ERP Delivery Lead

This is a critical interim role following a leadership transition within the programme. The successful candidate will work alongside the Head of Transformation & Design, Executive Directors, business workstream leads and strategic delivery partners to maintain programme momentum, strengthen delivery oversight, and support the successful progression of the programme through design, build and readiness activities., To provide day-to-day delivery leadership for Dorset Council’s ERP Programme, ensuring that plans, dependencies, risks, decisions and stakeholder actions are actively managed and that workstreams remain aligned to programme milestones and governance arrangements., * Lead day-to-day delivery of the ERP programme and coordinate activity across all workstreams.

• Drive delivery against agreed plans, milestones and critical path activities.
• Manage programme risks, issues, actions and dependencies and ensure timely escalation through governance routes.
• Coordinate reporting, exception management and progress tracking for the ERP Leadership Group.
• Work closely with business workstream leads across Finance, Procurement, HR, Payroll, Talent, Data, Technical and Reporting
• Support programme governance, ensuring decisions are prepared, tracked and implemented through agreed forums.
• Drive business readiness, stakeholder engagement, adoption planning and benefits realisation activity.
• Support data quality and data cleansing activity to ensure solution readiness.
• Work constructively with Oracle, Mastek and internal technical teams to support delivery coordination and supplier management.
• Provide delivery confidence through clear planning, proactive communication and a strong focus on outcomes.

Essential Experience

We are looking for an individual who can quickly establish credibility and operate at pace within a complex public sector environment.

• Proven experience leading large-scale ERP implementation programmes.
• Strong understanding of Oracle Cloud ERP, HCM and Payroll delivery environments.
• Experience working across Finance, Procurement and HR transformation programmes.
• Excellent programme planning, dependency management and risk management skills.
• Experience operating within complex governance structures and reporting to senior leaders.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including working with Executive Directors, programme boards and suppliers.
• Experience of business change, organisational readiness, adoption and benefits realisation.
• Ability to challenge constructively, drive accountability and maintain momentum in a complex programme environment.

Highly Desirable

• Local government experience.
• Oracle Cloud implementation experience.
• Experience working with systems integrators and delivery partners.
• Experience leading programmes moving from design into build, testing and readiness phases.
• Knowledge of benefits management and transformation governance approaches.

Personal Style

We are looking for a confident and pragmatic delivery lead who is highly organised, collaborative and outcome-focused. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating at both strategic and operational levels, bringing structure, pace and challenge whilst supporting teams through change.

The role requires someone who can quickly identify delivery risks, unblock issues, build strong relationships and help Dorset Council maintain confidence and momentum across one of its most significant transformation programmes.

Connect2Dorset is the managed service recruitment partner to Dorset Council, providing temporary, contract, and interim opportunities across the organisation. Built on values of being ethical, trustworthy, and caring, our profits are reinvested back into our Local Authority shareholders.