# Ahmed Alshawi
## Business Case for Returning to Deloitte
### Director, Capital Projects — Infrastructure & Real Estate
---
**Audience:** Hugh and Hywel
**Date:** June 2026
**Companion document:** Ahmed Alshawi CV — Deloitte (June 2026)
---
## Executive summary
I am proposing to return to Deloitte to take a Director-level role in the Infrastructure & Capital Projects practice — anchored in Hywel's Infrastructure Advisory team, with full visibility into Luke's Occupiers & Capital Projects team given the merged structure under Hugh.
My proposition is to be a senior capital programmes advisory leader who can credibly sell and deliver across the full Deloitte service stack: Delivery Strategy, Target Operating Model design, Digital Capital Projects, Programme Turnaround, Asset Management and Programme Assurance. My sweet spot is nuclear, but my reach is cross-sector: water (Scottish Water), rail (HS2), defence (BAE Systems, AWE) and energy more broadly.
In the two years since I left Deloitte, I have sharpened that proposition meaningfully. I have originated firm-wide growth at PA (the Audit & Assurance 2 framework entry, then PA's Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy that I co-authored). I have led the pursuit and win of c.£1.6m of new client work on Scottish Water. I have led the multi-year delivery of an enterprise-wide capital programme transition for Scottish Water (the c.£7–9bn SR27 Enterprise Delivery Model), extending into commercial and procurement leadership of a £9bn ITN. And I have continued to grow Dynamico Systems Ltd, my construction software business, securing a granted UK patent and operational deployment on live nuclear projects.
The honest position on level: Hugh and I discussed that Director would require a panel and proven origination evidence. I have stronger origination evidence today than I did when we spoke — the A&A2 framework win in its first quarter, the Netherlands nuclear pursuit converting into a formal follow-on proposal, and a documented role in firm-level strategy authorship. I would like to make the case for Director directly, but I am comfortable with the AD-with-structured-route-to-Director option if that is the cleaner landing. Either way, the case below sets out what I bring, what I will do in the first 18 months, and what I need from you both.
### Headline asks
- **Level:** Director if defensible, otherwise AD with a 12–18 month structured route to Director, agreed at point of joining.
- **Sponsor model:** Hugh and Hywel as named sponsors; quarterly cadence to review progress against agreed milestones.
- **Team:** Anchored in Hywel's Infrastructure Advisory team for cultural fit, with planned exposure to Luke's Occupiers & Capital Projects team to access the full Deloitte capital projects portfolio.
- **Patch:** Lead on UK nuclear and water; cross-sell into rail, defence and broader energy & utilities.
- **Timing:** Move targeted for September–October 2026 entry, contingent on package alignment.
---
## 1. My proposition
### Headline
**I help capital-intensive clients de-risk and accelerate delivery by aligning delivery models, commercial incentives and programme controls — using assurance-led diagnostics and root cause analysis to turn ambiguity into decision-ready plans and measurable outcomes.**
### Where I play
**Sector sweet spot:** Nuclear (Sellafield, NDA, NWS, AWE, CGN, UKAEA, BEIS, Dutch Ministry of Finance) — both UK and internationally.
**Cross-sector reach:** Water (Scottish Water), Rail (HS2), Defence (BAE Systems, AWE), Broader Energy & Utilities, with structured assurance experience on a UK Retail Bank residential remediation programme and rapid mobilisation experience on COVID-19 testing infrastructure for DHSC.
### Capability pillars
The five pillars below map directly to the JD service areas; the JD mapping table in Section 4 cross-references the specific engagement evidence.
1. **Capital programmes & delivery models.** Mobilising and de-risking complex capital programmes — enterprise, alliance and Project 13-inspired models — through integrated transition planning, governance and right-first-time setup.
2. **Commercial & procurement advisory.** Shaping commercial models, incentivisation mechanisms, contract schedules and technical evaluation; reviewing major procurements and assessing commercial risk on multi-£bn programmes.
3. **Assurance & root cause analysis.** Diagnosing underlying drivers of project and organisational issues through structured, evidence-based analysis; translating findings into clear recommendations and targeted improvement plans.
4. **Programme governance & controls.** Strengthening client capability across planning, forecasting, risk and performance management to improve visibility, decision-making and delivery predictability.
5. **AI-augmented delivery.** Deploying AI agents and LLM-powered tooling to accelerate research, synthesis and document-heavy workstreams; building bespoke applications via AI agents that reduce manual effort and enhance output quality. This is a deliberately differentiated pillar — Deloitte's JD calls out AI and innovative technologies under Digital Capital Projects, and very few mid-senior advisory candidates can bring both the consulting craft and the founder-level technical depth I have built through Dynamico Systems.
