Programme Director – Strategic Transformation Programme Delivery
Location: UK | Client-facing Experience: 12-18 years Level: Programme Director / Delivery Partner / Transformation Director Programme Scale: scaling from 50 to 100+ Domain: Hospitality preferred; Retail, Travel, Consumer or other complex digital transformation experience considered
Role Overview
Seeking an experienced Programme Director to lead a strategic, multi-year Hotel Tech Transformation (AI embedded) programme for a major UK enterprise. The portfolio will span modern operational platforms, web/mobile applications, Agentic AI & Automation, Robotics, Smart Technologies, RFID, IoT and data-led operations . This is not a traditional programme-management role. The Programme Director will operate at two interconnected levels : Client Transformation Leadership – partner with Product, Technology and Business leaders to translate strategic vision into executable roadmaps, products and measurable business outcomes. Delivery & Engineering Leadership – lead a multidisciplinary technology organisation scaling from 50 to 100+ professionals , ensuring engineering quality, predictable delivery and disciplined execution.
Key Accountabilities
- Strategy to Execution
Translate strategic vision into outcomes, roadmaps, product backlogs, releases and measurable value. Connect multiple initiatives into a coherent transformation roadmap, identifying dependencies, synergies and reuse opportunities. Challenge priorities and sequencing to enable start-small, scale-fast delivery .
- End-to-End Programme Delivery
Own delivery across Product, Architecture, Engineering, Integration, QA, DevSecOps, Release and Service Transition . Maintain strong control of scope, milestones, commercials, dependencies, RAID and critical path. Lead programme recovery where required and ensure multiple workstreams converge around common outcomes and architecture.
- Delivery Assurance & Governance
Establish a rigorous delivery cadence across sprint/release reviews, architecture, engineering, RAID, commercials and executive governance. Personally review critical deliverables and identify gaps before they reach the client . Ensure every key client interaction has a clear agenda, expected outcomes, decisions, owners and actions . Provide concise executive and programme dashboards covering progress, outcomes, risks, financials and decisions required.
- Engineering & Technology Leadership
Maintain sufficient technical depth to challenge architecture, engineering and delivery teams on code quality, APIs/integration, cloud platforms, data, testing, CI/CD, security, NFRs and production readiness . Conduct targeted engineering deep dives when delivery or quality indicators require intervention. Ensure platforms, environments, architecture and security approvals are established early and do not become delivery bottlenecks.
- AI-First Engineering & Automation
Embed GenAI, Agentic AI and automation throughout the engineering lifecycle — Discovery, Design, Development, Code Review, Integration, Testing, Documentation, Release and Operations. Drive measurable improvements in productivity, quality, automation coverage and release velocity. Ensure operational automation opportunities progress systematically from idea prototype industrialisation measurable value .
- Client, Team & Commercial Leadership
Build trusted relationships with senior Product, Technology and Business stakeholders and operate as a credible transformation partner. Lead and develop a high-performing organisation scaling from 50 100+ people , with the right balance of leadership, domain expertise and engineering capacity. Own programme financial performance, capacity, utilisation and commercial commitments. Manage escalations decisively, bringing evidence, options and recommendations rather than simply reporting problems .
Candidate Profile
15–20+ years of technology experience with significant leadership of complex, multi-year digital/product transformation programmes. Proven experience managing £multi-million programmes and 50–100+ multidisciplinary technology organisations . Experience at Programme Director, Delivery Partner, Transformation Director, Engineering Delivery Director or equivalent level . Strong executive stakeholder management and ability to translate business strategy into executable technology outcomes. Strong understanding of modern product engineering, Agile delivery and engineering governance . Sufficient technical depth to challenge senior architects and engineering leaders across cloud, application engineering, integration, data, DevSecOps, testing and security . Strong understanding of GenAI, Agentic AI and intelligent automation , including their application within software engineering. Demonstrated programme recovery, transformation and commercial management experience. Hospitality experience desirable, but strong candidates from Retail, Travel, Consumer, Aviation, Financial Services or other large-scale digital environments are encouraged.
Leadership Profile
We are looking for a leader who is:
- Executive enough to shape the transformation
- Technical enough to challenge the solution
- Hands-on enough to inspect the evidence
- Commercial enough to manage the programme
- Disciplined enough to run a tight ship
The successful candidate should be equally comfortable moving between an executive strategy discussion, programme delivery review, architecture/security conversation, engineering quality deep dive and commercial governance meeting . This is not a traditional PMO role. It requires a hands-on technology transformation and delivery leader with end-to-end accountability for client outcomes, engineering quality and programme performance.