Interim Programme Director - HR & Finance Transformation / Service Simplification

Interim Programme Director - HR & Finance Transformation / Service Simplification

Location: Hybrid / London

Day Rate: £700-£1,000 per day (via umbrella / inside IR35)

Contract Length: 6 months initially, with potential extension

Start Date: ASAP

We are seeking an experienced Interim Programme Director to lead a strategically critical transformation programme focused on simplifying services and reshaping core HR and Finance operating models across the organisation.

This role will oversee a complex portfolio of change initiatives designed to streamline end-to-end processes, improve digital enablement, remove duplication, and strengthen organisational effectiveness. Operating within a highly matrixed and evolving structure, the Programme Director will play a key role in aligning senior stakeholders across HR, Finance, Operations, and Digital to deliver a cohesive and sustainable future-state model.

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of a large-scale HR and Finance transformation and service simplification programme
• Define and drive the strategic roadmap covering operating model design, process optimisation, governance, and enabling technology
• Coordinate multiple workstreams spanning HR, Finance, Shared Services, Digital, and business functions
• Provide strong programme leadership in a complex, distributed stakeholder environment with overlapping accountabilities
• Establish clear governance, reporting, financial control, and risk management frameworks across the portfolio
• Partner with Executive and Board-level stakeholders to build alignment, manage competing priorities, and secure sustained sponsorship
• Identify and deliver measurable improvements in efficiency, service quality, data integrity, and user experience
• Support organisational readiness, embedding sustainable change across people, process, and systems

• Proven track record delivering enterprise-scale HR and/or Finance transformation programmes at Programme Director or equivalent level
• Strong experience in operating model redesign, shared services, or corporate function transformation
• Demonstrable ability to lead change within complex, matrixed, or partially decentralised organisational structures
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at Executive and Board level and navigate ambiguity or competing agendas
• Strong commercial and financial oversight experience, including programme budgeting, benefits realisation, and governance
• Able to mobilise rapidly, diagnose priorities, and drive delivery at pace while maintaining strategic alignment
• Experience in public sector, higher education, healthcare, or similarly complex organisations desirable