### What makes the proposition different
- **Engineering credibility plus consulting craft.** Chartered Civil Engineer with seven years of hands-on nuclear safety-critical delivery (Atkins, Mott MacDonald) before moving into consulting at Deloitte. I can talk to engineers and to executives in the same conversation, and I have led both ends.
- **Commercial sophistication.** Hands-on with Enterprise Agreements, contract schedules, ITN evaluation methodologies, NEC change management, procurement reviews and commercial RCA. Not theoretical — earned across PA, Deloitte, Mott MacDonald and Atkins.
- **Founder-level technical IP.** Dynamico Systems Ltd is a real construction-tech business with a granted UK patent (GB2624253) and operational deployment on live nuclear projects. It is a credible badge for the Digital Capital Projects pillar and a conversation-starter with engineering-led clients.
- **Nuclear depth at a time when nuclear is back.** UK nuclear new build, decommissioning, SMR / ANT, and the geological disposal facility together represent a c.£40bn 10-year UK capital pipeline. I have worked in or alongside most of the key clients (Sellafield, NDA, NWS, BEIS, UKAEA, AWE, CGN, Dutch MoF) and I have an authored point of view on the future of capital delivery in this sector through PA's Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy.
---
## 2. How I'd build this business
I think about the business I'd build at Deloitte through four interlocking dimensions: the **market** I serve, the **offer** I take to that market, the **channels** that give me access to opportunities, and the **team** I build around me to deliver and scale. The diagram below sets out the sweet spot — five core domains overlap, with programme governance & controls running through them as a spine and digital / information management as a satellite differentiator.
### Market
I operate in regulated capital programmes — the space where major investment, complex stakeholder ecosystems and stretched delivery models collide. Priority markets, in order of where I bring the deepest credibility:
- **Nuclear** (sweet spot) — UK and international. Decommissioning & waste, advanced nuclear technologies, giga new build, fuel cycle. Active client coverage: Sellafield, NDA, NWS, BEIS, UKAEA, AWE, CGN, Dutch Ministry of Finance.
- **Water** — Scottish Water (current); broader UK water as AMP9 spends up.
- **Rail** — HS2 and adjacent UK rail programmes.
- **Defence and broader energy & utilities** — where capital programme delivery, commercial models, and assurance translate cross-sector.
The structural market thesis: capital programmes are growing, underperforming, and demanding new delivery and commercial models. Clients need advisors who can shape model design, mobilise transition, and de-risk distressed delivery — and the talent market for that is thin.
### Offer
Five capability pillars (set out in detail in Section 1) — Capital Programmes & Delivery Models, Commercial & Procurement Advisory, Assurance & Root Cause Analysis, Programme Governance & Controls, and AI-Augmented Delivery. The differentiated combination — engineering credibility + consulting craft + commercial sophistication + founder-level technical IP — is the offer. The sweet-spot statement is the headline.
### Channel
Where my routes to market sit, and where I'd ask Deloitte to amplify:
- **Hugh and Hywel as named sponsors** — strategic visibility, panel readiness, internal positioning.
- **The merged Infrastructure & Capital Projects practice** under Hugh — the structural advantage of one umbrella covering both Luke's Occupiers & Capital Projects and Hywel's Infrastructure Advisory teams.
- **Reconnecting the Deloitte Public Sector Nuclear Account relationships** I held when I left in 2024 (Sellafield, NDA, NWS, BEIS, UKAEA). These are still Deloitte clients; the relationships are recoverable.
- **Cross-Deloitte collaboration** — UK and overseas, multi-disciplinary engagements, which the JD explicitly calls out as how the practice operates.
- **External brand-building under the Deloitte banner** — thought leadership, industry forums, the IStructE article in editorial review for October 2026, future publishing.
- **Dynamico Systems Ltd** — small but real channel; gives access to engineering-led conversations and a credible badge under the Digital Capital Projects pillar.
### Team
Building this at Director scale means I am not the team. The team I'd build around the proposition:
- **Within Deloitte's I&CP practice** — commercial / procurement, project controls, operating model, delivery transformation, asset management specialists. The JD's "diverse team of people from a wide range of backgrounds" maps naturally to the kind of squad the proposition needs.
- **Cross-capability** — Strategy, Risk & Transactions Advisory; Real Estate Advisory; Digital and Data specialists for the CDE / OIR / AI-augmented delivery propositions.
