Programme Manager (Financial Services)
13 days ago
London
Elevate your career at Qodea, where innovation isn't just a buzzword, it's in our DNA. We are a global technology group built for what's next, offering high calibre professionals the platform for high stakes work, the kind of work that defines an entire career. When you join us, you're not just taking on projects, you're solving problems that don't even have answers yet. You will join the exclusive roster of talent that global leaders, including Google, Snap, Diageo, PayPal, and Jaguar Land Rover call when deadlines seem impossible, when others have already tried and failed, and when the solution absolutely has to work. Forget routine consultancy. You will operate where technology, design, and human behaviour meet to deliver tangible outcomes, fast. This is work that leaves a mark, work you’ll be proud to tell your friends about. Qodea is built for what’s next. An environment where your skills will evolve at the frontier of innovation and AI, ensuring continuous growth and development. We are looking for an experienced Programme Manager to lead and coordinate a portfolio of cloud, data, and AI consulting projects within a major Financial Services account. This role will be London based with flexibility to travel to client sites across the UK and occasionally Europe. Innovation to solve the hardest problems. Accountability for every result. Integrity always. About The Role The successful candidate will drive governance, oversee multiple project teams, run steering committees, and act as a key interface with senior client stakeholders. This role will work closely with a Commercial Lead and a Technical Lead as part of a client-facing leadership team, helping to define, shape, and grow new opportunities within the account while ensuring successful delivery of existing engagements. The Programme Manager will primarily engage with the CIO senior leadership team across multiple banking divisions, and in partnership with the Commercial and Technical Leads will also engage with the CIOs across the business. What You’ll Do Programme Oversight Delivery: Manage a portfolio of projects across cloud migration, data platforms, AI/ML initiatives, and infrastructure modernisation. Ensure alignment with client strategy, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. Track Programme health, risks, issues, dependencies, and deliverables across workstreams. Governance Reporting: Establish and run Programme governance structures, reporting processes, and steering committees. Provide executive-level updates to CIO leadership, ensuring transparency and alignment. Ensure Programme KPIs, SLAs, and regulatory obligations are met. Stakeholder Management: Build trusted relationships with CIO senior leadership teams across divisions. Work in partnership with the Commercial Lead and Technical Lead to engage CIOs across the business. Act as the key liaison between client leadership, delivery teams, and vendor partners. Drive alignment between technical and business functions to achieve shared outcomes. Business Development Account Growth: Partner with the Commercial Lead to identify new revenue opportunities, expand existing engagements, and contribute to account planning. Work with the Technical Lead to ensure proposed solutions are technically robust, scalable, and aligned to client needs. Shape proposals, support bids, and present to senior stakeholders to secure new business. Leadership People Management: Provide leadership across multi-disciplinary teams (consultants, engineers, architects, data scientists). Mentor project managers, ensuring consistent methodologies and standards are applied. Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and delivery excellence. Requirements What Success Looks Like Financial Services Expertise: 10+ years’ experience in enterprise technology in financial services Strong understanding of banking regulations and compliance requirements (e.g. Basel III, MiFID II, GDPR, PRA/FCA, Dodd-Frank). Proven delivery within highly regulated environments. Programme Management Experience: 10+ years’ experience in programme/project management within large, complex organizations. Hands-on experience with governance frameworks, steering committees, and executive stakeholder engagement. Track record of managing multi-million-pound portfolios and distributed delivery teams. Cloud, Infrastructure Enterprise Technology: Solid understanding of cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure) and hybrid enterprise architectures. Experience in infrastructure modernization, large-scale migrations, and data center transformations. Awareness of enterprise technologies commonly used in banks (core banking, middleware, data platforms, enterprise applications). Agile Delivery Methodologies: Proven experience applying Agile methodologies (Scrum, SAFe, Kanban, hybrid agile-waterfall models) to large-scale transformation programmes. Ability to adapt governance to different delivery styles and integrate vendor/partner agile practices with bank governance frameworks. Soft Skills: Strong communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills. Ability to present to and negotiate with CIO leadership teams and CIOs across the business. Excellent problem-solving and conflict resolution skills. Operates effectively in fast-moving, matrixed, and globally distributed environments. Benefits Compensation and Financial Wellbeing Competitive base salary. Matching pension scheme (up to 5%) from day one. Discretionary company bonus scheme. 4 x annual salary Death in Service coverage from day one. Employee referral scheme. Tech Scheme. Health and Wellness Private medical insurance from day one. Optical and dental cash back scheme. Help@Hand app: access to remote GPs, second opinions, mental health support, and physiotherapy. EAP service. Cycle to Work scheme. Work-Life Balance and Growth 36 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays). An extra paid day off for your birthday. Ten paid learning days per year. Flexible working hours. Market-leading parental leave. Sabbatical leave (after five years). Work from anywhere (up to 3 weeks per year). Industry-recognised training and certifications. Bonusly employee recognition and rewards platform. Clear opportunities for career development. Length of Service Awards. Regular company events. Diversity and Inclusion At Qodea, we champion diversity and inclusion. We believe that a career in IT should be open to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, or neurotype. We value the unique talents and perspectives that each individual brings to our team, and we strive to create a fair and accessible hiring process for all.