At WHSmith Europe our people are at the heart of everything we do. They are the ones that go the extra mile for our customers. The ones that enable our growth. That’s why our Commercial team is passionate about creating an environment where people can be creative and trailblazing in order to do their best work.
We are seeking an experienced Finance Transformation Project Manager to support the delivery of key workstreams within a large-scale transformation programme, with an immediate focus on Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations. The role will provide disciplined project leadership across business, Finance, Technology and third-party delivery teams, ensuring that plans, dependencies, risks and decisions are actively managed through to successful implementation.
The successful candidate will bring prior experience of complex, enterprise-scale finance transformation programmes and the seniority to manage integrated project plans both internally and with external systems integration (SI) partners. They will be delivery-focused, commercially aware and comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with senior stakeholders and multiple interdependent workstreams.
What you will be doing
Project and Programme Delivery
Manage the delivery of key EPM and ERP implementation workstreams from mobilisation through design, build, testing, deployment and transition to business-as-usual support.
Develop, own and maintain integrated project plans covering scope, milestones, resources, critical dependencies and deliverables across internal teams and external SI partners.
Drive accountability and delivery discipline across workstream leads, Finance, Technology, data, testing and change teams.
Maintain robust RAID, decision and dependency logs, escalating material issues promptly with clear options and recommended actions.
Coordinate delivery activities with SI partners, challenge plans and estimates constructively, and ensure supplier commitments remain aligned to programme outcomes.
Provide concise, accurate status reporting for programme governance forums and senior stakeholders, covering progress, forecast, risks, decisions and recovery actions.
Manage scope and change control, ensuring impacts on timeline, cost, resources and benefits are understood before decisions are taken.
Stakeholder, Governance and Partner Management
Build effective working relationships with Finance process owners, Technology teams, programme leadership and senior business stakeholders.
Lead regular workstream planning, status and dependency meetings, ensuring actions and decisions are documented and followed through.
Create transparency across vendor and internal delivery plans, identify gaps or misalignment early, and drive practical resolution.
Support readiness and adoption activity by coordinating with change, communications, training and business teams so that project delivery is aligned to operational implementation.
Promote strong governance, quality and control while maintaining momentum and a pragmatic focus on outcomes.
What we are looking for:
Significant project management experience within large, complex finance transformation programmes of comparable size, scale and organisational impact.
Proven delivery experience across at least one full lifecycle EPM and/or ERP implementation; experience across both is strongly preferred.
Strong understanding of finance processes, systems implementation lifecycles and the dependencies across design, data, integrations, testing, cutover and business readiness.
Comfortable using project management software (e.g. Monday.com or similar) to maintain integrated project plans, monitor progress against milestones and provide clear management reporting.
Demonstrable experience managing integrated project plans and delivery commitments with external SI partners, consultancies and technology vendors.
Sufficient seniority, confidence and judgement to challenge…