- **Junior consultant capacity** — to grow a squad over 12–18 months. My SR27 experience leading a junior team (and mentoring a junior consultant through programme management responsibilities) is the template.
- **AI-augmented delivery as a force multiplier** — bespoke AI agents and LLM tooling that increase what the squad can credibly deliver per consultant-hour, freeing senior time for client work.
- **External ecosystem partners** — technology vendors, engineering firms (where Deloitte plays well alongside not in competition), client advisory partners. The Dodewaard / TÜV Rheinland model is a clean example of how I'd lead in a multi-organisation delivery.
### How it ties together
The market is real and growing. The offer is differentiated. The channels exist or can be built within 12–18 months under sponsorship. The team is recruitable and amplifiable through AI. The combination is what makes this a credible Director-scale business — not just a senior individual contributor role.
---
## 3. Why Deloitte, why now
### The market context
Capital programmes advisory is a structural growth space, not a cyclical one. UK nuclear alone has a forecast c.£40bn 10-year capital pipeline across decommissioning and waste, advanced nuclear technologies and giga new build, plus fuel cycle. Major frameworks are coming or active — IDP, PACE, DNWP, GDF, UKAEA STEP, the SMR competition. Water has SR27 and AMP9 in flight or imminent. Rail has HS2's continuing delivery and adjacent programmes. Energy and utilities more broadly is investing c.£28bn p.a. in capital programmes.
The structural challenges on these programmes are the same regardless of sector: complex delivery model design and transition, commercial incentive misalignment, governance ambiguity, assurance gaps, distressed delivery. This is the space the Deloitte JD describes — and the space I have been building my proposition around.
### The Deloitte fit
I left Deloitte in April 2024 on good terms after four years. The pull back is not financial or accidental — it is structural:
- **The merged Infrastructure & Capital Projects team under Hugh** is the right place for the proposition I have built. Hywel's Infrastructure Advisory team and Luke's Occupiers & Capital Projects team now report under one umbrella — meaning the full Deloitte capital projects advisory play is accessible from one anchor point.
- **The Real Estate Advisory team's c.250 people** gives the scale to host genuinely large, multi-disciplinary engagements — the kind that my SR27 EDM experience is suited to lead.
- **Cross-Deloitte collaboration** (UK and overseas) is structurally easier than my current firm; the JD references multi-disciplinary engagements, and that matches how I worked in my previous Deloitte tenure on the Public Sector Nuclear Account.
- **Deloitte's nuclear platform.** When I left, I was Account Manager for the Public Sector Nuclear Account, reporting directly to senior Partners. The clients I held relationships with (Sellafield, NDA, NWS, GBN, BEIS, UKAEA) remain Deloitte clients and remain the priority clients in PA's Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy I co-authored. There is meaningful continuity I can rebuild.
### My situation at PA
PA has been a strong two-year platform — high utilisation, two Star Performer ratings, and meaningful origination wins. I have no negative narrative about PA. But:
- The direction of the firm has become less clear since the Jacobs acquisition.
- A number of senior Partners I worked with have taken their payouts and moved on.
- The proposition I have been building (capital programme transition + commercial delivery models, anchored in nuclear) sits more naturally inside a firm with the scale, platform and brand of Deloitte than inside the post-Jacobs PA.
The honest position: I want to come back to Deloitte because the platform, the people I worked with and the proposition I am now ready to lead with all align — not because I am running from anything at PA.
---
## 4. Mapping to the role
The table below maps each of the six service areas in the Director JD to the specific engagement evidence I bring. The full engagement context is in my CV; this section is intended to make the read-across explicit.
