Programme Specialist; Senior Consultant; R&D

Location: London, hybrid (3 days per week on site)

Duration: Permanent

Start: ASAP

Salary: £66,000 - £77,000, depending on experience

At Pace, we are reimagining management consulting through a human-centred, outcomes-focused approach. We solve complex, high-stakes problems across Government, National Infrastructure, Legal and R&D to help organisations realise real-world impact faster.

Due to the expansion of our ongoing work with The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), the UK’s high-risk, high-reward R&D funding body. We are seeking Programme Specialists to work across ARIA’s seven opportunity spaces, launching and delivering programmes.

As part of the Pace x ARIA team, you won't just manage projects; you will serve as a programme partner and operational force multiplier to world-leading Programme Directors driving breakthrough scientific and technological innovation.

The Senior Programme Specialist takes strategic ownership for the operational, governance, and end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-workstream R&D programmes.

Working alongside ARIA Programme Directors (PDs) and Science & Technology Leads, you will provide senior programme management, establishing robust program control frameworks, driving active programme management, navigate high-stakes risks, identify signals of success & breakthrough and influence executive stakeholders.

You will act as the key liaison between the Programme Team, Operational Teams and Executive Stakeholders, providing insights and data into the Project Management Office (PMO) to support overall governance and portfolio management.

You will be accountable for managing all non-technical elements of the programme: maintaining a clear view of delivery status across work streams, dependencies, risks/issues, decisions and actions, and for escalating and driving resolution where required.

• End-to-End Leadership:
  Mobilise and lead non-technical delivery across complex, multi-workstream R&D programmes, maintaining complete accountability for delivery against agreed outcomes, timelines, budget allocations, and risk parameters across the full lifecycle from discovery to closure.
• Milestone Architecture & Progress Assurance:
  Co-design programme frameworks, solicitations, and milestone philosophies in alignment with PD strategy. Establish rigorous evaluation criteria, oversee progress reviews, and drive performance against contractual milestones in partnership with Science & Technology Leads.
• Active Management & Strategic Interventions:
  Apply active management principles across portfolios, driving proactive RAID and dependency management, identifying systemic risks early, and decisively intervening to execute course corrections, pivots, or contract terminations where needed.
• RAID & Financial Oversight:
  Play a proactive and lead role in risk identification and management across programmes maintaining robust risk registers (RAID), manage change control, ensure audit-ready compliance and track project and overall programme spend alongside Finance Specialists.

• C-Suite & PD
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Be a critical partner to Programme Directors from discovery through to execution, acting as a high-level thought partner, delivery authority, and strategic sounding board to translate bold scientific ambitions into robust, fundable programme architectures.
• Constructive Challenge & Strategic Direction:
  Provide senior-level constructive challenge, stress-testing assumptions, evaluating delivery trade-offs, and keeping leadership aligned on high-impact outcomes and overarching strategic goals.

• Cross-Functional & Operational…