Osborne Clarke are recruiting for a Programme Manager to
join our Change & Transformation team on a 12 month Fixed Term Contract.
This leadership role will be pivotal in shaping and
delivering firm-wide transformation programmes, ensuring they deliver tangible
financial and non-financial outcomes and business benefits aligned to Osborne
Clarke’s strategic vision and goals.
This is a full-time, permanent position at any UK office,
with travel expected as required, both within the UK and internationally.
The role
The Programme Manager will be a key member of our Change
& Transformation function, promoting collaboration, effective team working
and innovation across the firm. You will take end-to-end ownership of complex,
business-wide programmes and, where required, significant projects of strategic
benefit to Osborne Clarke.
Working closely with the Head of Portfolio & Delivery,
Director of Change & Transformation, Head of Change Management, BA Lead,
PMO Manager, programme sponsors and key international business stakeholders,
you will:
- Shape programmes and establish appropriate governance to
support effective decision-making and delivery.
- Coordinate the drafting of business cases, considering the
holistic people, process and technology changes required.
- Develop and manage integrated programme plans, managing
inter-dependencies, milestones and the critical path.
- Proactively identify and manage risks and issues, and ensure
timely escalation where appropriate.
- Monitor programme delivery against approved timelines and
budgets.
- Coach, motivate and supervise programme delivery teams,
including third parties, through matrix management.
Alongside these responsibilities, you will support Osborne
Clarke and Business Services in delivering consistently excellent services to
our clients, and promote a culture of mutual understanding through effective
communication across the business.
Other key responsibilities include:
Programme Leadership & Governance
- Direct and manage key transformation programmes from
beginning to end, ensuring programme outcomes align with Osborne Clarke’s
strategic vision and goals.
- Shape the programme structure and establish appropriate
governance, controls and reporting mechanisms.
- Support the coordination and drafting of robust business
cases, ensuring clear articulation of strategic goals, expected benefits and
required changes across people, process and technology.
- Develop budget proposals and manage subsequent budget
changes where necessary, determining the appropriate type of spend.
Planning, Delivery & Risk Management
- Develop and manage full-scale, integrated programme plans,
including: Identification and management of inter-dependencies with other
programmes, integration of milestones from projects within each programme and
Management of the critical path to ensure delivery of key outcomes.
- Proactively identify and manage key programme risks and
issues, implementing effective mitigation plans and escalating as appropriate.
- Ongoing monitoring of programmes to ensure delivery against
approved timelines and budgets.
- Prepare and deliver programme and project progress reports,
proposals and presentations to governance forums and stakeholders to support
timely, informed decision-making.
Stakeholder Management & Team Leadership
- Matrix manage project managers, senior project managers and
other resources assigned to the programme.
- Work with technical specialists across different departments
to ensure programmes and projects have access to the resources required for
successful delivery.
- Coach, motivate and supervise programme delivery teams
(including third parties), influencing them to take positive action and
accountability for their assigned work.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with programme
sponsors and key stakeholders, including at C-suite level, to ensure programmes
remain aligned to business priorities and deliver sustainable change.
Methodology, Change & Continuous Improvement
- Where required, directly manage significant and complex
projects of strategic benefit to the organisation.
- Contribute to updates to our methodology and governance,
sharing expertise and experience with the wider department.
- Champion the critical role of change management and benefits
management alongside programme and project management, to ensure changes are
embedded and deliver sustainable business outcomes.
We are looking for:
- Proven experience as a Programme Manager, with a strong
track record of delivering tangible financial and non-financial outcomes for
the business.
- Demonstrable experience shaping and managing complex,
business-wide change and transformation programmes, supported by recognised
programme management qualifications (e.g. MSP).
- A laser focus on delivering tangible business outcomes, with
a clear understanding of how change fits into the broader business agenda.
- A high level of technical expertise in portfolio and
programme management, and a full understanding of the programme life cycle.
- An acute appreciation that successfully managing change
requires effective use of programme methodologies to deliver outputs that
translate into real business benefits and outcomes.
- A collaborative and constructive mind-set, with a strong
focus on problem solving and navigating ambiguity.
- Experience within the professional services / legal sector,
or the ability to adjust to a complex Partnership environment, which is
critical for success in this role.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills,
including experience of engaging with and challenging C-suite stakeholders.
- The ability to build and manage high-performing teams and
create a sense of community amongst often disparate project team members.
- An approach that recognises the criticality of change
management and benefits management, alongside programme and project management,
in successfully delivering sustainable business change.
Salary and benefits
We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.
Our recruitment process
Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.
We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.