| JD service area | What it requires | My evidence |
|---|---|---|
| **Delivery Strategy** | Defining how a major programme will be delivered; delivery model, supply chain, stakeholders, strategic governance. | **Scottish Water SR27 Enterprise Delivery Model** (c.£7–9bn, Project 13-inspired) — Transition Workstream Lead from mobilisation through formal close. **PA Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy** — co-authored the firm-level point of view on the shift from hierarchical to collaborative delivery ecosystems for the UK nuclear sector. **Scottish Water SR27 Pursuits** — co-developed bid strategy and Project 13 narrative; led the pitch on the collaborative delivery model component; two wins, c.£1.6m. **Sellafield PPP Triennial Review** — independent review of a 20-year delivery model at year three. |
| **Target Operating Model** | Designing and deploying new operating models for capital project delivery, particularly Project Controls and Commercial Management. | **Scottish Water SR27 Commercial & Procurement workstream** — shaped the Enterprise Agreement (incentivisation, supplier obligations across design, construction, commissioning, innovation, standardisation, mobilisation); structured contract schedules; led the technical evaluation methodology for a £9bn ITN. **HS2 Build & Fix** — led R&R across Programme Controls, Commercial and Finance functions; developed an updated forecasting procedure reporting to the Project Controls Steering Group. **Sellafield Asset Management Transformation** — case for change for an enterprise-wide TOM redesign across one of Europe's most complex regulated nuclear sites. **Sellafield PIP integrator** — Concept of Delivery & Frameworks task & finish workstream. |
| **Digital Capital Projects** | Digitising delivery of major programmes — AI, innovative tech, systems requirements for capital project management. | **Netherlands Nuclear Client (OIR & CDE)** — authored an ISO 19650-aligned TOM→OIR methodology and CDE Discovery proposal; pursuit converted to a formal follow-on engagement to develop OIRs / EIRs cascade and CDE business case. **Scottish Water CDE bid** — co-authored the response and won c.£400k. **Dynamico Systems Ltd** — founder; granted UK patent (GB2624253) for an AI depth-first-search algorithm; software in operational use on live nuclear projects. **AI-Augmented Delivery** — bespoke AI agents and LLM-powered tooling built and deployed inside my own advisory workstreams; tangible internal proof points (this business case has been drafted through an AI-augmented workflow). |
| **Programme Turnaround** | Re-establishing confidence in distressed delivery — effective project and programme management, governance, decision-support MI. | **Sellafield Box Encapsulation Plant** — commercial review and root cause analysis of a failing project; SWOT analysis of a proposed restructured incentivisation model; separate investigation into a large emergent unplanned liability for the Head of Finance. **HS2 Build & Fix RCA** — deep-dive root cause analysis of design management and technical assurance inefficiency in a multi-party delivery environment; forward action plan covering assurance, decision-making and delivery confidence. **Scottish Water SR27 Transition Pod** — stood up the Day One governance, RAID cadence, dashboards (live-linked to the plan) and look-ahead views; transition plan was adopted as the live programme plan. |
| **Asset Management** | Driving asset management improvements that result in better asset and business performance. | **Sellafield Asset Management Transformation** — defined the transformation vision and case for change; led stakeholder engagement across engineering, operations, commercial and leadership; developed a "what must be true" framework translating strategic ambition into prioritised change outcomes; provided the foundation for c.£500k of follow-on work. **Atomic Weapons Establishment** (earlier career) — managed retrospective structural design substantiation for existing nuclear safety-critical facilities and modification / upgrade impacts. |
| **Programme Assurance** | Reviewing performance — particularly commercial performance and contract compliance — of major construction programmes. | **Sellafield PPP Triennial Review.** **Sellafield BEP Commercial Review.** **Sellafield BEP Unplanned Liabilities investigation.** **NRS Commercial Complex Procurement Review.** **Scottish Water Value for Money Framework Review.** **HS2 Design Management & Technical Assurance RCA.** **Dodewaard Confirmatory Review** (Dutch Ministry of Finance) — Project Lead; final report accepted with zero client comments and a written client commendation. |
### Note on Programme Turnaround
The JD's example experience includes "setting up and running of a Programme Management Office to turn around an underperforming complex capital investment programme." This is the area where I have strong proximate evidence (Sellafield BEP, HS2 RCA, the SR27 transition pod that became the live programme plan) but where I have not stood up a PMO from scratch on a distressed programme as the named PMO lead. This is something I would deliberately seek exposure on in the first 12 months at Deloitte; flagged honestly in Section 6.
---
## 5. Evidence of Director-grade capability
The JD asks for capability in three areas: **Project Delivery**, **Business Development** and **Team / Community Development**. The strongest single examples for each are below; the CV holds the wider evidence base.
### Project Delivery
**Scottish Water SR27 Enterprise Delivery Model** (Nov 2024 – present). The defining engagement of my last two years. Led the Transition Workstream end-to-end across a c.£7–9bn enterprise delivery model transformation — from charter and integration strategy, through a transition plan of 1,000+ activities across five workstreams, to formal handover. The plan was adopted as the live programme plan. Extended scope to a second workstream as commercial & procurement lead, shaping the Enterprise Agreement, structuring contract schedules, and leading the technical evaluation methodology for the £9bn ITN. Then scoped, sold and led an additional Technical Consultant → Primary Designer transition workstream. Multi-stakeholder, multi-year, executive-level visibility. This is the engagement that demonstrates I can run something at Director scale.
