Senior Programme Manager – Complex Government Programme Delivery
Location: UK (hybrid working – office and remote options available)
Travel: UK and occasional European travel required
My client is looking for an experienced Programme Manager to lead the end-to-end delivery of a complex, high-profile UK government programme within a global organisation. This senior role will take ownership of programme outcomes, coordinating multiple projects, workstreams, teams, suppliers, and stakeholders to ensure successful delivery.
As the central point of accountability, you will translate strategic objectives into clear delivery plans, driving alignment across internal functions, external partners, and international teams. Working closely with UK government stakeholders, key partners, local suppliers, and global headquarters, you will oversee programme governance, financial performance, risk management, and stakeholder engagement.
This is a unique opportunity to operate at a senior level, influencing the direction and success of a strategically important programme while collaborating with stakeholders across the UK and Europe.
Key Responsibilities
Programme Leadership & Delivery
- Own the complete programme lifecycle, from initiation and planning through execution, integration, and close-out.
- Coordinate multiple projects, workstreams, suppliers, and functional teams into a single delivery roadmap.
- Establish and maintain programme governance, reporting structures, risk management frameworks, and delivery processes.
- Ensure successful delivery across technical, operational, regulatory, and commercial areas.
Financial & Commercial Management
- Take overall accountability for a multi-million-pound programme budget, including forecasting, cost control, reporting, and financial risk management.
- Monitor expenditure across multiple workstreams and ensure transparency of financial performance.
- Identify and mitigate commercial and delivery risks at programme level.
- Ensure adherence to relevant compliance and regulatory requirements.
Stakeholder & Government Engagement
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with government bodies, customers, partners, suppliers, and key external stakeholders.
- Represent the organisation in senior stakeholder meetings, programme reviews, negotiations, and escalations.
- Manage approvals, regulatory processes, stakeholder expectations, and potential delivery risks.
- Translate complex operational challenges into clear recommendations and actions.
International & Matrix Leadership
- Act as the primary interface between UK programme delivery teams and international headquarters.
- Provide integrated reporting covering programme progress, financial performance, risks, dependencies, and strategic issues.
- Coordinate local and international teams across multiple functions without direct reporting authority.
- Drive collaboration through effective communication, influence, and stakeholder alignment.
Technology, Risk & Operational Coordination
- Work closely with technical teams, suppliers, and integrators to support successful programme delivery.
- Identify, assess, and manage operational, technical, security, and logistical risks.
- Ensure programme objectives remain aligned with business strategy and delivery capability.
About You
You will be a Programme Manager with a proven track record of delivering complex, multi-project programmes. Ideally, you will bring:
- 10+ years’ professional experience in project, programme, or delivery management roles.
- 5+ years’ experience operating at Programme Manager or Senior Project Manager level.
- Demonstrable experience managing large, complex programmes with multiple dependencies, timelines, and competing priorities.
- Experience owning multi-million-pound budgets, including planning, forecasting, cost control, and financial risk management.
- Strong stakeholder management experience with senior executives, international leadership teams, suppliers, government bodies, regulators, or public-sector customers.
- Proven ability to operate effectively within a matrix organisation, coordinating multiple teams and functions without direct authority.
- Experience establishing programme governance, reporting structures, risk frameworks, and delivery methodologies.
- Knowledge of recognised programme and project management approaches such as MSP, PRINCE2, PMBOK, or equivalent.
- Experience working within hybrid delivery environments combining waterfall and agile approaches.
- Formal programme management certification (such as MSP, PgMP, or PRINCE2 Practitioner) would be advantageous but is not essential where significant practical experience is demonstrated.
For further information or to discuss the opportunity, please apply with your CV today!