Associate Director - Programme Advisory & Capital Excellence - Major Projects Advisory

Job description

About us

At KPMG, we are passionate about making a difference. We're looking for people with an entrepreneurial spirit and the motivation to create success with others. Working alongside 16,000 of the brightest minds in the business, you will be part of our market leading Infrastructure Advisory Group. Our values – Integrity, Excellence, For Better, Courage and Together – are at the heart of everything we do. KPMG is truly a place where you can make an extraordinary difference, without having to be anything, but yourself.

“PACE” (Programme Advisory and Capital Excellence) is part of KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory team – a multi-disciplinary team of cross-sector experts in complex project and programme delivery. We transform our clients’ delivery capability and partner with them to deliver faster, cheaper, greener and better. As a recognised market leader, we are proud to partner with an impressive client base across both private and public sectors, delivering lasting results in several market sectors, namely:

• Government
• Healthcare
• Defence
• Water
• Energy
• Transport
• Financial Services  

We are looking for experienced experts in project and programme management and controls who seek an exciting long-term career in our team. Your experience to date could be from within any of our target sectors above. And, although we are primarily focussed on these sectors within the UK, we also recognise the opportunity of experience and insights from other countries and regions, especially the Middle East.

Ideally, your delivery experience would be gained from Infrastructure-related Projects and Programmes, but we’ll happily consider candidates with experience in other fields relevant to our work.

Our fast-paced environment will excite, challenge, and reward you. While the pace is high, you’ll have the support that comes from being part of our inclusive, diverse, and collaborative team, to help you thrive. We’ll empower you to feed your curiosity, work with some of the best on emerging practices and technologies and grow in your own way – bringing your whole self to everything you do with us.

About the role

As an Associate Director, you will play a pivotal role in leading both the delivery of work on the ground and the development of new opportunities for KPMG, maintaining insights and perspectives on how our markets are changing and how our capabilities align. You will own many critical relationships and operate as a trusted advisor to senior clients, helping to shape solutions, inform decisions and drive implementation.

It is a highly accountable leadership role that requires you to wear many hats, but you’ll be well supported by the rest of us.

Your day-to-day involves:

• Leading complex and multifaceted consulting engagements whilst simultaneously managing broader client relationships across multiple accounts
• Inspiring your team; managing, coaching, mentoring and motivating your colleagues
• Fostering an inclusive, diverse and flexible environment where everyone can thrive
• Engaging at a senior level with our clients, becoming a trusted advisor
• Collaborating with other leaders to develop and continually refine the long-term strategy for our purposeful and sustainable growth
• Being a respected subject-matter expert and a team-shaper
• Able to positively influence the scope and direction of any engagement through cross-functional collaboration  
• Developing a recognised profile in the external market
• Being responsible for all financial aspects of an engagement
• Understanding KPMG’s broader suite of services and identifying opportunities to collaborate and design unique client solutions
• Most importantly, being a role model for KPMG and living our values every day

About the sort people we’re looking for

There is no one-size fits all in MPA; we’re as diverse as the world around us. We hand pick our people because they’re our most important asset – and people pick us because we really mean that. 

Your track record should evidence:

• A proven history of operating as an effective leader in a consulting firm in addition to senior project or programme management roles; with a minimum of 10 years' experience – primarily built around the delivery of major complex Projects/Programmes, transformational change
  
  and/or
  
  Proven experience in optimisation of the full suite of Project Controls (e.g. schedule, cost, risk) and a deep understanding of best in class processes and tooling, project controls system deployment and transformation or process optimisation, with the skillset and qualifications to support (i.e. Lean Six Sigma).
• Proven experience of management and leadership of muti-disciplinary consulting teams of between 5-20 consultants 
• Specialist Project, Programme, Portfolio management expertise, with proven delivery acumen and a passion for the future of the profession  
• Ideally experience in one or more sectors across Central Government, Infrastructure, Transport, Aerospace, Defence, Industrial, Financial Services, Utilities or Manufacturing preferred
• Demonstrable experience of influencing senior-level stakeholders, having built and sustained key relationships
• Excellent commercial awareness with strong experience of owning and managing client accounts alongside contributions to significant bids and proposals
• The passion, resilience and energy to make a difference, both internally and externally
• A foundation of excellent academics and demonstrable career progression to date 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• A good spread of experience using different software/applications (e.g. Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, Project, Primavera P6, Slack, Clarizen)
• Relevant professional certification – e.g. APM ChPP/PPQ; MoP; MSP; PRINCE2

Experience in all, or some of the following areas will help you stand out: 

• Delivering advisory services such as capital delivery transformations, organisational design, regulatory change, delivery efficiency and governance optimisation
• Working in partnership with clients to shape the strategic direction of their organisation and implementing the change with them
• Delivering targeted business process improvement(s) in relation to capital investment Portfolios and major Projects/Programmes
• Standing up programme governance
• Designing and enhancing Project, Programme or Portfolio controls
• Designing and leading transformation management offices (TMO) or project management offices (PMO)
• Delivering quality assurance and monitoring
• Leading projects delivering quality assurance and monitoring
• Troubled Project/Programme reviews and implementing recovery plans
• Delivering advisory services such as Project Controls optimisations, Project Controls toolset implementations, governance optimisation, portfolio prioritisation
• Delivering targeted business process improvement(s) in relation to capital investment Portfolios and major Projects/Programmes
• Implementation of Earned Value Management in accordance with relevant national standards

One final word from us…

Everybody likes to say they’re different... but we really think we are. We do what we say, and we say what we mean.

We’re hugely proud of what we’ve managed to achieve so far, but we’re only just getting started. We’re looking for people to grow with us and are committed to helping everybody reach their destination, regardless of what that is.

Rapid career progression means that if you show up and you’re ready to step up - you’ll be promoted. Because we recognise talent, not just tenure.

And with all the support, training, and development you need, the sky really is the limit.

Should you choose to join us, you can expect an attractive benefits package, which typically includes:

Financial

• A competitive salary
• Pension options
• Bonus scheme that reflects firm and individual performance
• Rail and Oyster Card reimbursement
• Staff discounts
• Access to preferential banking

Lifestyle

• 25 days holiday, with the option to buy up to an extra 10 days, plus an additional day of leave for your birthday
• Competitive maternity and paternity leave
• 6 days of work time each year for volunteering
• Daily lunch allowance
• Flextra – a flexible benefits scheme that allows you to choose benefits for you and your family, such as, travel insurance, critical illness insurance, dental insurance and discounted gym memberships

Health and Wellbeing

• Private medical insurance
• Personal accident insurance
• Life assurance of 4 x salary with the option to increase this via flexible benefits scheme
• Access to private, remote GP appointments anytime and anywhere via a smartphone
• Online health risk questionnaire
• BeWell employee assistance programme for confidential information, advice, or counselling for life’s daily challenges
• Group Income Protection

No matter what skills you bring to our team, you’ll be surrounded by spirited, naturally curious people. People who want to learn from you, and who’ll also teach you a thing or two along the way. It’s how we make a collective impact, greater than the sum of its parts.

And if this isn’t the role for you but you like what you see, keep in touch. There will be other opportunities to join us.

For more details about a career at KPMG, visit: www.kpmgcareers.co.uk