**Dodewaard Nuclear Power Plant — Confirmatory Review** (Sept 2024 – Jan 2025). Project Lead and Assignment Manager for the Dutch Ministry of Finance confirmatory review. Took the engagement over mid-flight, picking up scope, commercials and the technical lead role across PA and joint-venture partner TÜV Rheinland. Joint lead author of the final report. The final report was accepted with zero client comments and a written commendation from the client. This is the engagement that demonstrates I can pick up and turn around a complex multi-organisation delivery at pace.
### Business Development
**Audit & Assurance 2 framework — pursuit origination** (2024). Single strongest origination story. I independently identified and qualified PA's firm-wide opportunity to enter the A&A2 framework. I attended supplier engagements, built and led the internal case for bidding, convened five senior Partners across capability and sector teams to stand up a steering group, and secured firm investment to pursue. Outcome: secured a place for PA on all pursued lots. A £500k engagement was won through the framework within the first quarter of commencement. This is the example that closest models the kind of independent, sustained, multi-stakeholder origination behaviour the JD calls out under Business Development.
**PA Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy** (2024). Co-authored PA's firm-level strategy for the UK nuclear sector capital programmes market — the c.£40bn 10-year pipeline. Market analysis, target client segmentation (Decommissioning & Waste, Advanced Nuclear Technologies, Giga New Build, Fuel Cycle), point of view (the shift from hierarchical to collaborative delivery ecosystems), four primary offering categories, the differentiated positioning against engineering firms and the Big Four, and the "Big Bets" operating model to make it executable. This is the example that demonstrates strategic, firm-shaping thinking at the level Directors are expected to contribute.
**Scottish Water SR27 Pursuits** (Sept – Nov 2024). Lead SME on Project 13 / collaborative delivery models and CDE across two parallel pursuits — Enterprise Delivery Model (£1.2m) and Common Data Environment (£0.4m). Authored the Project 13 narrative and notes pack used to shape the storyboard; owned slide content through Red Team review; lead presenter on the collaborative delivery model component during the client pitch. Both pursuits won — c.£1.6m of secured new client revenue. This is the example that demonstrates I can convert advisory expertise into pursuit wins.
**Netherlands Nuclear Client — OIR & CDE Pursuit** (Jan – May 2026). Brought in by a PA Partner to solve a client challenge on Organisational Information Requirements and CDE for a newly stood-up Netherlands nuclear client. Authored an ISO 19650-aligned method to derive OIRs from a Target Operating Model; designed and led the on-site Information Management pitch in The Hague; produced guidance on cascading OIR → AIR / PIR / EIR. Pursuit resulted in the client requesting and accepting a formal proposal to develop their OIRs, cascade them to EIRs, and develop their CDE business case. Live forward pipeline.
**Deloitte Public Sector Nuclear Account — Account Management** (2022 – 2024). My previous Deloitte role. Managed the Deloitte UK Public Sector Nuclear account — Sellafield, NDA, NWS, GBN, BEIS, UKAEA — with a multi-£M annual portfolio reporting directly to senior Deloitte Partners. Built the Salesforce dashboard ("Jupiter") and integrated capability across multiple service lines. This is the structural account-management experience that demonstrates I can run a Deloitte account from day one.
### Team / Community Development
**Convening senior Partners cross-firm.** On A&A2, I convened five senior Partners (across capabilities and sectors) to stand up a steering group and secure firm investment. This is the kind of cross-firm coordination work the JD's Team / Community Development pillar calls out.
**Junior team leadership.** On the PA Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy, I led a junior team to develop the end-to-end strategy. On SR27, I have led a junior team developing live-linked dashboards, RAID cadence, look-ahead views, and journey maps. I mentored a junior consultant (Joe Zaric) through programme management responsibilities at scale.
**Cross-firm capability integration.** At Deloitte, I built the Salesforce "Jupiter" dashboard and integrated capability across multiple service lines to leverage cross-firm industry insight. Practical evidence of building the connective tissue between teams — which is structurally what the JD asks for under "Drive the development of the Deloitte Infrastructure & Capital Projects communities."
---
## 6. Honest assessment — what I bring fully, what I am building
I want this case to be defensible under scrutiny. So before setting out the plan, here is the honest split.
### What I bring at Director level today
- **Engagement delivery at Director scale.** SR27 EDM is the proof point. Multi-year, multi-workstream, executive-level client visibility, commercial accountability.
