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We are seeking a Principal Consultant with significant Financial Services experience to lead the design and delivery of complex, technology- and AI-enabled client engagements focused on improving processes and customer experiences. This is not about incremental improvement or building faster horses – it's about helping clients engage with the art of the possible and guiding them through the policy, process, business, and technology changes needed to realise genuine commercial impact.

This is a senior, client-facing role suited to someone with 8+ years' experience in consulting or impact-led transformation, who is comfortable operating with senior stakeholders, shaping solutions, and taking accountability for both delivery and commercial outcomes.

The Principal Consultant will play a key role in bridging user and business needs with implementable technology capabilities (including data, automation, and AI), coordinating delivery across internal teams – including human-centred designers – and multiple external technology partners. The role combines advisory, delivery leadership, and commercial responsibility.

This role is based in our Edinburgh office, with an expectation of regular in-office presence to support collaboration with colleagues and clients.

Key Responsibilities

Client & Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders (Director/VP/C-suite level)
• Act as primary point of contact for clients, owning day-to-day engagement management and senior-level escalations
• Lead workshops and stakeholder discussions to understand client challenges, strategic objectives, and regulatory constraints
• Help clients see beyond current-state limitations to engage with what's genuinely possible with available technology
• Provide clear, confident advice and challenge clients constructively to achieve better outcomes
• Lead the definition and design of the business target-state that reimagine how work gets done – not just optimise existing processes
• Help clients understand the art of the possible, translating existing and emerging technology capabilities into practicalashtra opportunities for their business
• Work closely with human-centred designers and client subject matter experts to fundamentally rethink customer and colleague experiences
• Navigate and shape end-to-end change across policy, process, organisation, and technology
• Build compelling business cases that articulate genuine commercial impact, including but not limited to efficiency savings
• Develop target operating models, roadmaps, and delivery plans that connect vision to value realisation

Delivery Leadership

• Plan, manage, and overseeiko end-to-end delivery, ensuring scope, time, cost, quality, and risk objectives are met
• Coordinate and integrate the work of multiple technology vendors alongside internal design and delivery teams
• Guide clients through the interconnected policy yuq process, and technology changes required to realise benefits
• Take accountability for delivery outcomes across multiple workstreams and delivery teams
• Establish and maintain effective delivery governance, reporting, and controls
• Proactively identify delivery risks and issues, driving mitigation and resolution
• Lead technology- and AI-enabled delivery teams, ensuring solutions are implemented responsibly and effectively whilst prioritising business outcomes.
• Take commercial accountability for client engagements, including budget ownership, forecasting, and margin management
• Develop and manage engagement financial plans, ensuring delivery remains within agreed commercial parameters
• Monitor financial performance throughout the engagement lifecycle and proactively manage risks to revenue, cost, or margin
• Work closely with finance and leadership teams to provide accurate financial reporting and forward-looking forecasts
• Manage contract scope, change control, and commercial discussions with clients and delivery partners
• Lead, mentor, and manage teams of consultants, including both permanent staff and contractors
• Set clear objectives, expectations, and delivery standards for team members
• Support the development, coaching, and performance management of junior consultants
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance team culture
• Manage and coordinate multiple third-party technology vendors across concurrent workstreams
• Ensure effective collaboration between internal human-centred design teams and external technology partners
• Hold partners accountable for delivery commitments, outcomes, and quality standards
• Manage commercial and delivery relationships to ensure successful project outcomes

Business Development & Account Growth

• Support and, where appropriate, lead proposal development Casey, bids, and responses to client opportunities
• Identify and shape opportunities for follow-on work and account growth within existing clients
• Work with account leads and leadership to develop account strategies and long-term growth plans
• Contribute to compelling value propositions, solution approaches, and pricing models
• Build and maintain strong internal and external networks to support business development

Required Experience & Skills

• 8+ years' professional experience in consulting, advisory, or technology-enabled organisations
• Prior consulting experience, ideally within a Big 4 consultancy
• Significant experience delivering projects within the Financial Services sector
• Proven ability to help clients think beyond incremental improvement to genuine transformation
• Experience designing and delivering systemic solutions that span policy, process, organisational, and technology change
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple technology vendors and integrate their work with internal delivery teams
• Strong experience planning and managing project delivery across multi-disciplinary teams, including human-centred designers
• Proven experience managing senior stakeholders and executive-level clients
• Experience leading and managing teams of consultants, including contractors
• Strong commercial acumen, including budget ownership, forecasting, and margin management
• Solid understanding of modern technology, data, automation, and AI as enablers of fundamental business change
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and presentation skills
• Experience delivering large-scale transformation, digital, or regulatory programmes in Financial Services or with Private Equity
• Exposure to agile, waterfall, or hybrid delivery methodologies
• Experience working on AI, data, cloud, or automation-led initiatives
• Experience contributing to sales, proposals, or account growth activities

What We Offer

• Edinburgh-based with flexible working
• Office on Edinburgh's prettiest street (and most Instagrammed too)
• 35 days' holiday including bank holidays
• Company pension scheme
• Death in service cover
• Private medical insurance
• Bike to work scheme
• Electric Vehicle Scheme
• Annual team trip
• Loads of lovely snacks—healthy and indulgent—when you're in the office
• Nile assistance programme
• Regular team socials and activities