Principal Consultant & Practice Lead

, United Kingdom

Job Family Group:

Information Technology (IT)

Worker Type:

Regular

Posting Start Date:

October 28, 2026

Business Unit:

Information & Digital Technology

Experience Level:

Experienced Professionals

Job Description:

What’s the role

Some leadership roles focus on running a team. This one also gives you the opportunity to shape Shell’s most important technology, digital, data and AI choices and build the consulting capability that helps turn them into action.

As Principal Consultant & Practice Lead, you will lead Shell’s internal Technology, Data & AI Strategy practice. You will set its direction, portfolio and standards; personally lead the most strategically important engagements; advise senior leaders from IT leadership to the C-suite; and assure the quality and impact of complex enterprise strategy engagements.

You will develop a high-performing global team, build strong relationships across Businesses, Functions and IDT, and ensure the practice brings together rigorous problem solving, external insight and practical strategy-to-execution leadership.

Unlike traditional consulting, you will stay involved from strategy through mobilisation and execution, see what works and share ownership of the outcome. Because the practice advises Shell on AI, it must first lead in using AI to reimagine its own work. You will set that direction and hold the practice to it.

What you’ll be doing

• Set the direction, priorities, operating model and portfolio for the practice.
• Act as a trusted adviser to senior business and technology leaders on enterprise technology, digital, data and AI choices.
• Personally lead the most strategically important engagements from problem definition through actionable recommendations, and assure decision framing, analysis quality and outcomes across the portfolio.
• Connect technology choices to business value, governance, operating models and capability requirements, and align enterprise, business, domain and portfolio strategies, surfacing trade-offs and opportunities for alignment.
• Oversee the development of strategic options, scenarios, business cases, investment choices and transformation roadmaps.
• Carry strategic intent into mobilisation and implementation and track the measurable outcomes it delivers.
• Build and lead a diverse, high-performing consulting team, including recruitment, deployment, performance, coaching and succession.
• Establish and assure consulting methods, decision-quality standards, thought leadership and reusable intellectual property.
• Lead the reinvention of how the practice works with AI, using it to increase the speed, depth and reach of insight generation, analysis, knowledge reuse and decision support, and set standards for its responsible use.
• Build partnerships across Shell and with external organisations to bring relevant market, industry and technology insight into decision-making.
• Demonstrate the value and impact of the practice through clear outcomes, stakeholder trust and capability growth.

What you bring

• A strong record of leading a strategy consulting practice, enterprise strategy or technology strategy capability, at Partner, Associate Partner, Principal, Director or equivalent level, in a consultancy or large, complex organisation.
• Exceptional strategic leadership, structured problem-solving, decision analysis and strategy consulting capability.
• Executive presence and a record of working directly with C-level leaders, with the credibility to advise, challenge and influence senior leaders across organisational boundaries.
• Broad commercial and technology judgement across IT strategy, operating models, digital transformation, data and AI, enterprise architecture, portfolio management and emerging technology, with enough depth to challenge specialists and connect choices to enterprise value.
• A record of shaping material decisions and delivering measurable business outcomes through complex transformation portfolios, strategic programmes, opportunity assessments and business cases.
• Proven leadership of senior professionals, including team design, hiring, talent development, performance management and coaching.
• Experience building or growing a consulting practice, team or centre of excellence, including its methods, intellectual property and thought leadership.
• Successful track record redesigning how strategy or consulting work is done using AI and data
• The ability to create an inclusive, collaborative and high-accountability culture while operating through influence in a global matrix.

Why join us?

• Enterprise-wide influence on material technology, digital, data and AI choices.
• Direct engagement with senior decision-makers, from IT leadership to the C-suite, on complex, consequential challenges.
• Demand for the team is strong. As a result the practice prioritises our work around Shell’s most important challenges.
• The variety and impact of external consulting within one global enterprise, no sales targets, deeper relationships and the chance to materially influence implementation and results.
• The chance to develop a distinctive team and leave a lasting capability legacy.

How success will be recognised

You will build a trusted, high-performing, AI-enabled strategy practice that helps leaders make clearer, faster and better-evidenced choices, delivers measurable outcomes, connects strategy with execution and develops the next generation of strategy consulting talent.

What we offer 

You bring your skills and experience to Shell and in return you work with talented, committed people on one of the most important challenges facing our planet. You’ll have the opportunity to develop the skills you need to grow in an environment where we value honesty, integrity, and respect for one another.

• Continuously grow the transferable skills you need to get ahead. 
• Work at the forefront of technology, trends, and practices. 
• Collaborate with experienced colleagues with unique expertise. 
• Achieve your balance in a values-led culture that encourages you to be the best version of yourself.  
• Competitive pay and benefits packages.
• Take advantage of paid parental leave, including for non-birthing parents. 
• Join an organisation working to become one of the most diverse and inclusive in the world. We strongly encourage applicants of all genders, ages, ethnicities, cultures, abilities, sexual orientation, and life experiences to apply. 
• Grow as you progress through diverse career opportunities in national and international teams. 
• Gain access to a wide range of training and development programmes. 

We'd like you to know that Shell has a bold goal: to become one of the world’s most diverse and inclusive companies. You can get to know more about how we're working towards that goal, click here

Shell is working to advance an inclusive, psychologically safe and accessible environment where people with disabilities can excel. If you require any accommodations or accessibility adjustments (e.g. assistive technology, communication support, any other) during the application or interview process, please let us know directly via [email protected] . We strive to ensure that our process and workplace is accessible to everyone and are dedicated to making reasonable adjustments to support your needs. 

Shell in The United Kingdom 

Shell UK remains one of the North Sea’s biggest producers, supplying around 10% of the UK’s total oil and gas needs. But perhaps the most recognisable face of Shell in the UK is our network of over 1,000 Shell-branded service stations. 

In the years ahead, as the UK looks to strengthen energy security and deliver its 2050 net-zero goal, Shell UK aims to play a crucial role. We aim to be a major investor in the UK energy system by helping our customers decarbonise with a focus on transport and industry. 

Shell is a vital contributor to the UK, supporting energy security, jobs and economic value. We provide energy to fuel homes, hospitals, schools, vehicles, machinery and factories. Our history here dates back over 125 years. A UK-headquartered global energy leader, and leading FTSE multinational, we are active across the country’s energy system.

In the years ahead, as the UK looks to strengthen energy security and deliver its 2050 net-zero goal, Shell UK aims to play a crucial role. We aim to be a major investor in the UK energy system by helping our customers decarbonise with a focus on transport and industry. 

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DISCLAIMER:

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