
• Annual performance‑based bonus.
• PA share ownership.
• Tax‑efficient benefits (cycle to work, give‑as‑you‑earn).

We are committed to advancing equality. We recruit, retain, reward and develop our people solely based on their abilities and contributions and without reference to their age, background, disability, genetic information, parental or family status, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity (or expression), political belief, veteran status or any other range of human difference brought about by identity and experience. We welcome applications from underrepresented groups. Adjustments or accommodations – should you need any adjustments or accommodations to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us.