Programme Director

Job Description

Programme Director – Cloud Migration

Company: Albany Beck

Location: London – Hybrid

Engagement Type: Permanent

Client Industry: London Market Insurance

About Albany Beck

Albany Beck is a Management Consultancy focused on providing specialist talent and transformative solutions to Financial Services clients. We combine subject matter expertise with innovative delivery models that help clients scale efficiently, while offering meaningful, long-term career opportunities to our people. At Albany Beck, you’ll be choosing to work with an organisation that’s passionate about your learning journey and committed to your professional and personal development.

Role Overview

Albany Beck is seeking an experienced Programme Director to take ownership of a strategic, business-critical cloud migration programme within a leading London Market Insurance organisation. This is a high-profile transformation initiative focused on migrating critical infrastructure, applications and services from legacy data centre environments into Microsoft Azure. The successful candidate will provide overall programme leadership, establish clear direction and bring control, structure and momentum to a complex delivery environment.

The Programme Director will be accountable for the full programme lifecycle, from discovery, assessment and mobilisation through migration execution, transition and operational handover. They will lead multiple delivery workstreams across technology, infrastructure, security, architecture, operations and the wider business, ensuring alignment around a clear migration strategy and integrated delivery plan. This role requires a highly experienced and hands-on Programme Director with a proven track record of recovering complex technology programmes, resolving delivery challenges and successfully delivering large-scale cloud migrations within regulated organisations. Experience within the London Market Insurance sector would be highly desirable, although broader insurance or financial services experience will also be considered.

Key Responsibilities

• Take overall accountability for the strategy, governance and successful delivery of a major enterprise cloud migration programme.
• Lead the programme from discovery and assessment through mobilisation, migration, implementation, cutover and transition into BAU.
• Review the existing programme position and conduct a detailed assessment of delivery status, risks, resources, governance and programme controls.
• Develop and execute a programme recovery plan where required, establishing clear priorities, ownership and delivery accountability.
• Define the programme vision, migration strategy, delivery roadmap, milestones and measurable business outcomes.
• Establish and maintain an integrated programme plan covering infrastructure, applications, data, networks, security, operational readiness and business change.
• Provide executive-level leadership across multiple programme workstreams and ensure alignment between business and technology teams.
• Manage programme scope, budget, resources, dependencies, risks, issues and delivery quality.
• Oversee the migration of critical applications and infrastructure from on-premise data centres into Microsoft Azure.
• Ensure migration activity is properly assessed, sequenced, tested and executed with minimal operational disruption.
• Lead application discovery, migration-wave planning, dependency mapping, cutover planning and legacy decommissioning activities.
• Drive the resolution of complex delivery blockers and escalate critical risks where necessary.
• Establish robust programme governance, reporting, controls and decision-making frameworks.
• Chair steering committees, executive governance forums, delivery reviews and programme workshops.
• Provide clear and concise reporting to executive sponsors and senior leadership on delivery progress, financial position, risks and key decisions.
• Hold workstream leads, technology teams, vendors and delivery partners accountable for agreed outcomes.
• Manage third-party suppliers and implementation partners, ensuring performance against contractual and delivery commitments.
• Ensure alignment across architecture, engineering, cyber security, infrastructure, operations, service management and business teams.
• Maintain strong control over programme finances, including budgeting, forecasting, resource planning and supplier spend.
• Ensure cloud security, regulatory, resilience, operational and governance requirements are embedded throughout the programme.
• Oversee operational readiness, service transition, knowledge transfer and handover into BAU support.
• Build and lead a high-performing programme team, creating a culture of pace, ownership, transparency and delivery.
• Ensure lessons learned, programme documentation and delivery controls meet organisational and regulatory standards.

Required Experience

• Extensive experience operating as a Programme Director on large-scale technology and infrastructure transformation programmes.
• Proven experience leading multiple enterprise cloud migrations from discovery and assessment through to implementation and final delivery.
• Strong experience delivering migrations into Microsoft Azure within complex enterprise environments.
• Demonstrable experience recovering, resetting or stabilising complex programmes experiencing delivery challenges.
• Experience leading cloud, infrastructure, application migration or data centre exit programmes within regulated organisations. Strong understanding of application discovery, migration-wave planning, dependency management, cutover, transition and legacy decommissioning.
• Experience managing complex, multi-workstream programmes involving technology, security, architecture, infrastructure, operations and business teams.
• Proven ability to operate at both strategic and detailed delivery levels.
• Strong executive stakeholder management experience, including regular interaction with C-suite leaders, programme sponsors and senior governance forums.
• Significant experience managing programme budgets, resources, suppliers and commercial arrangements.
• Strong knowledge of programme governance, delivery assurance, risk management and financial control.
• Experience managing systems integrators, cloud providers, technology vendors and third-party delivery partners.
• Strong understanding of operational resilience, cyber security, service transition and regulatory requirements within Financial Services.
• Experience within London Market Insurance, commercial insurance or broader Financial Services would be highly desirable.
• Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation and decision-making skills.
• Relevant programme or project management qualifications such as MSP, PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent would be advantageous.