Transformation Delivery Lead in Putney

Salary up to: Competitive

Reporting to: Head of Operational Transformation

Base Location: Putney (Hybrid 3 days a week office based)

About the role: Nando’s is a global restaurant business rooted in South Africa, with over 500 sites and 20,000 people across the UK and Ireland. Our purpose - Changing Lives Together - shapes how we think about our people, our customers, and the communities we are part of. We are a people-first business where the magic starts with the teams in our restaurants.

We are now embarking on one of the most ambitious transformations in our history using new ways of working, and emerging technology including AI to make the business sustainably more efficient while protecting what makes Nando’s special. The challenge is doing both at once - delivering significant change at pace without losing the culture and human connection that defines us.

The opportunity: This is a role for someone who wants to be in the room where it happens. You will work at the centre of a COO-sponsored transformation programme, taking direct ownership of project delivery across some of the most consequential change happening in the business. The work spans operational redesign, technology implementation, business process re-engineering, and emerging technology including AI. You will work across multiple domains. The range is deliberate - we want someone who is hungry to learn across disciplines and comfortable moving between them.

You will work closely with a senior Transformation Programme Manager and with people across every level of the business - from restaurant teams and operational managers to functional leaders and senior stakeholders. The environment is fast-paced, the people are varied, and the landscape shifts. If you want a role where you will grow faster than you thought possible, this is it.

What you’ll be doing:

• Owning the end-to-end delivery of transformation projects - from scoping and planning through to implementation and benefits realisation.
• Working across business functions and alongside Technology teams to coordinate and drive change, acting as the connective tissue between strategy and execution.
• Building relationships with people across the organisation - whether that is a restaurant general manager, a subject matter expert in finance, or a functional director. This means influencing without authority and earning trust through delivery.
• Maintaining clear, lightweight governance - tracking progress, surfacing risks, and keeping the right people informed without drowning in process.
• Using emerging technology including AI actively in your own work. We expect fluency, not expertise - you should be someone who reaches for technology as a daily working habit and is curious about what else it can do.
• Contributing to the broader transformation programme - sharing what you learn, flagging what you see, and helping shape the approach as it evolves.
• Contributing to the management of the organisation’s change portfolio - helping to track, coordinate, and communicate the pipeline of change across the business, ensuring dependencies are visible and delivery capacity is realistic.

You will be someone who:

• Has 5+ years’ experience delivering change, transformation, or business improvement initiatives, coordinating multiple workstreams and stakeholders to achieve measurable outcomes.
• Gets things done. You are outcome-focused and take ownership of delivery without waiting to be told what to do next.
• Builds trust quickly with people at all levels - from subject matter experts to senior leaders - through a combination of competence, honesty, and genuine engagement.
• Works confidently at the boundary of business and technology. You do not need a technical background, but you are comfortable partnering with technologists and learning enough to be effective.
• Thrives in ambiguity. You can take a loosely defined objective, work with others to shape it, and iterate as you learn. You do not freeze when the brief changes.
• Communicates clearly and concisely - in writing, in meetings, and when things are difficult.
• Uses emerging technology including AI as part of how you work today, not as something you are planning to investigate. Be prepared to show us how in the interview process.
• Is genuinely curious. You ask good questions, learn fast, and bring energy to the work.
• Hospitality and retail experience is welcome but not required - we actively value transferable skills and different perspectives.

What the role offers:

• Direct involvement in a board-priority transformation programme, with exposure to how a large, complex business operates - from the restaurants to the boardroom - and to real decision-making at a level you would not typically see at this stage of a career.
• The chance to work across operational change, technology, process redesign, and emerging technology including AI in a single role. This is breadth that builds careers.
• A business with genuine scale and complexity (500 sites, 20,000 people, £1.2bn turnover) that still feels human and moves with intent.
• We want to invest in brilliant people. If Nando’s becomes the place that accelerated your career - whether you build a long future here or take what you learn further - we consider that a success.