Arcadis
Principal Consultant - Business Advisory (Capital Programmes)

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Arcadis
Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.
We are more than 34,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.
Role description:
We are looking for Principal Consultants to join our growing and dynamic Business Advisory team. In a world of disruption and unprecedented change, our team is enabling clients to successfully implement bold solutions, solving their most pressing problems.
Our Capital Programmes Advisory capability supports some of the UK's largest organisations in designing, mobilising and delivering complex capital investment programmes. We help clients make better investment decisions, establish effective governance, strengthen delivery capability and realise value from major programmes and portfolios.
Candidates will have experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Capital programme governance and assurance
- Programme mobilisation and setup
- Operating model design
- Delivery strategy and delivery vehicle assessment
- PMO, controls and reporting framework design
- Independent assurance and gateway reviews
- Programme recovery, turnaround and optimisation
- Portfolio prioritisation and investment decision-making
- Business case development (SOBC, OBC and FBC)
- Benefits management and value realisation
- Strategic risk and assurance management
- Financial modelling, investment appraisal and scenario modelling
Experience within one or more of the following sectors is desirable:
- Transport
- Water & Energy
- Industrial Manufacturing & Technology
- Real Estate & Development
We are looking for individuals with a proven track record in advising clients or leading on complex capital programmes and major transformations. Successful candidates will demonstrate strong leadership capability, commercial awareness, excellent stakeholder management skills, and the ability to develop trusted relationships with senior client decision-makers. They will be passionate about helping clients solve complex challenges and motivated to contribute to the growth of our Capital Programmes Advisory capability.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
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Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
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Role accountabilities:
- Lead workstreams or small-to-medium sized commissions, ensuring high-quality delivery and client satisfaction.
- Provide strategic advice and challenge to clients on complex capital programme issues.
- Develop innovative and evidence-based solutions to address client challenges.
- Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and act as a key day-to-day client contact.
- Lead workshops, interviews and stakeholder engagement activities with executive-level audiences.
- Oversee diagnostic assessments, reviews and analytical workstreams, providing direction to project teams.
- Translate complex technical, commercial and strategic issues into clear and compelling client recommendations.
- Manage and coach Consultants and Senior Consultants, supporting their professional development and performance.
- Contribute to the development of new tools, methodologies and propositions within the Capital Programmes Advisory capability.
- Identify opportunities for follow-on work and support account growth within existing client relationships.
- Lead or support the preparation of proposals, bids and client presentations, contributing to sales and business development activities.
- Take responsibility for commercial performance across workstreams, including resource management, budget monitoring and risk management.
- Promote collaboration across Business Advisory and the wider Arcadis business to deliver integrated client solutions.
Qualifications & Experience:
Our Advisory team is recognised in the market for the quality of its people. Beyond sector and/or discipline expertise you will need a strong intellect, the ability to articulate complex ideas persuasively and a talent for showing clients that we have the right solutions to their most pressing issues. All programmes are invariably connected with the impact of built assets on the performance of the organisation.


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Your experience may have been gained from a range of career paths. You may have worked in a Management Consulting environment before, either in a Big-4, Strategy or Boutique firm. You may be looking to transition into management consultancy from an engineering, cost & commercial consultancy, or programme/project management background. You may have started your career on a non-consulting career path or work client-side and have the skills and knowledge to allow you to pivot into consultancy.
Why Arcadis?
We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.
You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.
Together, we can create a lasting legacy.
Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.
Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.
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