Principal Consultant

As the Head of Strategic Solutions & Delivery, you will play a key role in identifying, shaping and progressing strategic technology solutions across a major Defence account.

This is a highly client-facing role, suited to someone with a strong technology consulting mindset who can understand complex business challenges, build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and identify how existing technology investments can be used to deliver greater value. Rather than simply introducing new technology, you will focus on understanding the capabilities already in place, identifying opportunities to exploit them further and developing solutions that address genuine customer and operational needs.

Working closely with the Head of Architecture, customer stakeholders, delivery teams and the wider SIAM function, you will translate business challenges into practical, commercially viable and deliverable solutions. You will ensure that proposed solutions align with the existing technology architecture and roadmap, recognising the technical and contractual constraints of the account.

You will take ownership of solutions from initial opportunity identification and stakeholder engagement through commercialisation, change governance and delivery, ensuring continuity between the original strategic intent and the final operational outcome.

What You Will Be Doing

• Build strong relationships with key customer stakeholders, developing a detailed understanding of their business challenges, priorities and future requirements.
• Work closely with the Head of Architecture to understand the existing technology estate, strategic roadmap and investments already being made across the account.
• Translate strategic technology roadmaps into tangible initiatives, projects and solutions that can secure customer support and funding.
• Shape solutions that balance customer need, technical feasibility, commercial viability, contractual considerations and operational deliverability.
• Take ownership of opportunities from initial concept through solution development, business case creation, investment approval, commercialisation, change governance, mobilisation and delivery.
• Work collaboratively with architecture, product management, commercial, change, delivery and service management teams to ensure solutions are practical and capable of being successfully implemented.
• Partner with internal business process and operational teams to identify opportunities for technology-enabled process improvement, including the use of platforms such as Salesforce.
• Work closely with IT Delivery Product Managers to ensure agreed solutions are translated into clear, achievable delivery plans.
• Maintain ownership of the original customer requirement and strategic intent throughout the lifecycle, ensuring the delivered outcome continues to address the underlying business need.

What You Will Bring:

• Strong experience in technology consulting, digital transformation, solution consulting or a similar client-facing technology role.
• Experience working within the Defence/MoD environment.
• A consultative mindset, with the ability to understand business challenges and identify practical technology solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to engage senior customers, business leaders and technical teams.
• Experience working across complex technology environments and translating technology strategies or roadmaps into deliverable initiatives.
• Experience shaping solutions from initial opportunity through business case, commercial approval and delivery.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance business, technical, operational and contractual considerations.

If you are interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we’re looking for, please do apply, we’d love to hear from you!

Employment Type: Permanent
Location: UK based with travel
Security Clearance Level: willingness to go through SC
Internal Recruiter: Josh
Salary: Competitive, based on experience
Benefits: Bonus 6,600 car allowance, which can also be taken as cash. Benefits include 25 days’ holiday, with the option to purchase up to an additional 10 days per year, AXA medical insurance, 6% pension contribution and life assurance at 4x salary

If you’re interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible.

Loved reading about this job and want to know more about us?

Sopra Steria’s Aerospace, Defence and Security business designs, develops and deploys digital solutions to Central Government clients. The work we do makes a real difference to the client’s goal of National Security, and we operate in a unique and privileged environment. We are given time for professional development activities, and we coach and mentor our colleagues, sharing knowledge and learning from each other. We foster a culture in which employees feel valued and supported and have pride in their work for the customer, delivering outstanding rates of customer satisfaction in the UK’s most complex safety- and security-critical markets.