Head of Programmes / Programme Director

Head of Programmes & Projects

North West England (Cumbria / Warrington - hybrid)
Major Infrastructure & Transformation Programme

The Opportunity

We're supporting a large, nationally critical organisation in the North West to appoint a Head of Programmes & Projects.

Operating within complex and highly regulated environments, this organisation delivers a vast portfolio of work spanning infrastructure, digital, and operational transformation. With thousands of employees and a multi-billion-pound programme landscape, this is a genuinely unique opportunity to lead at scale.

This role sits at the heart of a significant delivery challenge - bringing structure, pace, and cohesion across a wide-ranging portfolio of programmes and projects.

The Role

This is a senior leadership position, responsible for:

• Leading a large portfolio of programmes and projects across multiple workstreams
• Managing and developing a team of 150+ delivery professionals
• Driving consistency, governance, and delivery discipline across a complex environment
• Bringing together fragmented delivery functions into a cohesive operating model
• Leading delivery across digital, business change, and operational programmes
• Acting as a key senior stakeholder, influencing at executive and board level

This role is about leadership, integration, and delivery at scale - not just oversight.

Key Focus Areas

• Large-scale programme delivery (multi £m / £bn portfolios)
• Agile and digital delivery within complex environments
• Transformation of project delivery capability and maturity
• Business process improvement and organisational change
• Cross-functional integration across multiple disciplines

What We're Looking For

We're looking for a proven senior leader who thrives in complexity:

• Significant experience leading major programmes or portfolios in complex environments (infrastructure, defence, energy, government, etc.)
• Experience managing large, multi-disciplinary teams (100+ people)
• Strong grounding in:
  • Programme & project delivery (APM / MSP / PRINCE2 or equivalent)
  • Change & transformation
  • Governance and assurance
• Experience working in regulated or safety critical environments is highly desirable
• Comfortable operating at Executive / Director level

Additional Details

• Location: North West - hybrid
• Security Clearance: SC desirable but not essential

Why This Role?

• Operate within one of the largest and most complex delivery environments in the UK
• Lead and shape large-scale transformation and delivery capability
• Play a key role in programmes of national importance
• A genuine opportunity to drive change, not just manage it