Program Director - #2162806

Role: Programme Director

Length: 12 months

Location: Sheffield (2 to 3 days per week onsite)

Rate: £820 per day via umbrella company

Role purpose

My clients Data & Analytics Office (DAO) promotes a data-driven culture across the business through their strategy of building a sustainable, modern and agile data ecosystem creating the long-term data infrastructure needed to deliver lasting business benefits and support the Bank’s strategy. This is done by delivering against the strategy pillars:

Architecture: Build a modern, enterprise-wide data foundation through a firm-wide data fabric that connects and governs data consistently across the business. Standardise architecture and reusable patterns, automate governance and controls, and improve resilience of critical data services - enabling faster, safer delivery of data products at scale, better discoverability and reuse, and stronger regulatory evidence.

Risk Reduction: Remediate material data quality and control weaknesses impacting regulatory reporting. Improve completeness, accuracy and consistency, strengthen lineage and control effectiveness, automate checks and issue management - delivering more reliable reporting and better auditability.

Business Initiatives: Deliver high-value data products and advanced analytics aligned to priority outcomes across the UK, Hong Kong, CIB and IWPB. Enhance digital insights to improve customer experience, strengthen customer data - driving measurable commercial impact through better decisions and more personalised, multi-channel engagement.

To drive our strategy, we are now seeking a high calibre professional and self-motivated Programme Director to join our Data team.

DAO Programme Directors provide senior, enterprise-level leadership across business, technology, data, architecture, risk, control and supplier stakeholders. The role owns the transformation strategy, enterprise priorities and overall outcomes; directs integrated execution across the transformation portfolio; governs investment, capacity and material delivery risk; and ensures that the resulting capability is adopted and sustainably embedded into business-as-usual operations. The Programme Director sets the target-state direction, resolves cross-programme dependencies and trade-offs, and holds Programme Managers and other delivery leaders accountable for delivery within agreed scope, funding, risk and quality parameters.

The successful applicant will enjoy working as part of a dynamic team on a high profile and exciting / engaging programme of work.

Governance and Committee Memberships

• Programme Steering Commitees
• Programme Working Groups.

Principal Accountabilities and Responsibilities (e.g., for Business, Customers and Stakeholders; internal control environment, etc.)

SAS Analytics Transformation Leadership:

Owns the enterprise SAS Analytics transformation strategy and overall outcomes across the business, including target-state direction, investment priorities, enterprise sequencing, benefits realisation, adoption and transition to sustainable business-as-usual operations.

• Defines the transformation vision, outcomes, success measures and delivery principles, aligned with the Data strategy, target architecture, business priorities and risk appetite.

• Sets enterprise priorities and sequencing across SAS Analytics modernisation, workload migration, code remediation, platform adoption and legacy decommissioning, resolving conflicts between programmes and capabilities.

Is accountable for measurable improvements in resilience, engineering standards, controls, user experience, cost efficiency and business value, with delivery ownership delegated to Programme Managers and workstream leads.

Executive Stakeholder Leadership:

• Builds relationships with senior leadership across CDAO, business, technology and control functions, acting as the senior transformation representative.
• Secures alignment on the target state, investment priorities, enterprise commitments, material risks, dependencies and decisions required.
• Leads executive discussions on scope, sequencing, funding, capability, risk and delivery trade -offs, ensuring decisions are timely, transparent and aligned with enterprise priorities.
• Represents the transformation at steering committees and executive governance forums, sponsoring decisions and holding delivery leaders accountable for agreed outcomes.

Integrated Delivery and Migration:

• Directs the SAS transformation portfolio, setting delivery expectations and holding Programme Managers and workstream leads accountable for agreed outcomes, milestones, budget, scope and quality standards.
• Approves the enterprise sequencing and oversight approach for migration and decommissioning, ensuring plans are appropriately resourced and delivered against critical milestones.
• Drives accountability across CDAO and partner teams, resolving cross-programme dependencies, material risks, issues and escalations that exceed delegated authority.
• Maintains executive oversight of the product and platform roadmap, migration, adoption, operational readiness and legacy retirement, without taking ownership of the Programme Manager’s detailed execution plan.
• Ensures material migration and retirement decisions are supported by impact assessments, testing, business acceptance, control evidence, operational handover and closure criteria.

Governance, Risk and Control:

• Owns the transformation governance framework, executive reporting, decision management, enterprise benefits realisation and OKR tracking in line with the Change Framework.
• Establishes the transformation-level control, assurance and quality framework aligned with risk, technology and regulatory requirements, with implementation delegated to Programme Managers and delivery teams.
• Acts as the senior escalation point for material risks, issues and dependencies, providing clear recommendations and decisions within the Director’s authority.
• Governs enterprise scope, change control, risk acceptance and exceptions, ensuring appropriate evidence, decision rights and escalation routes are maintained.

Investment, Financial and Resource Accountability:

• Owns the enterprise investment plan, resource strategy, financial forecast and delivery capacity model for the SAS transformation portfolio.
• Partners with Product, Architecture, Engineering, SMEs and Business & Function to develop portfolio-level plans, forecasts, business cases and funding requirements.
• Owns enterprise intake and prioritisation of new transformation demand, ensuring value, cost, risk, scope and capacity are understood before commitments are made.
• Oversees portfolio budgets, actuals, forecasts and corrective actions, approving or recommending re - sequencing, funding changes or resource reallocations where required.

People and Delivery Leadership:

• Leads and develops the distributed delivery organisation, including Programme Managers, senior delivery leads, workstream leads and specialists, with day-to-day team leadership delegated to Programme Managers where appropriate.
• Sets clear accountabilities, objectives, performance expectations and delivery standards across the transformation.
• Oversees performance, development, succession, workload and escalations across Programme Managers and senior delivery leaders.
• Builds an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing culture across CDAO, technology, business and control teams.
• Coaches Programme Managers and other delivery leaders, promoting consistent
• Provides transparent executive reporting on delivery confidence, finances, benefits, controls, dependencies and decisions required, incorporating programme-level reporting from Programme Managers.