- **Origination behaviour with documented wins.** A&A2 (single strongest), SR27 pursuits (c.£1.6m won), Netherlands Nuclear (live pipeline), capital programmes strategy authorship.
- **Sector depth and breadth.** Nuclear sweet spot, plus genuine cross-sector work in water and rail. The kind of "cross-sector practical examples" the JD asks for.
- **Commercial sophistication.** Enterprise Agreements, ITN evaluation methodologies, contract schedules, procurement reviews, NEC change management. Earned in delivery, not theoretical.
- **Senior client trust.** Documented through written feedback, client commendations, and the repeat work secured across PA and Deloitte. The Dodewaard project lead role mid-engagement and the Sellafield Partner sponsor sign-off are clear examples.
- **Engineering and technical IP.** Chartered Civil Engineer with seven years of hands-on safety-critical delivery, plus a granted UK patent and a live construction software business.
### What I am building — and where I'd lean on Deloitte's support
- **Portable client network.** I have strong delivery relationships, but I do not yet have a deep portable client network of the kind Director-level origination ultimately depends on. I know this; Hugh and I have discussed it candidly. My A&A2 origination story shows I can build relationships, not just inherit them — but a network at Director scale needs investment of time, exposure and support. This is the single biggest reason I am comfortable with an AD-with-supported-route option if that is the cleaner landing for the panel: it gives me 12–18 months to build deliberately rather than to overreach.
- **PMO turnaround leadership.** I have strong RCA, assurance and transition leadership evidence. I have not yet led a PMO-on-a-distressed-programme from scratch as the named PMO lead. I want to deliberately seek that exposure in the first year.
- **Visible external brand.** I have an authored body of work (the PA Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy, drafted thought leadership on collaborative delivery models, the IStructE article in editorial review for the October 2026 issue, the YouTube channel with c.350,000 cumulative views on Autodesk content) but I have not yet built a sustained external brand under a Big 4 banner. Deloitte's platform changes that calculus.
### Why I am still pitching at Director ambition rather than only AD
The JD describes a senior role focused on "driving the growth" of the practice with three competency pillars (Project Delivery, Business Development, Team / Community). My evidence on Project Delivery is at Director level today. My evidence on Business Development is meaningful but newer — A&A2 and the SR27 pursuits are real but they are recent. My evidence on Team / Community is real but more selective. On balance, an honest read is that I am Director-capable on the work, AD-stretch on the BD portfolio, and growing on the team / community side. That suggests two viable landings:
1. **Director at entry**, with the first 12 months structured to build the external BD muscle and named-client relationships into a portable position.
2. **AD at entry with a structured route to Director**, agreed at point of joining, with sponsor-confirmed milestones at 6 / 12 / 18 months.
I am comfortable with either, and I am happy for Hugh, Hywel and the panel to make the call. Hugh's earlier indication was that AD-with-route would be the cleaner landing; I trust that judgement and the route below assumes that as the default scenario, with a stretch case for Director consideration.
---
## 7. My plan — first 18 months
This is the plan if I come in at AD with a structured route to Director, agreed at point of joining. The targets are sponsor-validated milestones; the named opportunities are illustrative and will be refined with Hugh and Hywel before joining.
### Horizon 1 — months 0 to 6
**Objective:** Reconnect, embed, and start originating.
| Theme | What I'll do | What success looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Account reconnect | Re-establish relationships with the Public Sector Nuclear Account clients I held when I last left Deloitte (Sellafield, NDA, NWS, BEIS, UKAEA). Map current Deloitte work, current relationship leads, current gaps. | Visible to Hugh / Hywel / Account leads as a named SME within the nuclear and capital programmes practice. At least three formal client introductions. |
| Pursuit contribution | Identify two to three live pursuits where my Project 13 / collaborative delivery model / commercial expertise contributes a winnable differentiator. | Contributing SME on at least two live pursuits within 90 days. |
| Engagement leadership | Pick up at least one delivery engagement at AD level — ideally a Capital Programme Assurance review or a Delivery Strategy engagement. | Engagement delivered to or above expectations; senior client feedback captured. |
| Internal positioning | Get on the right internal forums — Nuclear leadership team, Capital Projects community, RE Advisory leadership. Publish a one-page proposition pack internally so colleagues know what to pull me into. | Quotable internal feedback on my proposition from at least three senior stakeholders outside Hugh / Hywel. |
| AI-Augmented Delivery | Stand up a small internal AI-augmented delivery proof-of-concept (e.g. an internal research-and-synthesis agent for capital programmes intelligence) and deploy it on a live engagement. | Working internal tool with measurable time-saved or quality-improved on a real engagement. |
