Program Director in London

Job Description:

The Program Governance, Risk & Value Realization Director/Manager is responsible for establishing

and operating an integrated governance framework that ensures complex business and technology

transformation programs are delivered predictably, risks are proactively managed, and intended

business outcomes are realized.

This role serves as the independent oversight and assurance function for executive leadership,

bringing together program governance, enterprise risk management, financial oversight, benefits

realization, and decision support into a single operating model. The individual provides strategic

visibility to senior stakeholders and enables informed decision-making through transparent

reporting, actionable insights, and disciplined execution management.

Ideal Candidate Profile

A seasoned transformation professional with a consulting mindset who can seamlessly integrate

Governance, Risk Management, and Value Realization disciplines to provide executive leadership

with confidence that strategic programs are controlled, transparent, risk-aware, and delivering

measurable business outcomes. This individual acts as the "single pane of glass" for program health,

risk exposure, and realized value across complex enterprise transformation initiatives.

Location

Global / Client-Facing Transformation Programs

Experience

15 Years +

Key Responsibilities

Program Governance & Executive Oversight

Design and implement governance frameworks aligned to organizational and client

objectives.

Establish Steering Committees (SteerCos), governance councils, reporting structures, and

decision-making forums.

Define governance standards, stage gates, review mechanisms, escalation paths, and

operating rhythms.

Drive adherence to program controls, delivery commitments, financial targets, and quality

standards.

Ensure alignment across business, technology, delivery, vendor, and executive stakeholders.

Risk Management & Assurance

Develop and maintain integrated RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies)

frameworks.

Identify, assess, prioritize, and monitor delivery, technology, operational, financial,

compliance, security, and adoption risks.

Lead risk reviews and facilitate mitigation planning with accountable owners.

Track remediation progress and ensure timely closure of high-impact risks and issues.

Escalate emerging concerns proactively and provide leadership with risk-informed

recommendations.

Value Realization & Benefits Management

Define business case assumptions, value drivers, success metrics, KPIs, and benefit

realization plans.

Establish mechanisms to measure financial and operational outcomes throughout the

transformation lifecycle.

Track realization of cost savings, productivity improvements, revenue enhancements,

customer experience improvements, and strategic outcomes.

Identify value leakage, benefit shortfalls, execution delays, and ownership gaps.

Recommend corrective actions to improve realization of anticipated benefits.

Executive Reporting & Decision Support

Develop executive dashboards, scorecards, governance packs, and management reports.

Consolidate delivery performance, financials, resource status, risks, milestones,

dependencies, and value metrics into a single program view.

Translate complex program data into concise, decision-ready insights for CXOs and Steering

Committees.

Provide trend analysis, predictive indicators, and recommendations to improve program

outcomes.

Compliance, Quality & Continuous Improvement

Support audit readiness, compliance requirements, regulatory obligations, and internal

control reviews.

Conduct periodic governance health assessments and maturity reviews.

Ensure quality gates, assurance checkpoints, and program standards are consistently

applied.

Drive continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen governance effectiveness and

delivery predictability.

Key Stakeholder Interactions

CIO, CTO, COO, CFO and Business Executives

Program Sponsors and Steering Committees

Business Process Owners and Functional Leads

Delivery Partners, Vendors and System Integrators

Internal Audit, Compliance and Quality Teams

Transformation Directors , Program Managers and Project Managers

PMO, Value Realization and Risk Teams

Required Qualifications-Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Technology, Business Administration, Finance, or related

discipline.

Master's Degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred.

Preferred Certifications

PMP / PgMP / PRINCE2

PMI-RMP or Enterprise Risk Management Certification

MSP (Managing Successful Programmes)

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt / Black Belt

SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) or equivalent Agile certification

Benefits Realization or Value Management certifications preferred

Core Competencies

Functional Expertise

Program Governance

Enterprise Risk Management

Benefits & Value Realization

Transformation Management

Financial and Business Case Management

Executive Reporting & Dashboarding

PMO & Portfolio Governance

Compliance & Assurance

Leadership Capabilities

Executive Presence and Influence

Strategic Thinking

Structured Problem Solving

Decision Facilitation

Stakeholder Management

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

Data-Driven Storytelling

Change Leadership

Success Measures

The role will be measured through:

Governance compliance and decision effectiveness

Reduction in critical program risks and issue recurrence

Timely execution of mitigation and corrective actions

Accuracy and transparency of executive reporting

Achievement of planned business benefits and value targets

Program predictability across scope, schedule, budget, and outcomes

Stakeholder satisfaction and executive confidence

Improvement in overall transformation success rates