Shared Services Transformation Consultant

Company 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 teams of interdisciplinary 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. 

PA. Bringing Ingenuity to Life. 

Job Description

As a Consultant within the Sourcing, IT Strategy and Corporate Services capability at PA, you will be given the opportunity to work on complex and interesting challenges faced by public and private sector organisations in the UK and internationally. You will be trusted to work across diverse programmes with our clients to improve their back-office functions, offering a rare opportunity to build unrivalled expertise and experience.

PA offers more than a job. We offer a career in consulting, a stake in our firm, and an environment where individuals and ideas matter. As a Shared Services Transformation consultant, there are a number of areas where you will deliver value to your clients — by guiding them through the design of multi-function shared services models, helping them effectively utilise enabling technology platforms, and supporting the transition from fragmented, legacy delivery to consolidated, AI-augmented operations. You will provide client-side advisory across the full lifecycle of transformation: from vision and business case through to design, implementation, and benefits realisation.

At PA you have the license to think innovatively when it comes to achieving the best outcomes for our clients. We build multi-disciplinary teams to achieve our clients’ ambitions so you will have the opportunity to work with colleagues with a range of business transformation, technology, and digital expertise across a range of sectors.
Our clients increasingly recognise the importance of involving an independent adviser like PA Consulting in their shared services journeys — and as a result, 95% of our clients come back to us for support on related or other projects.

Key responsibilities:

We are looking for experienced transformation consultants who understand the full lifecycle of shared services delivery — from operating model design and sourcing strategy through to technology enablement and change
management. We are looking for adaptable people who bring deep industry credibility alongside the ability to think strategically and deliver operationally.

• Lead or support shared services strategy development, including operating model design, sourcing options appraisal (in-house, outsource, hybrid), and business case development
• Manage transformation workstreams across Finance, HR, Procurement, and IT shared services, including SI and vendor oversight
• Align business processes with enabling technology platforms (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Workday, ServiceNow) and AI-powered automation tooling
• Lead or support the development of Target Operating Models and governance frameworks for shared services environments
• Provide client-side advisory across the full transformation lifecycle — from diagnostic through to hypercare and steady state
• Support change management, workforce transition, and benefits realisation planning
• Drive AI-led transformation opportunities — identifying use cases for intelligent automation, agentic AI, and data-driven service delivery within shared services functions

Hybrid working - our approach is to be in the office or on client site a minimum of 2 days per week. However, the actual time you spend and where you spend it will vary by role or assignment, including up to 5 days per week on a client site.

Qualifications

• Practical industry experience in a Finance, HR, IT, or Procurement leadership or operational role — ideally within a shared services centre or GBS environment – or consulting or advisory experience supporting shared services transformation programmes
• Experience acting as a Business Integrator in technology-enabled transformation, bridging client stakeholder needs and technical delivery
• Familiarity with process standardisation, continuous improvement, and operational excellence methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma)
• Proven capability in change management and organisational design in the context of service consolidation or outsourcing
• Knowledge of shared services enabling platforms (SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Fusion, Workday, ServiceNow or similar)
• Understanding of AI-led transformation in back-office operations — including intelligent automation, LLM-enabled workflows, agentic process handling, and AI governance considerations
• Strong consulting skills and senior stakeholder engagement capability
• Ability to work across sectors (Financial Services, Public Sector, Healthcare, Energy) and adapt to varied client environments
• Experience in business process design, data migration strategy, and reporting/analytics transformation

Our ideal candidate:

• Matches any (or all!) the above-mentioned skills and experience
• Brings first-hand industry experience — having worked inside a business as well as advising clients — and can credibly challenge and co-design solutions with senior client counterparts
• Demonstrates the ability to connect strategic objectives to operational design, ensuring business outcomes are embedded in transformation delivery
• Has hands-on experience identifying and implementing AI-led improvements in shared services or back-office environments — including automation of transactional processing, AI-driven exception handling, or intelligent self-service enablement
• Is comfortable working across People, Process, Technology and Data domains to enable successful shared services adoption
• Brings a holistic mindset to transformation, considering interdependencies and impacts across functions and geographies
• Shows strong social, interpersonal, and analytical skills — and is seen as a credible communicator with excellent facilitation and presentation skills
• Has experience creating and nurturing strong client relationships and growing accounts
• Experience of operating in public and private sector shared services environments
• A drive for personal and professional progression and a genuine enthusiasm for AI-enabled operating model innovation
• Business process mapping, cost modelling, and operational process improvement

We know the skill-gap and ‘somewhat need to tick every box’ can get in the way of meeting brilliant candidates, so please don’t hesitate to apply – we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today by completing our online application

Please be aware that some of our UK roles at PA Consulting require a UK security clearance.

All PA people are required to undergo background checks and to achieve the Baseline Personnel Security Standard however, some UK roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting, where applicants must have at least 5 years of continuous residency in the UK.

We therefore ask that you only apply if you meet the residency requirements (i.e. you are a British citizen or have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years), as this is the prerequisite for a security clearance. If you're unsure about your eligibility, we encourage you to review the UK Government’s guidance on security vetting before applying.

Additional Information

Life At PA encompasses our peoples' experience at PA. It's about how we enrich peoples’ working lives by giving them access to unique people and growth opportunities and purpose led meaningful work. 

Our purpose guides how we work with our clients and our teams, and support our communities, to deliver insight and impact, solving the world’s most complex challenges. We're focused on building a workplace that values human difference and diverse mindsets, and a culture of inclusion and equality that unlocks the potential in our people so everyone can be their best self. 

Find out more about Life at PA here. 

We are dedicated to supporting the physical, emotional, social and financial well-being of our people. Check out some of our extensive benefits: 

• Health and lifestyle perks accompanying private healthcare
• 25 days annual leave (plus a bonus half day on Christmas Eve) with the opportunity to buy 5 additional days 
• Generous company pension scheme 
• Opportunity to get involved with community and charity-based initiatives 
• Annual performance-based bonus 
• PA share ownership 
• Tax efficient benefits (cycle to work, give as you earn) 

We’re committed to advancing equality. We recruit, retain, reward and develop our people based solely on their abilities and contributions and without reference to their age, background, disability, genetic information, parental or family status, religion or belief, race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity (or expression), political belief, veteran status, or any other range of human difference brought about by identity and experience. We welcome applications from underrepresented groups. 

Adjustments or accommodations - Should you need any adjustments or accommodations to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us.

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