Programme Manager

Programme Manager

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Description

To lead day‑to‑day delivery across SANS Programmes in EMEA, maintaining a cross‑programme delivery view and enabling Service Delivery Leads to own plans, RAID and reporting within PMO governance. Apply a coach‑first approach that increases autonomy, propose and monitor programme‑level tolerances, manage risks, issues and change, and escalates beyond thresholds to the Head of Programmes. Assess, recommend and pilot a fit‑for‑purpose delivery framework and standardise team training from foundation to practitioner level with PMO support.

Collaborate with cross‑functional teams as required.

Delivery Leadership and Cross‑Programme Control

• Maintain an integrated cross‑programme delivery view of schedules, dependencies and resource needs, highlighting impacts, trade‑offs and priorities.
• Work with Service Delivery Leads and Project Coordinators to ensure programme and project plans are created, baselined and actively maintained to PMO standards.
• Run a light planning and delivery cadence with Service Delivery Leads and Project Coordinators, ensuring forecasts, RAID and change control are current and owned.
• Delegate routine delivery decisions to Service Delivery Leads within approved tolerances and intervene only for risks, issues or exceptions.
• Define, with the PMO, clear decision rights and tolerances that enable Service Delivery Leads to act decisively without unnecessary escalation.
• Operate formal change control in line with PMO governance, ensuring impact assessment, approvals and an auditable trail are completed by the appropriate owners.
• Produce concise, insight‑led cross‑programme and client reporting to an agreed cadence.

Financials, Stakeholders and Collaboration

• Track budgets and forecasts, signal variances early and recommend corrective actions within agreed tolerances.
• Maintain regular communication with clients, sponsors and internal stakeholders, secure decisions and approvals, and set expectations clearly.
• Collaborate with Sales, Events, Marketing, Customer Service, Finance, Security/CISO, People/HR and Partnerships & Sponsorship as required.
• Support proposal scoping and deliverability inputs when directed, recognising strategic ownership of new business sits with the Head of Programmes.

Methodology, Capability and Quality

• Assess candidate methodologies (e.g., PRAXIS, APM, tailored PRINCE2 with Agile practices), recommend a tailored framework and pilot implementation following approval by the Head of Programmes.
• Embed the agreed framework with PMO support through templates, RAID discipline, change control, tolerances, quality assurance and reporting.
• Design and deliver a role‑based training pathway (foundation to practitioner) for Service Delivery Leads, Project Coordinators and Programme Support Administrators, and maintain a simple competency matrix.
• Coach Service Delivery Leads and Project Coordinators on lessons learned and quality in delivery and ensure improvements are adopted into future work.

People Leadership

• Line‑manage Service Delivery Leads, Project Coordinators and Programme Support Administrators, set objectives, run 1:1s and support development, maintaining the current manage‑all structure.
• Apply a coach‑first approach that builds capability and accountability while holding people to agreed outcomes and behaviours.
• Plan capacity and allocation across Service Delivery Leads, Project Coordinators and Programme Support Administrators, balance priorities and signal constraints early.

Compliance and Information Management

• Ensure compliant handling of information in line with ISO 27001, GDPR and SANS policies.
• Maintain accurate, auditable documentation and filing in accordance with PMO guidance.

Broader Organisational Support

• Support cross‑functional initiatives and wider organisational priorities when required and directed by the Head of Programmes.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of business processes in partnership with the PMO and peer leads.

Decision Rights and Escalation

• Enable Service Delivery Leads to act within agreed tolerances and pathways and resolve the majority of delivery decisions at their…