Programme Specialist - Consultant, R&D

Programme Specialist (Consultant) - R&D

Location: London, hybrid (3 days per week on site) 
Duration: Permanent 
Start: ASAP 
Salary: £60,000 - £67,000, depending on experience 
 
At Pace, we are reimagining management consulting through a human-centred, outcomes-focused approach. We solve complex, high-stakes problems across Government, National Infrastructure, Legal and R&D to help organisations realise real-world impact faster. 
 
Due to the expansion of our ongoing work with The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), the UK’s high-risk, high-reward R&D funding body. We are seeking Programme Specialists to work across ARIA’s seven opportunity spaces, launching and delivering programmes.  

As part of the Pace x ARIA team, you won't just manage projects; you will serve as a programme partner and operational force multiplier to world-leading Programme Directors driving breakthrough scientific and technological innovation.   
 
Role:

The Programme Specialist is the operational backbone and delivery partner to an ARIA Programme Director. You will bridge the gap between bold scientific vision and pragmatic, high velocity execution.  
Acting as a key liaison, you will co-design work packages, establish lean governance, manage milestone driven performance across project teams (startups, academic labs, and research hubs), and ensure seamless interaction with ARIA’s core cross-functional teams (PMO, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Comms). 
 
Accountabilities of the Programme Specialist will include: 
  
Programme Delivery & Active Management 

• End to End Delivery: Coordinate R&D programmes across the entire lifecycle. From discovery and thesis definition through to solicitation, contract negotiation, active delivery, and closure. 
• Milestone & Progress Tracking: Help shape and subsequently evaluate Creator progress against contractual milestones. Facilitate quarterly updates and review of technical/financial progress in close partnership with the Science and Technical Lead. 
• Active Management & Pivots: Apply active management principles, identifying risks early, course correcting deviating projects, and supporting timely pivots or resource re-allocations. 
• RAID & Financial Oversight: Maintain robust risk registers (RAID), track project and overall programme spend alongside Finance Specialists, and approve Creator invoices. 

Trusted Thought Partner  

• PD Collaboration: Act as the Programme Director's trusted operator during discovery and thesis buildout, helping translate big ambitions into clearly defined programme objectives, realistic work packages, governance structures, and budget forecasts. 
• Constructive Challenge: Offer fresh insights, challenge assumptions respectfully, and keep the team focused on critical delivery trade-offs and high impact outcomes. 

Ecosystem Interface & Organisational Glue 

• Cross-Functional Liaison: Serve as the primary operational bridge connecting the Programme Team with ARIA core functions (Procurement, PMO, Legal, Comms, Events) to remove operational bottlenecks. 
• Creator Engagement: Coordinate site visits, workshops, and stakeholder communications to build cohesive communities across funded R&D Creators and Activation Partners. 
• Tooling Superuser: Maintain real-time accuracy across programme tracking tools, bringing a critical eye to process and potential efficiency gains. 

 
Required skills and experience: 
 

• Project/Programme Management: 3+ years of experience managing complex, structured projects or programmes (ideally leading 6+ month initiatives end-to-end).
• Full Lifecycle: Experience in all stages of the project lifecycle i.e. project initiation, planning, execution, control and close down.
• Delivery Agility: Experience in a startup or similarly high stakes setting delivering programme structure and governance, whilst also being able to work on fast-paced projects, balancing structure and agility.
• Stakeholder Management: Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with a proven ability to collaborate across diverse teams. Demonstrated experience of influencing key stakeholders across the organisation. Excellent engagement skills (including interviewing, facilitating, mediating and presenting) .
• Consulting Mindset: A proactive consulting mindset, capable of anticipating challenges and addressing them effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• AI and Process Automation: Demonstrated ability to leverage AI and automated workflow tools to optimise daily project operations and reporting, ensuring all solutions operate within organisational data governance and compliance policies
• Domain Awareness (Desirable): Experience working within related sectors such as R&D, science, technology, deep tech, engineering, government, non-profit or innovation funding ecosystems is desirable but not essential.

  
What’s in it for you?

• An opportunity to join a high-growth, scale-up consulting firm; we see an opportunity to make a material difference to how clients are served, and are on a mission to create environments that thrive for our clients.   
• An award-winning culture where talented people feel trusted, supported and inspired to do their best work - recognised through our Culture Award and built on genuine collaboration, shared ownership and having fun along the way.
• A dedicated focus on your individual personal development: managed through annual performance appraisals, individual personal development plans, and our bi-weekly ‘continuous conversations’ programme.   
• Access to Corporate APM membership benefits and additional professional development through a personal training budget (subject to approval of a relevant business case)   

  
Company benefits include: 

• Pace Pension 
• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays 
• Private Healthcare* 
• Life Assurance* 
• Critical Illness* 
• Holiday Purchase Scheme* 
• Electric Car Scheme* 
• Cycle To Work Scheme* 
• Birthday Day off, Paid Volunteer Day off 
• Reservist Leave 
• Enhanced Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave 
• Work from Abroad policy
• Regular company and team events 
• Discounted shopping with ADS Rewards 

*Available to permanent employees only. 
     
Your Pace team:

 Pace is one of Europe’s fastest-growing UK-based management consultancies, transforming the industry with a focus on delivering measurable customer value. 

 By optimising people and systems, we help organisations enhance efficiency, boost productivity, and achieve significant savings in time, cost, and resources. 

 At Pace, we recognise that we are only as good as our people.  Apply today to find out about the great things we’re achieving together and the fun we have as a team.