Programme Lead

Programme Lead

Permanent

Farringdon, London - Hybrid

Purpose of the Role

The Programme Lead is a new leadership role created to bring structure, consistency and accountability to TCEU’s project management function. Currently, Project Managers report directly to the VP of Product & Growth with no dedicated lead, no unified PM standard and no portfolio-level visibility. This role fixes that.

The Programme Lead defines and embeds the TCEU PM standard — plans, RAID logs, milestones and change control — and line manages all Project Managers. They own the programme-level view of delivery health across TCEU and partner closely with the Senior Product Manager to ensure roadmap commitments translate into executable, well-governed delivery plans. At 50% billability, this role is embedded in one active project while spending the remaining time on community leadership, standards and portfolio governance.

Key Responsibilities

1. Delivery Standards & Operating Rhythm

• Define and embed the TCEU PM standard: project plans, RAID logs, milestone tracking, change control and stakeholder communication.

• Ensure every initiative of more than four weeks has a named PM, a live plan and a maintained RAID log.

• Own portfolio-level reporting — providing a reliable programme health view for leadership at all times.

• Eliminate inconsistency across the PM community — one standard, applied by everyone, on every project.

2. PM Community Line Management

• Line manage all Project Managers across TCEU

• Run regular 1:1s, performance reviews and development conversations.

• Identify capability gaps across the PM community and develop plans to close them.

• Cover sickness and holiday for Project Managers as required.

3. Cross-functional Co-ordination

• Partner with the Senior Product Manager to translate the portfolio roadmap into sequenced, executable delivery plans.

• Co-ordinate cross-team dependencies across Engineering, Data, Design and Operations.

• Ensure PMs and Scrum Masters share a unified delivery owner — keeping project governance and sprint execution in sync.

4. Escalation & Risk

• Own the escalation path for delivery blockers — ensuring issues reach the right decision-maker quickly.

• Facilitate dependency and risk reviews across the PM community on a regular cadence.

• Provide proactive early warning of programme risk to the Head of Product & Delivery.

• Ensure blockers and risks surface early enough that options still exist when leadership is engaged.

Competency Expectations

The expectations below reflect the behaviours and skills required to operate effectively at this level:

Problem Solving & Decision Making

Makes high-impact decisions on programme governance, delivery sequencing and risk management. Balances the need for delivery pace with rigour, setting clear frameworks and guardrails that PMs operate within. Uses data, dependency analysis and scenario planning to navigate complexity with minimal upward escalation. Sets the decision-making standard for the PM community.

Technical Expertise

Deep expertise in programme and project management — plans, RAID logs, milestones, change control and portfolio reporting. Partners with Senior Product and Engineering leaders to ensure delivery plans are technically credible and commercially sound. Reviews and challenges delivery proposals and business cases to ensure alignment with strategy and capacity.

Communication & Collaboration

Acts as the programme voice in leadership forums. Uses delivery data and risk insight to influence decisions and build confidence in programme health. Manages upward effectively — providing clear, concise portfolio status and surfacing risks early with options. Builds trust across Engineering, Product, Design and Operations through consistent and transparent communication.

Leadership

Leads and develops the PM community, holding individuals accountable for outcomes and delivery standards. Shapes the programme management culture for TCEU — driving consistency, transparency and continuous improvement. Develops the next generation of PM capability through coaching, structured feedback and deliberate development planning. Champions diversity, inclusion and wellbeing in delivery planning.