Military & Elite Athlete 2026 Talent Placement - Transformation Delivery Leads

Centrica; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

£50,000 salary for 12-month placement

Mentor support

Flexible working

Travel to office locations

Employee Networks

Buddy from ex-military or athlete

Job summary

Centrica is offering two Military & Elite Athlete Talent Placement roles within the Transformation Delivery Lead stream. The 12-month fixed term contract is designed to support seamless transition into a new career, with hands-on experience in a FTSE100 organisation and exposure to governance, change delivery and benefits realisation.

Ideal for military leavers or elite athletes, the placements provide mentoring, flexible working and opportunities to progress into a permanent role, with some

Qualifications

• We'd love to see: project Management experience and knowledge of project and programme management methodologies (e.g. Agile, Prince2, MSP, Lean)
• In depth problem solving and decision-making ability
• Strong delivery orientation
• Outcome-driven with a commitment to excellence in execution
• Ability to work unsupervised and manage own agenda; a self-starter and respected professional
• Tenacious, resilient, proactive and resourceful approach to issue and risk resolution
• Demonstrable experience in managing and delivering transformation or change projects, ideally within a strategy, transformation, or business change function
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities across complex stakeholder environments
• Understanding of change delivery principles: business readiness, communication, benefits management
• Skilled in risk management, governance, and progress reporting
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills
• Ability to flex between structured programme delivery and more agile, iterative approaches
• Confident working autonomously while collaborating across functions and team
• Collaborative, pragmatic and adaptable to changing business priorities
• Confident operating at pace and balancing multiple priorities
• Confident presentation and communication skills
• Take Ownership
• Work as One Team
• Develop a Growth Mindset
• Strive to Innovate
• Focus on Priorities

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of transformation projects, from initiation through to implementation and benefits realisation.
• Ensure delivery aligns with strategic objectives and is governed through consistent use of project and programme management frameworks.
• Deliver business change activities, stakeholder engagement, and adoption planning.
• Support the embedding of new systems, processes, and ways of working across affected business areas.
• Operate within established governance frameworks to ensure effective planning, risk management, and decision-making.
• Provide timely reporting and visibility of progress, risks, and interdependencies through agreed governance channels.
• Develop strong working relationships with business sponsors, process owners, and operational teams.
• Facilitate alignment and communication between strategy, delivery, and business operations.
• Ensure project outputs are clearly defined, tracked, and realised.
• Work closely with finance, performance, and business owners to measure and evidence delivery against business cases.

Skills

PM experience

Project management

Problem solving

Delivery orientation

Outcome-driven

Self-starter

Issue/risk resolution

Change delivery

Governance & reporting

Stakeholder engagement

PM methodologies

Autonomy

Collaboration

Presentations

Job description

Military & Elite Athlete 2026 Talent Placement - Transformation Delivery Lead (x2)

Ideal start date: late 2026/early 2027

Location

UK wide. Flexible/home-based or hybrid working arrangements may be considered in line with business needs. There will be a requirement for some office based and face to face meetings. (e.g.: Reading, London Paddington, Stockport, Leicester)

Length of Placement

12-month Fixed Term Contract with significant potential to roll off into a Permanent role

Overview

A talent programme designed to help you thrive during career transition

We're delighted to advertise two exciting roles as part of our Military & Elite Athlete Talent Placement Programme. This programme is designed to support you as you transition into a new career. Whether you're leaving the Armed Forces or finishing an elite sporting career, we welcome the experience, discipline and resilience you bring. You'll gain hands on experience in a FTSE100 organisation, receive tailored support, and join a community that values who you are and what you can offer. These placement roles will work within Field and Ops Enablement Transformation, British Gas, as Transformation Delivery Leads.

About the roles:

The Transformation Delivery Lead plays a key role in delivering high-impact strategic and operational change initiatives across the organisation. Working within the Delivery Arm of the Strategy & Transformation function, the Transformation Delivery Lead is responsible for leading projects ensuring they are delivered to agreed time, cost, quality and scope parameters. The role ensures robust governance and embeds change that delivers measurable business outcomes. It requires both structure and flexibility, coupled with the ability to lead formal transformation projects as well as more agile or operational initiatives that address emerging business priorities.

Project & Programme Delivery:

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of transformation projects, from initiation through to implementation and benefits realisation.

