Business Development & Programme Manager, UK Public Health in London

About Palladium:

Operating in over 50 countries, Palladium is a global consulting and implementation company working in partnership with governments, businesses, investors, and communities to design and deliver solutions that create lasting positive impact. We address some of the world’s most complex challenges across infrastructure, economic growth and natural capital, health, energy, climate and environment, and digital transformation—strengthening systems, institutions, and markets to support inclusive and sustainable development. Our more than 2,100 staff worldwide work as trusted advisors across diverse contexts, combining deep technical expertise, implementation techniques, and innovative technology to deliver locally informed, client-focused solutions that help organisations achieve measurable, sustainable impact.

This Opportunity:

Palladium’s UKEA Partnership is growing its regional health portfolio, including establishing and growing its presence in the UK public health market. Palladium is seeking an experienced Business Development & Programme Manager to join its UKEA team to support business expansion and programme implementation. Joining Palladium’s Health Cluster, the Manager will bring business development, project management, and technical acumen to this role. The position will play an important role in shaping Palladium’s regional health portfolio, developing scalable models for expansion, and promoting health equity through collaborative engagement.

The primary focus of this role (60%) will be to drive business development (BD) for new opportunities in health, with a focus on commissioned health services with local authorities and related public sector bodies. In their BD capacity, the Manager will support client engagement and positioning, identify new leads, oversee capture and bid pursuits, manage bid teams, contribute strategic and technical content to programme design, and produce high-quality proposal content. Alongside their BD contributions, the Manager will likewise support the successful delivery of our ongoing and new programmes (40%) in a project management and technical oversight capacity.

Location:

The position is based in Palladium’s London office within our UKEA partnership. Candidates must have the right to work in the UK as visa sponsorship is unavailable. Palladium supports a hybrid working model with 3 days in office, 2 days from home.

Reporting Lines:

The Manager will work within UKEA’s health cluster, reporting to a London-based UKEA Health Director.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Business Development (60%)
• Support the identification and assessment of new business opportunities, with a focus on integrated healthy lifestyle and behaviour change services and health systems strengthening.
• Gather market intelligence, including leading research on thematic issues, context in specific geographies within the UK, commissioners, partners, other stakeholders and competitors.
• Contribute to client relationship-building through the development of technical positioning papers, engagement with Directors of Public Health, Heads of Commissioning, ICB leaders and partner organisations, and wider market engagement to establish Palladium’s reputation as a trusted delivery partner and understand/shape demand ahead of formal procurement.
• Manage business development pursuits end-to-end, supporting all stages of the bid lifecycle including opportunity tracking, capture planning and resourcing, proposal development, through to submission and negotiation.
• Support health programme design and develop key proposal content, including for both technical and commercial proposals.
• Contribute to business development knowledge management efforts, including maintaining the currency and accuracy of new business data in corporate databases.
• Programme Delivery (40%)
• Expertly programme manage new and ongoing projects, including supporting programme teams in annual work planning, subcontracting, risk management, compliance, and robust financial management. Work closely with programme teams to ensure projects are delivered against client expectations and internal targets.
• Build and maintain relationships with clients, partners, consultants and suppliers.
• Work with programme teams to develop reports, budgets, workplans, proposals and other project outputs for internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead on tracking, documenting, and reporting of project deliverables.
• Support frontline operational teams in the identification or implementation of new technical approaches and ways of working.
• Support contract compliance and management, including understanding of key client terms (including T&Cs and budget), ensuring the project utilises the appropriate internal tools, templates and approaches to manage contractual and compliance risk.
• Manage contracting and commercial processes with partners.

Essential Criteria:

• Proven ability to secure/win new business in the public health sector, including through client engagement and relationship management, robust management of opportunity pursuits, and the development of high-quality proposal content.
• Demonstrated understanding of public health programming, particularly in the context of the NHS and UK local governance systems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; a brief written case study assessment will be provided to short-listed candidates.
• Demonstrated programme management excellence, with evidence of delivering and managing projects to a high standard.
• Effective team player in fast-paced, complex, and multicultural environments with strong interpersonal skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail and quality of products.
• Strong capability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines in time-sensitive environments.
• Proven ability to manage, mentor, and train team members.
• Strong problem solving and decision-making skills, with a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Financial acumen and the ability to generate, interpret, and analyse financial reports and forecasts using Excel and other financial reporting/forecasting systems as demonstrated by experience.

Desired Criteria:

• Experience bidding on and delivering commissioned services around healthy lifestyle and behaviour change.
• Strong track record of building client, partner, and stakeholder relationships and networks.
• Experience working with other UK government departments and agencies at national and subnational level relevant to public health.
• Prior expertise successfully delivering a UK local government-funded programme in a programme management or technical capacity.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply early as the position may close once a suitable candidate is found. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.