Assistant Programme Manager – Talent & Leadership

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high growth businesses that fuel the economy - and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

Our greatest asset is our people, so our HR team focus on ensuring we are all reaching our potential. They use their specialist expertise to help us attract great talent, enable our employees to succeed and inspire a unified culture of development across our firm. By playing a role in the recruitment and management of our people, they help change lives and influence the future of BDO. Join a driven and passionate team where you can be yourself, while also helping your colleagues to achieve their ambitions.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working pro-actively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

The Talent & Leadership (T&L) team plays a strategic role in developing and sustaining the firm’s leadership pipeline. As a Talent & Leadership Assistant Manager, you will play a pivotal role in the successful delivery and continuous improvement of the firm's Talent & Leadership portfolio of work - including but not limited to development programmes, assessment activities, and broader talent initiatives. Working closely with Programme Managers, Senior Managers and key stakeholders across the business, you will be responsible for the operational management and governance of the team’s portfolio, ensuring a seamless and high-quality experience for participants, stakeholders, and programme faculty.

This role leads the operational delivery of Talent & Leadership programmes from planning through to evaluation, ensuring initiatives are delivered efficiently, on time, within budget and to a high standard. It involves managing programme operations, stakeholder engagement and continuous improvement activities, while supporting the delivery of assessment and development initiatives that enhance participant experience and business impact. Working closely with colleagues across People, Culture & Purpose, the Partnership Office and the wider business, as well as external providers, the role builds strong relationships to ensure programmes are aligned, integrated and support broader business objectives. The position also uses data, insights and feedback to inform decision-making, evaluate effectiveness and drive ongoing improvements across the Talent & Leadership portfolio.

The role reports to the Talent & Leadership Programme Manager.

You’ll be someone with:

• Proven experience managing learning, talent, leadership or people development programmes, with strong project and programme management skills across planning, governance, risk management and delivery.

Experience working within Learning & Development, Talent, Leadership or Centre of Excellence environments, supporting programmes involving senior leaders, executives and Partner-level stakeholders.

Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across the business and work collaboratively with external vendors, facilitators and coaching providers.

Experience managing programme budgets, financial processes, reporting and learning technologies, with the ability to analyse data and translate insights into meaningful management information and recommendations.

Highly organised and detail-oriented, with strong analytical and problem-solving skills, sound judgement and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Continuous improvement mindset, using data, feedback and innovation to enhance programme effectiveness, operational efficiency and stakeholder experience.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for the companies we work with and satisfying experiences for our colleagues, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy.

Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.