Senior Consultant – Project Management(Fixed Term Contract)

The Role

The role of the Senior Consultant - Project Management is to work with the business to establish the environment for change; setting the change roadmap and working with the business to adapt and contribute to the change. The Senior Consultant - Project Management's core focus will be building and growing stakeholder relationships to enable the creation and maintenance of strategic roadmaps for each business area under their stewardship. This will see the Consultant – Project Management understanding the needs of the business and working with the business to establish a strategic roadmap, building strong business cases and overseeing the delivery of the associated benefits by the Project Management team.

Key Accountabilities

The role incumbent will be responsible for contributing to the creation, maintenance and delivering of the strategic roadmap for their respective business area. This will see the role incumbent:

• Act as the point of contact for the Head of Function or primary contact in the business area for the identification, initiation and delivery of programmes/projects within the business area;
• Act as a strategic business advisor/consultant to their responsible business area;
• Act as an escalation point for both the Head of Function, their teams and the Project Managers on project related items;
• Provide stakeholder management across programmes/projects;
• Creation of a scoped and costed roadmap of future work that will meet the aims and objectives of the business area;
• Contribute to GPG pipeline management (project intake) undertaking prioritisation and negotiation with the business where necessary;
• Author and own the business case for all programmes/projects within their business area ensuring a focus on business benefits, business outcomes and commercial validity;
• Author (or hold all accountability for) all documentation required to ensure all new programmes/projects traverse the relevant governance processes before work starts;
• Ensure all projects are delivered within agreed time, cost, quality tolerances set in the business case;
• Ensure all business benefits, business outcomes and project deliverables are delivered to the quality agreed and in a robust and consistent manner;
• Own benefit realisation of the business benefits identified in the business case ensuring benefit realisation is planned, tracked and communicated;
• Oversee project/programmes under the control of a Project Manager offering support, guidance, mentoring and coaching where necessary;
• Understand and report on all cross dependencies between projects in the GPG programme of change;
• Ensure all projects/programmes have a change management plan that meets the needs of the business area and any other customers;
• Ensure the required inputs from supplier areas such as Procurement, HR and IT (and others as necessary) are in place for the projects;
• Contribute to GPG resource management across the programmes/projects and act as an escalation point for Project Managers with regards project team resource contention issues;
• Undertake recruitment as and when approved by the Director of Global Programme Group;
• Author or contribute to the drafting of timely and effective reports, briefings, position papers, correspondence, action materials and other internal and external documents;
• Report on programmes/projects as required by the business and in line with GPG reporting standards and cycles;
• Ensure post programme/project review meetings take place and all lessons are recorded as per GPG standards and processes; and
• Promote the profile of the GPG internally across the firm.

Additionally, the Senior Consultant - Project Management will take responsibility for the following:

• Undertake Project Management activities where necessary and required;
• Definition of delivery relationships, terms of engagement and periodic delivery reviews with suppliers (internal and external);
• Contribute to the definition and development of core competencies and/or approaches required by the organisation and team to deliver programmes/projects successfully;
• Line management including the annual appraisal process and salary review; and
• Undertake additional projects as part of the Global Programme Group Management Team.

Your experience

The role incumbent will possess the following skills and knowledge, preferably practiced in a law firm or other similar professional services company:

• Degree or equivalent with 15+ years of experience;
• Prior experience in management/leadership of a similar change/programme management function;
• A clear understanding of Project and Programme Management with a well-developed ability to present a range of reports to varying audiences of varying seniority levels;
• Prince2, MSP, Agile Project Management or other recognised project management qualifications preferable;
• Ability to work with different levels in the Firm - from the senior level through to all levels within function and practice area;
• Evidence of having worked closely with project managers and other content experts as an integral member of programme teams rather than working "stand alone";
• Commercially astute;
• Experience working in professional services and/or partnerships would be a distinct advantage but not essential;
• Experience of working with a diverse internal client base;   
• Experience of working with off shoring and/or outsourcing would also be highly useful; and
• Experience in leading a change programme using continuous improvement techniques such as Lean/Six Sigma.

Skills & Personal Characteristics

The ideal candidate will exhibit the following attributes:

• Dynamic, versatile, robust and resilient;
• Business focused, delivery focused and solution driven;
• Able to view impediments as challenges and not give up when the going gets tough;
• Influential and persuasive
• Skill at managing stakeholder groups and balancing diplomacy and tact with assertiveness;
• Excellent communicator
• Facilitator – will often be called upon to lead discussions, and resolve contention;
• Able to summarise and present an effective synopsis of current situation;
• Able to successfully marshal and manage all resources at their disposal;
• Knows when and how to initiate and follow well-defined escalation procedures;
• Willing to ‘get their sleeves rolled up’ and ‘get things done’
• A leader and a team-player;
• Very good prioritisation and organization skills; and
• A strong desire to solve problems and contribute to a positive and supportive learning environment. 

Client Focus

At Clifford Chance, we believe in bringing the client - both internal and external - to the centre of everything we do. To do this we need to understand, anticipate and fulfill the unique needs and expectations of each client.  We call this "Client Focus" and to help deliver this core part of our business strategy, we want to recruit people who not only excel in their field but who are also client focused.

We are looking for people who:

• Can demonstrate a keen interest and enthusiasm to understand their clients' priorities;
• Are self-starters but also team players ready to help others and contribute to the overall success;
• Listen, question and deliver; and
• Are reliable and responsive, who can put the needs of the client first.

In short, we are looking for people who are motivated by client satisfaction and who strive to exceed the expectations of their clients. 

Who we are

We are one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn, thrive, and grow. That’s why we’re so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

You’ll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they’ve reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that’s possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you’ll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet

Equal opportunities statement

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. 

Find out more about our inclusive culture here