### Horizon 2 — months 7 to 12
**Objective:** Take ownership of a major pursuit and lead a Director-grade engagement.
| Theme | What I'll do | What success looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Pursuit ownership | Lead the bid response for at least one large infrastructure or nuclear pursuit (e.g. an IDP / PACE / DNWP / SMR / GDF-adjacent opportunity, or a major water / rail equivalent). | Bid submitted with me as named pursuit lead. Win-rate aside, the deliverable quality and panel feedback should be Director-grade. |
| Engagement lead | Lead a Director-grade engagement end-to-end — multi-workstream, exec-level client visibility, commercial accountability. | Engagement delivered to senior-client commendation level; documented in 360 feedback. |
| Origination | Originate at least one new piece of work independently — not just contribute to others' pipelines. The target template here is the A&A2 framework story repeated inside Deloitte. | One new originated opportunity of c.£250k+ booked into the pipeline. |
| External brand | Publish one external thought leadership piece (under the Deloitte banner) on a topic where I have authored content (collaborative delivery models, capital programme transition, OIR/CDE for capital programmes). Speak at one industry forum. | Published piece + one named external speaking slot in the diary. |
### Horizon 3 — months 13 to 18
**Objective:** Build a portable client network and demonstrate the Director-grade BD portfolio.
| Theme | What I'll do | What success looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Client portfolio | Demonstrate that I personally hold at least two senior client relationships that can convert to repeat work — not inherited, not borrowed. | Documented "follow-the-relationship" wins or extensions. |
| Sales recognition | Quantified BD contribution recorded against the Director performance framework. | Aggregate originated and supported sales of £1m+ across the 18-month period, sponsor-confirmed. |
| Director panel | Director panel readiness — business case refreshed, sponsor letters, named opportunities, sales recognition record. | Director panel taken (or invited to take) with strong sponsor backing. |
| Team / community | Visible contribution to the Deloitte I&CP community — recruitment, mentoring, internal proposition development. | One named hire I helped attract; one internal proposition I co-led. |
### Stretch — direct Director entry
If Hugh and Hywel believe Director entry is defensible to the panel based on the evidence in Section 5, the plan compresses. Horizons 1 and 2 collapse into the first 9 months, with Horizon 3 targets pulled forward to months 12–15. I would also bring forward the external thought-leadership and named-pursuit-leadership outputs to month 6.
---
## 8. What I need from sponsors
This section is the half of the case that protects me as much as it protects you. Hywel and I agreed when we first spoke that the value of writing a business case was as much about defining what I needed from you as it was about showing you what I bring.
### From Hugh (as senior sponsor)
- **Strategic positioning.** Endorsement of my proposition at the Nuclear and Capital Projects leadership level. Visible sponsorship at the right internal forums.
- **Director panel sponsorship.** Whether I come in at Director or at AD with a route, the panel readiness work will need Hugh's named sponsorship at the right moment.
- **Cross-firm enablement.** Introductions into the wider Deloitte Capital Projects community where my proposition adds value (defence, energy, transport).
### From Hywel (as anchor sponsor)
- **Day-to-day sponsorship and coaching.** Direct cadence (suggest fortnightly initially, monthly steady-state) to test progress against milestones, surface blockers and adjust the plan as the market moves.
- **Pursuit exposure.** Pull me into live pursuit conversations early — particularly where my Project 13, commercial models, CDE / OIR or sector expertise is differentiating.
- **Account access.** Named introductions into the Infrastructure Advisory client base; visibility into the current pursuit pipeline.
### From the team
- **Resourcing.** Access to junior consultant capacity to deliver the kind of multi-workstream engagements the JD describes; capability to grow a "squad" around the proposition over the 12–18 month horizon.
- **AI-Augmented Delivery enablement.** Latitude to deploy AI agents and LLM tooling on internal workstreams (within Deloitte's responsible-AI guidelines). This is differentiating and growing — I want to bring it in with intent rather than as a side project.
- **Sales recognition framework.** Clarity on the Director performance framework, the sales attribution methodology and the panel cadence — set at point of joining, refreshed quarterly.
