PMO Lead - Major Payments Technology Transformation

Contract: 12 Months
IR35: Outside IR35
Location: Central London - Hybrid 3 days per week 
Start: September 2026
Sector: Payments / FinTech / Financial Services

We are supporting a leading consultancy on a major, multi-year technology transformation within the payments sector and are looking for an experienced PMO Lead to join the programme.

This is not a traditional PMO role focused purely on reporting, governance packs and administration.

We are looking for somebody who can operate as the central point of control across a complex technology programme - bringing together multiple workstreams, creating transparency around delivery, challenging where required and providing senior programme leadership with a clear and accurate view of progress, risks, dependencies and decisions.

The successful individual will work closely with senior programme leadership and will need to combine strong PMO discipline with the commercial awareness, judgement and influence of a Chief of Staff.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and lead the PMO across a complex, multi-workstream technology transformation.
• Create an integrated view of programme delivery across multiple technical and business workstreams.
• Own programme-level governance, planning, reporting, RAID and dependency management.
• Maintain visibility of the critical path and ensure cross-workstream dependencies are understood and actively managed.
• Provide clear, concise and data-led reporting to senior leadership and SteerCo.
• Challenge workstream leads where plans, milestones, risks or dependencies are unclear.
• Ensure decisions, actions and accountabilities are captured and driven through to completion.
• Identify emerging delivery risks before they become programme-level issues.
• Bring consistency and structure across multiple delivery teams and third parties.
• Support senior programme leadership with prioritisation, decision-making and executive communication.
• Ensure governance adds value to delivery rather than simply creating additional process.
• Act as a trusted partner to senior programme leadership across the transformation.

Experience Required

We are particularly interested in individuals with experience within:

• Payments / FinTech / Financial Services
• Major technology or infrastructure transformation programmes
• Complex, multi-workstream programme environments
• Senior PMO leadership / Programme Office leadership
• Portfolio or programme governance
• Executive and SteerCo reporting
• RAID and dependency management
• Integrated programme planning
• Technology delivery environments
• Multiple suppliers / third-party dependencies
• Senior stakeholder management

Previous titles could include:

PMO Lead | Head of PMO | PMO Director | Programme Office Lead | Portfolio Lead | Transformation Lead | Chief of Staff

Payments experience would be highly advantageous, particularly where this has involved high-availability, regulated or business-critical technology environments.

The Person

This role will suit somebody who is comfortable operating between the detail and the executive level.

You will need to be able to get underneath what is actually happening across a programme, identify where the real risks and dependencies sit, challenge constructively and then translate that into a clear picture for senior leadership.

We are therefore looking for somebody who combines strong programme discipline with judgement, gravitas and the ability to influence senior stakeholders.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a significant technology transformation within one of the most complex areas of the payments industry.

• Take ownership of a large, established Ecommerce site with significant commercial responsibility
• Join during a positive period of change and investment across digital
• Bring ideas, challenge existing thinking and influence how the site develops
• Work in a lean team where your decisions and contribution will be visible
• Manage and develop a junior team member
• Gain exposure to senior stakeholders across the wider business
• Join a warm, collaborative team led by an experienced and supportive Head of Ecommerce
• Step into a role with strong potential for future progression

• Owning the day-to-day trading performance of the website
• Driving revenue, profit, conversion and average order value
• Identifying risks and opportunities within performance and acting on them quickly
• Using data and customer insight to shape trading decisions
• Managing the trading calendar, campaigns, promotions and product launches
• Improving onsite merchandising, navigation, taxonomy and product discovery
• Optimising the customer journey across desktop and mobile
• Using testing and insight to improve conversion and site performance
• Working closely with Buying, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance, UX and Tech
• Ensuring trading activity is aligned with stock availability and wider commercial priorities
• Managing critical paths and keeping delivery moving in a fast-paced retail environment
• Supporting and developing a junior member of the trading team

• Strong experience in Ecommerce trading, digital merchandising or online retail
• Someone already operating at Digital Trading Manager level rather than taking their first step into it
• A commercial, numbers-led mindset with experience driving online revenue
• Confidence owning and interpreting Ecommerce KPIs, including conversion, AOV and funnel performance
• Experience managing a sizeable, fast-moving retail website
• Strong knowledge of onsite merchandising and customer journey optimisation
• Experience using analytics, testing and CMS platforms
• The confidence to influence stakeholders, challenge decisions and recommend a clear course of action
• Experience managing or developing junior team members
• Someone organised, proactive and comfortable prioritising when there are multiple competing demands
• Experience across different retail categories would be valuable

Are you a commercially-minded ecommerce leader who thrives on owning the numbers, challenging assumptions, and driving sustainable growth?

We're partnering with a fast-growing consumer products business with a portfolio of established direct-to-consumer brands sold via their own ecommerce sites, Amazon, and major UK retail partners. With ambitious international expansion plans and a growing focus on subscriptions and customer retention, they're looking for a Head of Growth to take ownership of ecommerce performance across the business.

This is a strategic leadership role rather than a hands-on media buying position. Paid media is managed by specialist agency partners, you'll define the commercial targets, challenge performance, and ensure every pound invested delivers profitable growth.

As Head of Growth, you'll own the ecommerce P&L and be responsible for driving profitable revenue growth across multiple consumer brands. Working closely with the Founder initially, you'll quickly transition into a highly autonomous leadership role with genuine ownership of strategy, performance, and commercial outcomes.

Responsibilities:

• Own the ecommerce P&L
• Define customer acquisition and profitability targets
• Lead and challenge external agency partners
• Identify new growth opportunities
• Improve customer lifecycle and post-purchase journeys
• Support expansion into international markets
• Produce clear weekly and monthly commercial reporting
• Take increasing ownership of strategic decision-making

Requirements:

You'll already have experience leading growth for an ecommerce or DTC business and be comfortable making commercial decisions backed by data...

• Proven experience owning ecommerce growth
• Understanding of CAC & customer lifetime value
• Experience managing paid media agencies
• Solid understanding of Meta, Google and TikTok advertising
• A track record of driving growth beyond paid media
• Strong commercial acumen & confidence working with founders

Experience with subscription-based products, repeat-purchase consumer brands or international market launches would be advantageous but isn't essential.