Principal Consultant

Impactt; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Workplace pension

Private healthcare

Medicash health cash plan

Life assurance

Job summary

Impactt London is seeking a Principal Consultant to lead complex human rights assessments, investigations and advisory work. You will manage client relationships and ensure high-quality outcomes while driving commercial performance.

You’ll shape project methodologies, turn findings into actionable recommendations and help win new work. This role blends hands-on delivery with developing services and mentoring colleagues.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in human rights due diligence and responsible sourcing.
• Strong ability to lead complex, fast-turnaround projects with oversight of quality and financials.
• Proven track record building credible relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Ability to develop practical recommendations from evidence and diverse perspectives.
• Experience in consultancy and in-house roles is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Lead a portfolio of consulting projects; lead on human rights assessments, investigations and advisory work, taking accountability for quality, outcomes and commercial performance.
• Build trusted client relationships; understand clients’ priorities, challenge constructively and guide them through complex or sensitive issues with credible, evidence-based advice.
• Turn opportunities into work; identify client needs, shape scopes and proposals and work with commercial and consulting colleagues to win new and repeat business.
• Lead effective project teams; set clear expectations, support sound judgement and coach colleagues through delivery, working closely with Project Managers on resources, budgets, timelines and risks.
• Apply and share your expertise; bring sector or technical insight to projects, strengthen our approaches and help colleagues learn from delivery.
• Develop others through delivery; your people leadership will focus on project teams, coaching and feedback.

Skills

Human rights due diligence

Stakeholder management

Project leadership

Business development

Coaching and mentoring

Client relationship management

Proposal development

Cross-cultural collaboration

Job description

Principal Consultant - Business and Human Rights

Location: London, hybrid with regular attendance in our London office + international travel

Help businesses tackle complex human rights challenges and turn advice into action.

Impactt helps businesses understand and address human rights risks in their operations and value chains. We combine deep worker insight with an understanding of commercial realities to help clients strengthen their practices and protect their businesses through turning human rights commitments into meaningful improvements in rightholders’ lives.

With our head office in London and teams in China, India and Bangladesh, we bring international expertise and local understanding to practical solutions that businesses can put into action.

We’re looking for a Principal Consultant who can lead complex work, build trusted client relationships and help develop our business. You’ll bring technical depth, commercial judgement and the ability to get the best from a project team.

Why this role?

This role gives you scope to drive impact for our clients. You’ll lead substantive client conversations, shape project methodologies and help turn findings into clear decisions and practical next steps.

You’ll stay close to delivery while contributing to the development of our services and client relationships. Your expertise will also help colleagues grow through coaching, feedback and shared learning.

If you enjoy combining hands-on consulting in a fast-paced environment with the opportunity to shape and win new work, this role brings those responsibilities together.

What you’ll do

• Lead a portfolio of consulting projects. Lead on human rights assessments, investigations and advisory work, taking accountability for quality, outcomes and commercial performance.
• Build trusted client relationships. Understand clients’ priorities, challenge constructively and guide them through complex or sensitive issues with credible, evidence-based advice.
• Turn opportunities into work. Identify client needs, shape scopes and proposals and work with commercial and consulting colleagues to win new and repeat business.
• Lead effective project teams. Set clear expectations, support sound judgement and coach colleagues through delivery, working closely with Project Managers on resources, budgets, timelines and risks.
• Apply and share your expertise. Bring sector or technical insight to projects, strengthen our approaches and help colleagues learn from delivery.
• Develop others through delivery. Your people leadership will focus on project teams, coaching and feedback.

What you’ll bring

You’ll have substantial experience in human rights due diligence, responsible sourcing, ethical trade, labour rights, social compliance or a closely related field.

Your current title might be Principal or Senior Consultant, Human Rights Manager, Responsible Sourcing Lead or something different. What matters is the responsibility you’ve held and the impact you’ve made.

We’re particularly interested in your ability to:

• Apply human rights and labour standards to real business challenges, drawing on strong sector or technical expertise.
• Lead complex and fast-turnaround projects and guide colleagues while maintaining oversight of quality and financial performance.
• Manage multiple, competing demands and prioritise your time to ensure you deliver on diverse requirements at pace.
• Build credibility with senior stakeholders and communicate findings clearly and sensitively.
• Develop practical recommendations from evidence, recognising uncertainty and competing perspectives.
• Shape compelling proposals and contribute to winning work.
• Collaborate across cultures, share knowledge and provide useful, actionable feedback.

Experience in both consultancy and an in-house role would be valuable, but you do not need both.

Working at Impactt

You’ll work with colleagues across countries and disciplines, with opportunities to learn from different contexts and contribute your own expertise.

Our benefits include:

• A workplace pension through Cushon, with sustainable investment options.
• Private healthcare through Vitality.
• A Medicash health cash plan.
• Life assurance.

The role is hybrid, with an expectation of regular attendance in our London office, alongside international travel as projects require.

An inclusive recruitment process

Impactt is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and value different experiences and perspectives.

If you bring the core capabilities but don’t match every point, we encourage you to apply. Please contact [e-mail] if you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or would like to discuss working.