The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Lead Change Specialist (L4) from within Zavmo or a similar organisation
3-5 years as an L4Skills to master
- You'd need to really nail designing change strategies for complex, multi-country deployments, becoming a recognised subject matter expert. Crucially, you'd also need to demonstrate informal leadership, like mentoring junior colleagues and taking on more strategic oversight.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully led change for 2-3 major, complex programmes end-to-end.
- Consistently provided strategic input that influenced programme direction.
- Actively mentored junior team members and contributed to team capability building.
- Demonstrated strong influencing skills with senior stakeholders (VP level).
- 2
Programme Manager (from a different function, e.g., IT, Operations) with strong change experience
5-7 years as a Programme ManagerSkills to master
- You'd need to deeply understand the 'people' side of change, not just the project mechanics. That means mastering change impact analysis, readiness assessments, and stakeholder engagement from a behavioural perspective. You'd also need to prove you can build and lead a dedicated change team.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully delivered programmes with significant people-side change components.
- Demonstrated a strong focus on user adoption and benefits realisation in previous roles.
- Completed formal change management certifications (e.g., PROSCI, ACMP).
- Shown an aptitude for coaching and developing team members.
- 3
Senior Consultant from a major Change Management / Transformation Consultancy
2-4 years as a Senior ConsultantSkills to master
- You'd need to adapt to an in-house role, focusing on long-term impact rather than project-based engagements. This means building deep organisational knowledge, navigating internal politics, and developing a team within a corporate structure. You'd also need to prove your ability to 'own' outcomes, not just advise on them.
You're ready to move on when
- Led multiple change workstreams for blue-chip clients.
- Experience managing junior consultants and project teams.
- Strong track record of client relationship management and influencing senior client stakeholders.
- A clear desire to move from an advisory to an operational leadership role.