• Ensure delivery aligns with strategic objectives and is governed through consistent use of project and programme management frameworks.

Change Delivery:

• Deliver business change activities, stakeholder engagement, and adoption planning.

• Support the embedding of new systems, processes, and ways of working across affected business areas.

Governance & Control:

• Operate within established governance frameworks to ensure effective planning, risk management, and decision-making.

• Provide timely reporting and visibility of progress, risks, and interdependencies through agreed governance channels.

Stakeholder Management & Engagement:

• Develop strong working relationships with business sponsors, process owners, and operational teams.

• Facilitate alignment and communication between strategy, delivery, and business operations.

Benefits Realisation:

• Ensure project outputs are clearly defined, tracked, and realised.

• Work closely with finance, performance, and business owners to measure and evidence delivery against business cases. Work closely with the programme manager to drive down investment and drive-up benefits wherever possible.

Standardisation & Best Practice:

• Apply standardised delivery tools, templates, and methodologies to drive consistency and quality.

• Contribute to improving delivery maturity across the function by sharing learnings and best practice.

Operational & Strategic Flexibility:

• Support delivery of both strategic transformation and operational change programmes.

• Be comfortable adapting delivery approaches - whether leading formal transformation projects, supporting ideation or proof-of-concept initiatives, or implementing targeted operational improvements.

Collaboration & Partnership:

• Work closely with peers, subject matter experts, and the Transformation Delivery Manager to ensure delivery success.

• Contribute to a high-performance culture built on collaboration, accountability, and outcomes.

You'll also work with key stakeholders such as:

• Business Unit Leaders
• Programme Manager
• Strategy & Transformation Leadership Team, particularly relevant Transformation Partner
• Strategy & Transformation - Transformation Management Office
• Functional Teams: Risk Partners, Finance Partners, People Partners and MI/Data
• Product & Tech

What we're looking for

We're looking for potential, not perfection. You don't need to meet every requirement to apply.

We'd love to see:

• Ideally, project Management experience and knowledge of project and programme management methodologies (e.g. Agile, Prince2, MSP, Lean)

• In depth problem solving and decision-making ability

• Strong delivery orientation

• Outcome-driven with a commitment to excellence in execution

• Ability to work unsupervised and manage own agenda; a self-starter and respected professional.

• Tenacious, resilient, proactive and resourceful approach to issue and risk resolution.

• Demonstrable experience in managing and delivering transformation or change projects, ideally within a strategy, transformation, or business change function.

• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities across complex stakeholder environments.

• Understanding of change delivery principles: business readiness, communication, benefits management.

• Skilled in risk management, governance, and progress reporting.

• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills.

• Ability to flex between structured programme delivery and more agile, iterative approaches

• Confident working autonomously while collaborating across functions and team

• Collaborative, pragmatic and adaptable to changing business priorities.

• Confident operating at pace and balancing multiple priorities.

• Confident presentation and communication skills.

Core Behaviours We Want to See:

• Take Ownership

• Work as One Team

• Develop a Growth Mindset

• Strive to Innovate

• Focus on Priorities

This talent placement is open to:

• Military Service Leavers: leaving the Forces or within the 2-year CTP window at application

• Elite Athletes: international competition experience and/or professional UK sports experience within the last three years

We recognise excellence: We want you to feel included, supported and able to succeed. On placement you'll receive:

• Real project & transformation experience in a FTSE100 organisation

• £50,000 salary for the 12-month placement

• A dedicated mentor to help you build commercial skills

• Flexible working and travel to office locations when collaboration is needed

• Access to our Employee Networks

• Opportunities to network across the business

• A Buddy from our Ex-Military or Athlete communities

• For Service Leavers: the chance to begin placement during your final four resettlement weeks

Key dates:

• Application deadline: midnight Sunday 8th November

• Screening Interviews - online: Early to mid-November

• Business Area Interviews - face to face: Late November

• Placement Start Date: As soon as possible, subject to individual availability and onboarding requirements

If you need any reasonable adjustments during the process, please let us know - we're happy to support you.

Future Opportunities

We'll also be offering placements in March 2027, June 2027 and September 2027. The application process for March will open soon

If this placement isn't the right fit, you can explore more opportunities at www.lifeatcentrica.com