Programme Manager in London

We are seeking an experienced Programme Manager responsible for the end-to-end delivery of a complex, multi‐project programme, ensuring alignment across internal teams, external stakeholders, and our international headquarters. The role owns overall programme outcomes, including financial performance, stakeholder satisfaction, risk management, and strategic alignment.

Operating within a matrix organisation, the Programme Manager integrates multiple projects, vendors, and functional teams into one coherent delivery roadmap. You will act as the central point of accountability, translating strategic objectives into executable plans and ensuring successful delivery across geographic, organisational, and cultural boundaries.

You will be leading on a UK-based government programme with local project management tasks, requiring frequent coordination with UK government entities, main partner(s) and local suppliers, navigation of the change/approval processes, and close collaboration with our German HQ.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Programme Budget & Financial Control
  • Overall accountability for the programme budget, encompassing multiple projects and workstreams.
  • Monitor costs across all initiatives, prevent overruns, and ensure transparent, consolidated financial reporting to HQ.
  • Oversee and ensure adherence to compliance and regulations.
  • Proactively identify and mitigate financial and commercial risks at the programme level.
• Interface with HQ (Germany) & International Corporate Environment
  • Act as the primary point of contact between UK-based programme delivery and our HQ leadership.
  • Provide integrated programme-level reporting, including progress, risk outlook, interdependencies and financial status.
  • Translate local operational complexity and stakeholder constraints into clear, actionable information for strategic decision-making.
  • Navigate international processes, governance models, reporting lines, and decision-making protocols within a global corporate structure.
• Government & External Stakeholder Management
  • Build and maintain trusted, long-term relationships with customers and key external stakeholders across the full programme lifecycle.
  • Coordinate and manage interactions with public authorities to ensure timely permits, approvals, and compliance across all projects.
  • Represent the company in high-level government and customer forums, addressing both delivery progress and strategic concerns.
  • Anticipate stakeholder risks and manage escalations that may impact the overall programme.
• Matrix Leadership & Cross-Functional Coordination
  • Lead and coordinate multiple local and international teams contributing to the programme outcomes, often in a matrix organisation.
  • Align priorities, milestones, and resources across parallel projects and functional departments without direct disciplinary authority.
  • Manage dependencies, conflicts, and competing priorities through structured communication, negotiation, and influence.
  • Clearly communicate the strategic intent and "why" behind programme decisions to ensure engagement and cross-functional commitment.
• Programme Delivery, Governance & IT Coordination
  • Own the end-to-end delivery of the programme, from initiation and planning through execution, integration, and close-out.
  • Establish and maintain programme governance, ensuring consistency in planning, risk management, and reporting across projects.
  • Leverage IT and systems understanding to coordinate with technical teams, integrators, and suppliers across multiple solutions.
  • Identify, assess, and mitigate operational, technical, security, and logistical risks that could impact the overall programme success.

Your profile:

• Overall Experience Level
  • 10+ years of professional experience in project, programme, or delivery management roles.
  • 5+ years in a Programme Manager / Senior Project Manager role, with accountability for multiple parallel projects or workstreams.
  • Demonstrated career progression from hands‐on project delivery into programme‐level ownership and strategic coordination.
• Programme & Complex Delivery Experience
  • Proven experience delivering large, complex programmes rather than isolated projects.
  • Experience managing multiple projects with interdependencies, parallel timelines and competing priorities, and integrated outcomes across technical, operational, and regulatory domains.
• Financial & Commercial Experience
  • Hands‐on responsibility for multi‐million budget ownership, including budget planning and forecasting, cost control across multiple workstreams, and financial risk identification and mitigation.
• Stakeholder & External Interface Experience
  • Significant experience of working with senior internal stakeholders (Executives, Directors, HQ leadership), external partners and suppliers, and government bodies, regulators, or public-sector customers.
  • Demonstrable ability to represent the organisation in high-level stakeholder meetings, including escalations and negotiations.
  • Experience managing stakeholders with diverging objectives and maintaining trust while driving delivery.
• Matrix & Cross‐Functional Leadership
  • Strong background operating in a matrix organisation, leading teams without formal disciplinary authority.
  • Direct experience coordinating multiple functional departments (e.g. IT, Operations, Legal, Finance, Security) and local and international teams.
  • Evidence of successful delivery through influence, communication, and alignment, rather than command-and-control structures.
• Methodologies & Ways of Working
  • Practical experience with programme and project management methodologies, such as MSP, PRINCE2, PMBOK (or equivalent) and hybrid delivery models (waterfall + agile).
  • Experience setting up programme governance structures, reporting cadence, and risk management frameworks.
  • Formal certification (e.g. MSP, PgMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner) is advantageous but not mandatory if experience is strong.

Working conditions:

• Remote working possible.
• Ability to travel when required and necessary to UK Company offices, within UK and within Europe for professional purposes.

We are an equal opportunity employer! We promote diversity in all its forms and create an inclusive work environment, free from prejudice, discrimination and harassment, in which all employees feel a sense of belonging. We warmly welcome all applications regardless of gender, age, race or ethnic origin, social and cultural background, religion, disability and sexual orientation.