Programe Manger (Utilities)

MAKE STRATEGY A REALITY | ACCELERATE YOUR GROWTH | CHOOSE YOUR PATH

As the world’s leading change and transformation consultancy and delivery partner, we enable our clients to move from strategy to reality, taking a pragmatic, practical approach to delivering change that lasts. We’re seeking Programme Managers to help our utility clients deliver the digital, technology and organisation change across the AMP cycle.

*Please note, this is an initial 3-6 month contract that will require up to 3 days working on client site in the South of England and may involve extensive travel to other sites

SUMMARY

You’ll join North Highland’s Energy & Utilities (E&U) practice, working with our UK water utility clients across the South of England Programme Managing their multi-year transformation and change portfolios, delivered under managed service and consulting frameworks. The sector is delivering the biggest upgrades seen in a century — modernising assets, systems and ways of working to ensure essential water and waste services are provided.

These portfolios are delivered against the backdrop of the AMP 8 regulatory period and include various delivery modes:

• Enterprise Programmes (core platform and technology replacement / modernisation, regulatory-driven programmes etc),
• Digital Delivery (Agile/hybrid programmes transforming customer journeys, operational decision-making, case management etc),
• Operational Change (targeted, “deploy and embed” initiatives affecting frontline populations), and
• Operating model change (people, governance etc)

The portfolios span all core business units of water utilities — Water, Waste, Engineering, Asset Management, Supply Chains, Operations and Control Centres as well as enabling functions such as HR, Finance, Commercial and Procurement.

As a Programme Manager you’ll drive transformative initiatives across the portfolio, taking accountability for the planning, coordination and execution of multiple concurrent projects within an enterprise or digital programme. You’ll typically operate at the programme level — leading overall delivery on time, on budget and to requirements, while ensuring alignment to programme goals, AMP regulatory deadlines, stakeholders and benefits realisation.

YOU WILL:

• Oversee planning, coordination and execution of multiple concurrent projects within an enterprise, digital or operational change programme.

• Establish clear objectives, milestones and deliverables, aligning them to AMP regulatory commitments and ensuring they are effectively communicated to all stakeholders.

• Manage programme resources, budgets, timelines and integrated project teams to optimise efficiency and achieve outcomes; maintain clarity on planned vs actuals.

• Identify and mitigate risks across a dependency-heavy landscape, proactively managing the long tail of adoption risk common to large utility programmes.

• Coordinate System Integrators, SaaS vendors and niche suppliers, and interlock technical delivery with business readiness, change, training and service transition.

• Operate within established governance — design authority, architecture and cyber approvals, data governance sign-off etc — escalating risks and issues into portfolio forums.

• Provide regular progress updates to senior leadership and asset sponsors, demonstrating impact, and continuously seek process improvements and innovation.

IDEALLY, WE'D LIKE:

• Extensive Programme Manager experience delivering complex, multi-faceted change in regulated or asset-intensive environments — water and utilities strongly preferred, or comparable sectors (power, telecoms, infrastructure, rail, transport, government).

• Track record across enterprise-scale programmes from the sector such as ERP transformation (S/4HANA, Employee Central, Ariba, Fieldglass, Concur), CRM migration (e.g. SAP CRM ? Salesforce), GIS/network model replacement, SCADA rebuilds, or field workforce management.

• Strong planning, scheduling and resource allocation skills across waterfall, agile and hybrid delivery, including multi-stream and multi-release delivery.

• Excellent stakeholder management across all business units, senior leaders, external suppliers and, where relevant, trade unions and employee representatives.

• Confident commercial and supplier management (SoWs, deliverables, acceptance criteria, project budgets and change control) and familiarity with PMO standards and ITIL-aligned BAU handover.

• Data-driven problem solving and critical thinking; proficient with project management tooling (e.g. MS Project, Jira) and the MS Office suite.

• Degree in a relevant field (Business, Engineering, Project Management or related) and/or recognised programme management credentials.
   

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United Kingdom, without the need for visa sponsorship by North Highland. Work visa sponsorship will not be provided, either now or in the future, for this position.

This is a temporary employee (PAYE) opportunity working via an Umbrella company.

North Highland is an equal opportunity employer, and we adhere to all applicable laws and regulations to ensure a fair and equitable workplace. All qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We handle all information in accordance local privacy standards and maintain strict confidentiality.