Transformation directors · the role
What does a transformation director do?
The short answer · updated
A transformation director leads a company-wide programme of change: a new operating model, a cost and performance programme, a merger integration, or a move onto new technology. The transformation director turns the strategy into a plan of initiatives, holds the owners to it, tracks the benefits, and reports progress to the executive team and board. The most senior version is the chief transformation officer.
What is a transformation director?
A transformation director is the leader accountable for a change that cuts across functions and that the normal management structure would not deliver on its own.
Line managers still run their areas and make the day-to-day decisions; the transformation director makes sure the whole programme lands, on time and with the benefits it promised.
Most transformation directors are hired for a programme with a beginning and an end, which is why the seat is often interim or fractional.
The work is closer to running a business than to managing a project: it needs authority over priorities, budgets and people as well as a plan.
What does a chief transformation officer do?
A chief transformation officer does the transformation director’s job at executive-committee level, usually reporting to the chief executive and leading the whole of an enterprise-wide programme rather than one stream of it.
In an article on the role of the chief transformation officer, McKinsey’s Gorter, Hudson and Scott argue that the role should be held by someone independent of the decisions of the past, fully integrated into the executive team rather than sidelined to a separate unit, and given a mandate defined at the outset.
Line managers make the day-to-day decisions; the chief transformation officer’s job is to make sure they are made and the results delivered.
Where a company has both titles, the chief transformation officer owns the programme and the transformation directors lead its parts: a division, a region, or a stream such as technology or procurement.
What a transformation director is responsible for
The remit depends on the programme, but the common core is below.
- The case for change. Turning the strategy into a programme with a clear goal, scope and set of benefits.
- The plan. Breaking the programme into initiatives, each with an owner, milestones and a measure.
- Governance. The steering group, the decisions it takes, and how issues and risks are escalated.
- Benefits tracking. Measuring what the programme delivers against what it promised, not only activity.
- People and change. Communication, training and the support that helps staff adopt new ways of working.
- Delivery partners. Managing consultants, systems integrators and suppliers working on the programme.
- Handover. Making sure the changes stick once the programme closes.
The standards and rules a transformation director works with
There is no licence for the role, but there are standards for how programmes are run.
In government, Government Functional Standard GovS 002: Project Delivery sets expectations for directing and managing portfolios, programmes and projects, and many private-sector programmes borrow its structure.
Change that affects jobs is regulated.
If a programme proposes redundancies, the employer must consult the employees affected, and collective consultation rules apply above a set number; without consultation, redundancies will almost certainly be unfair.
The CIPD notes that change initiatives are often unsuccessful and that unmanaged change harms performance and engagement, which is why a transformation director works closely with the HR lead.
Transformation director vs programme director vs COO
A programme director runs a defined programme of projects to a plan and budget.
A transformation director carries a wider mandate: changing how the business works, with authority over priorities and people beyond the programme team.
A chief operating officer runs the business day to day and is often the executive the transformation director reports to; see what a COO does.
For the strategy the transformation delivers, see what a chief strategy officer does.
Fractional, interim and permanent transformation directors
An interim transformation director works full-time for the life of the programme, the most common model.
A fractional transformation director works part of the week, often to design a programme, oversee one already running, or coach an internal leader.
A permanent transformation director suits a company that runs change continuously.
See fractional transformation director jobs.
A fractional or interim transformation director working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35).
Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination.
Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
Pay depends on the size of the programme and the length of the engagement.
Our transformation director salary and interim transformation director salary pages set out published figures with their sources.
How to hire a transformation director
Write down the change the programme must deliver, the benefits it must show, and the authority the role will hold over priorities, budgets and people.
Agree who it reports to and who sits on the steering group before the search.
Test candidates on a programme they closed and the benefits it delivered, and take references from the line managers who had to change.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.
For a transformation brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
To hire a transformation director, start with our fractional transformation director page.
Questions people ask
What does a transformation director do?
Leads a company-wide programme of change: sets the plan of initiatives, holds the owners to it, tracks the benefits and reports progress to the executive team and board.
What is a chief transformation officer?
The executive-committee version of the role: usually reporting to the chief executive and leading the whole of an enterprise-wide transformation, with transformation directors leading its parts.
What is the difference between a transformation director and a programme director?
A programme director runs a defined set of projects to plan and budget; a transformation director carries a wider mandate to change how the business works, with authority beyond the programme team.
Who does a transformation director report to?
Usually the chief executive or the chief operating officer, with a steering group overseeing the programme.
Is a transformation director usually interim?
Often, because most programmes have a beginning and an end.
Fractional and permanent transformation directors also exist.
How do I hire a transformation director?
Define the change, the benefits and the authority the role holds, set the reporting line and steering group, and test candidates on programmes they closed.
We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
