Programme Specialist (Senior Consultant) - R&D

Location: London, hybrid (3 days per week on site)
Duration: Permanent
Start: ASAP
Salary: £68,000 - £80,000, depending on experience
    
At Pace, we are reimagining management consulting through a human-centred, outcomes-focused approach. We solve complex, high-stakes problems across Government, National Infrastructure, Legal and R&D to help organisations realise real-world impact faster.

Due to the expansion of our ongoing work with The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), the UK’s high-risk, high-reward R&D funding body. We are seeking Programme Specialists to work across ARIA’s seven opportunity spaces, launching and delivering programmes.

As part of the Pace x ARIA team, you won't just manage projects; you will serve as a programme partner and operational force multiplier to world-leading Programme Directors driving breakthrough scientific and technological innovation.  

Role:

 The Senior Programme Specialist takes strategic ownership for the operational, governance, and end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-workstream R&D programmes.

Working alongside ARIA Programme Directors (PDs) and Science & Technology Leads, you will provide senior programme management, establishing robust program control frameworks, driving active programme management, navigate high-stakes risks, identify signals of success & breakthrough and influence executive stakeholders.

You will act as the key liaison between the Programme Team, Operational Teams and Executive Stakeholders, providing insights and data into the Project Management Office (PMO) to support overall governance and portfolio management.

You will be accountable for managing all non-technical elements of the programme: maintaining a clear view of delivery status across workstreams, dependencies, risks/issues, decisions and actions, and for escalating and driving resolution where required.

Accountabilities of the Programme Specialist will include:
 
Programme Delivery & Active Management

• End-to-End Leadership: Mobilise and lead non-technical delivery across complex, multi-workstream R&D programmes, maintaining complete accountability for delivery against agreed outcomes, timelines, budget allocations, and risk parameters across the full lifecycle from discovery to closure.
• Milestone Architecture & Progress Assurance: Co-design programme frameworks, solicitations, and milestone philosophies in alignment with PD strategy. Establish rigorous evaluation criteria, oversee progress reviews, and drive performance against contractual milestones in partnership with Science & Technology Leads.
• Active Management & Strategic Interventions: Apply active management principles across portfolios, driving proactive RAID and dependency management, identifying systemic risks early, and decisively intervening to execute course corrections, pivots, or contract terminations where needed.
• RAID & Financial Oversight: Play a proactive and lead role in risk identification and management across programmes maintaining robust risk registers (RAID), manage change control, ensure audit-ready compliance and track project and overall programme spend alongside Finance Specialists.

Trusted Thought Partner

• C-Suite & PD Collaboration: Be a critical partner to Programme Directors from discovery through to execution, acting as a high-level thought partner, delivery authority, and strategic sounding board to translate bold scientific ambitions into robust, fundable programme architectures.
• Constructive Challenge & Strategic Direction: Provide senior-level constructive challenge, stress-testing assumptions, evaluating delivery trade-offs, and keeping leadership aligned on high-impact outcomes and overarching strategic goals.

Ecosystem Interface & Organisational Glue

• Cross-Functional & Operational Leadership: Serve as the senior operational bridge between Programme Teams and core ARIA functions (Procurement, PMO, Finance, Legal, Comms), taking ownership of key dependencies, setting boundary limits, and removing organisational bottlenecks to maintain momentum.
• Senior Stakeholder & Ecosystem management: Lead high-level engagement across senior external stakeholders, Creator consortia, Activation Partners, and international research hubs, orchestrating site visits, workshops, and strategic community-building initiatives.
• Tooling Superuser: Maintain real-time accuracy across programme tracking tools, bringing a critical eye to process and potential efficiency gains.

Required skills and experience:

• Senior Programme Leadership: 8+ years of total programme management experience, including 2–3+ years leading complex, multi-workstream initiatives or portfolios (£10M+ scale preferred).
• Full Lifecycle: Proven track record leading long-term initiatives (12+ months) end-to-end, from initial scoping and setup of controls, managing tolerances, and driving issues/decisions to resolution through active oversight, assurance, and closure.
• Active Risk & Governance Expertise: Experience in a startup or similarly high stakes setting leading risk/issue management, tolerance setting, dependency mapping, and financial controls in fast-moving, high-ambiguity environments.
• Senior Stakeholder Influence: Exceptional executive communication and briefing skills, with demonstrated experience influencing senior leaders and governance boards. Strong engagement skills (interviewing, facilitation, mediation and presenting).
• Strategic Consulting Mindset: High ownership, decisive problem-solving, and the ability to turn abstract strategy into concrete, high-performing operational delivery.
• AI and Process Automation: Aptitude for driving operational efficiency through custom automations and AI integration, establishing reusable process improvements across teams while ensuring compliance with risk frameworks and governance policies.
• Domain Awareness (Desirable): Experience working within related sectors such as R&D, science, technology, deep tech, engineering, government, non-profit or innovation funding ecosystems is desirable but not essential.

What’s in it for you?

• An opportunity to join a high-growth, scale-up consulting firm; we see an opportunity to make a material difference to how clients are served, and are on a mission to create environments that thrive for our clients.   
• An award-winning culture where talented people feel trusted, supported and inspired to do their best work - recognised through our Culture Award and built on genuine collaboration, shared ownership and having fun along the way.
• A dedicated focus on your individual personal development: managed through annual performance appraisals, individual personal development plans, and our bi-weekly ‘continuous conversations’ programme.   
• Access to Corporate APM membership benefits and additional professional development through a personal training budget (subject to approval of a relevant business case)   

 
Company benefits include: 

• Pace Pension 
• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays 
• Private Healthcare* 
• Life Assurance* 
• Critical Illness* 
• Holiday Purchase Scheme*
• Electric Car Scheme* 
• Cycle To Work Scheme* 
• Birthday Day off, Paid Volunteer Day off 
• Reservist Leave 
• Enhanced Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave 
• Work from Abroad policy
• Regular company and team events 
• Discounted shopping with ADS Rewards 

*Available to permanent employees only.
    
Your Pace team:

 Pace is one of Europe’s fastest-growing UK-based management consultancies, transforming the industry with a focus on delivering measurable customer value.

By optimising people and systems, we help organisations enhance efficiency, boost productivity, and achieve significant savings in time, cost, and resources.

 At Pace, we recognise that we are only as good as our people.  Apply today to find out about the great things we’re achieving together and the fun we have as a team.