Role description
As a Principal Consultant in Arcadis’ Central Government practice, you will serve as a senior advisor responsible for leading the delivery of high-impact consultancy and transformation programmes for central government departments, agencies, and public bodies. You will translate government policy and strategic objectives into actionable programmes, driving digital, organisational, and infrastructure transformations that deliver sustainable and resilient outcomes. In this client-facing role, you will build trusted relationships with senior civil servants, manage multidisciplinary project teams, and ensure excellence in both project delivery and commercial performance, positioning Arcadis as a key partner to central government.
Role accountabilities
* Lead client engagement at senior levels, building trust, understanding policy drivers and shaping long‑term partnerships.
* Define and deliver complex, multi‑disciplinary programmes and projects from inception to close, ensuring scope, quality, timeline and budget objectives are met.
* Provide strategic advice on policy implementation, digital transformation, service design, infrastructure planning and sustainability as relevant to the client brief.
* Develop winning commercial proposals and lead bid teams, including pricing, resourcing and risk allocation.
* Manage programme governance, stakeholder management and escalation across departmental and cross‑government interfaces.
* Mentor, coach and develop consultants and project teams; promote inclusive, high‑performance working practices.
* Produce and present thought leadership, briefings and evidence‑based recommendations for senior stakeholders and public audiences.
* Ensure compliance with public sector procurement, security and data requirements; manage contractual and financial performance to maintain profitability.
Qualifications & Experience
* Typically 10+ years’ consulting or senior public sector experience, with a proven track record delivering complex programmes or transformations for central government departments or national agencies.
* Deep understanding of central government structures, policy development, funding mechanisms, procurement frameworks and governance.
* Demonstrable experience in commercial bid leadership, stakeholder engagement at Senior Civil Service or equivalent level, and programme delivery.
* Strong skills in strategic analysis, service design, change management, digital transformation or infrastructure delivery (one or more specialisms required).
* Degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., Public Policy, Business, Engineering, Urban Planning) and preferred professional certifications (e.g., PRINCE2, MSP, APM, relevant technical credentials).
* Excellent communication and presentation skills, political sensitivity, and the ability to operate effectively in high‑pressure, visible environments.
Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.
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