Managing Consultant - FS - Operational Excellence and Process Improvement

PA Consulting; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

PA Consulting is seeking an accomplished Consulting professional to lead Operational Excellence and Process Improvement for Financial Services. You will shape offerings, build IP, and drive client delivery across FS engagements. The role requires senior leadership, strong governance, and a track record of winning follow-on projects.

You will develop GTM strategies, mentor teams, and ensure high-impact outcomes with measurable value for clients in a rapidly evolving financial services landscape.

Qualifications

• Strong background in Operations Excellence within Financial Services.
• Expertise in process optimization and transformation delivery.
• Experience leading complex FS programmes with client-facing accountability.
• Ability to build and sell OPI offerings, IP, and proposals.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead Operational Excellence capabilities for FS clients.
• Drive GTM strategy, IP development and pipeline for FS OPI services.
• Lead delivery of transformation programmes with high client outcomes.
• Coach teams, secure follow-on work, and foster revenue growth.

Skills

Operational Excellence

Process Improvement

Lean Six Sigma

Lean/Kaizen

RPA

PMP/Prince2/Agile

Celonis

AI

Client Leadership

FS Industry Knowledge

Tools

Celonis

Job description

We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future.

As strategies, technologies, and innovation collide, we create opportunity from complexity.

Our diverse teams of experts combine innovative thinking and breakthrough technologies to progress further, faster. Our clients adapt and transform, and together we achieve enduring results.

We are over 4,000 strategists, innovators, designers, consultants, digital experts, scientists, engineers, and technologists. And we have deep expertise in consumer and manufacturing, defence and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government and public services, health and life sciences, and transport.

Our teams operate globally from offices across the UK, Ireland, US, Nordics, and Netherlands.

Job Description

We are seeking an accomplished Consulting professional who can help develop, lead and drive our Operational Excellence and Process Improvement capabilities in the Financial Services sector.

To play a key role in developing our Process Improvement and Operational Excellence services and offerings that will appeal to FS organisations looking to transform/improve their business performance.

We're keen to hear from consulting experts in these fields and can bring a deep knowledge of where operational excellence/process improvement demand may lie in the FS sector, by understanding current trends/triggers for change in the sector.

Key objectives:

• Key to building a compelling GTM strategy for Operational Excellence and Improvement in FS, leveraging deep expertise in methodologies that fit this practice (Process Improvement, Process Design & Optimisation, Operational Excellence, Operation Transformation, Process Digitisation, Service Optimisation etc)
• Ensure there is sufficient activity to produce a steady ongoing pipeline of opportunities for Operational Excellence/Improvement services in FS, to meet revenue and sales targets.
• Create FS-related IP for Operational Excellence and Improvement transformation
• Contribute to the development of OPI proposals, specific to individual client needs/situations and be instrumental in closing and winning deals.
• Develop, lead and oversee OPI implementation programmes, ensuring excellence in delivery, maximise client outcomes and achieve high satisfaction ratings; with a record for delivering follow-on projects, extensions and referrals

Must have a strong background in Operations Excellence (process Optimization, Operational transformation etc), within the Financial Services sector, ideally gained from a leadership role within a consulting business.

Likely to be an expert in operational excellence, with an operations management, change management or technology delivery background and skilled in:

• Process Improvement (Lean Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt))
• Operational Optimisation (Lean/Kaizen)
• Process redesign/governance and digitization (Celonis, AI)
• Project & Programme Delivery (PMP, Prince2, Agile)
• Automation (AI, RPA)
• Operational Excellence Transformation (Customer Journey, Operational Performance)

Qualifications

Must have an understanding of consulting, how it is structured, the frameworks, financial principals etc.

A network of contacts that will help navigate the FS industry to achieve penetration within new buying centres in existing clients and open up new business opportunities.

A deep understanding of the Operational Excellence and Process Improvement topics and trends that affect the FS industry, these could include:

• Process Automation & Digitisation, for example:
• RPA for KYC, reconciliations, reporting
• Straight through processing (STP) (payments. Trading, onboarding)
• Customer Journey & Experience redesign. Eg:
• Regulatory reporting automation
• Operational Risk Reduction (for Cyber, Fraud, process failure etc), eg:Standardised procedures and SLAs
• Monitoring operational KPIs/KRIs
• Data Quality, Governance & Analytics
• Predictive analytics in credit, risk etc
• Lean process redesign
• Shared service models
• Process standardisation
• Core banking modernisation
• Cloud migration
• Operational Resilience & Business Continuity
• Third‑party risk management
• Workforce & Culture Transformation
• Performance measurement linked to OpEx metrics

An ability to build compelling OPI offerings/services/IP that will appeal to the Financial Services sector (based on some of the above).

An ability to contribute to the development of robust business development plans and be part of the execution to meet revenue and sales targets for the OPI business.

A strong understanding of end-to-end transformation programmes and a track record of successfully managing delivery engagements, ideally with experience of:

• Scoping/pricing/planning commercially sound programmes
• Steering, managing and governance of programmes/teams
• High-quality delivery excellence
• Consistent in achieving follow-on business and extensions

Great engagement leadership skills; owning outcomes, motivating teams, coaching/mentoring etc.