---
## 9. Closing
The case in a paragraph:
I have built a sharper, more commercially credible proposition over the last two years at PA than I had when I left Deloitte. The proposition — capital programmes advisory, anchored in nuclear, with cross-sector reach, distinctive depth in delivery models and commercial / procurement, growing edge on AI-augmented delivery — maps directly onto the Deloitte Director JD. My origination evidence is stronger than it was, but the portable network is still building; that is the honest reason I am comfortable with AD-with-supported-route as a landing, while making the case for Director-level ambition.
What I am asking for is straightforward: a clear decision on level, a structured plan with named sponsor milestones, the support I have set out in Section 8, and a target start date in September or October 2026.
I am ready to come back. I want the next call with you both to focus on level, package and the agreed milestones — and then we have a plan we can both sign up to.
Thank you for taking the time to read this — and for the way both of you have approached the conversation so far.
— Ahmed
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## Appendix A — Selected engagement deep-dives
The CV holds the full engagement history. The four below are the ones most directly relevant to the Director JD; expanded here in case you want depth on a specific area.
### A1. Scottish Water SR27 Enterprise Delivery Model — Transition & Commercial Lead
**Context:** c.£7–9bn Project 13-inspired enterprise delivery model — Scottish Water's transition from two alliance frameworks (M2 LLP and ARC) to a primary-designer-led enterprise delivery model.
**My scope across the engagement (Nov 2024 – present):**
- **Transition Workstream Lead (end-to-end).** Charter, integration & transition strategy, journey maps across workstreams, transition plan of 1,000+ activities across five workstreams. Day One governance, dashboards (live-linked to the plan), RAID cadence, look-ahead views. The transition plan was adopted as the live programme plan for mobilisation and readiness management.
- **Commercial & Procurement Lead** (second workstream, extended scope). Advised on the incentivisation model and commercial mechanisms aligned to enterprise outcomes. Led the development of supplier obligations and structured contract schedules across design, construction, commissioning, innovation, standardisation and mobilisation. **Led the technical evaluation methodology for the £9bn ITN** across multiple stages for both primary designers and asset delivery partners — drafted technical questions, set out the evaluation approach, set up the evaluation criteria, and liaised with the Scottish Water procurement team throughout.
- **Technical Consultant → Primary Designer transition workstream** (additional scope, scoped and sold). Contract data analysis across multiple framework providers, as-is / to-be process mapping, Scottish Water functional area impact assessment, comms plan, FAQs, handover packs. Workstream closed Mar 2026 with formal handover to named owners.
**Mapping to JD:** Delivery Strategy (primary), Target Operating Model (secondary), Programme Assurance, Programme Turnaround (the transition plan effectively functioned as the PMO of a mobilising programme).
### A2. A&A2 Framework — Pursuit Origination
**Context:** Major cross-capability and cross-GTM framework opportunity. PA had no presence on the framework. I independently identified the opportunity.
**My scope:**
- Independent identification and qualification of the firm-wide opportunity.
- Attended supplier engagements; built and led the internal case for bidding.
- Convened five senior Partners across capability and sector teams to stand up a steering group and secure investment to pursue.
- Set up the mobilisation and team to bid on the framework.
**Outcome:** PA secured a place on all pursued lots. A £500k engagement was won through the framework within the first quarter of commencement.
**Mapping to JD:** Business Development (primary — the textbook origination example). Also a clear example of "drive the identification of opportunities from a sector and client perspective" and "support the strategy, revenue, and capability management for the team."
### A3. PA Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy — Co-author
**Context:** PA's firm-level strategy for the UK nuclear sector's c.£40bn 10-year capital pipeline. Co-authored across a four-person Big Bets Team supported by a Nuclear Leadership Team of senior Partners.
**My scope:**
- Co-authored the strategy end-to-end: market analysis, target client segmentation across Decommissioning & Waste, Advanced Nuclear Technologies, Giga New Build and Fuel Cycle. PA's point of view on the shift from hierarchical to collaborative delivery ecosystems. The four primary offering categories (Portfolio & Programme Management; Programme & Project Setup; Commercial & Supply Chain; Delivery Transformation).
- Defined PA's differentiated positioning against engineering firms and the Big Four; mapped the offer against named live opportunities (IDP, PACE, DNWP, GDF, UKAEA STEP, SMR, Sizewell C, PPP).
- Drafted PA's nuclear capital delivery thought leadership themes (collaborative delivery models, innovative supply chain strategies, recovering distressed programmes, accelerating delivery with AI).
- Defined the "Big Bets" operating model — a central pursuit team integrated with account leads to make the strategy executable.
- The strategy secured leadership buy-in across Capability and GTM, unlocked internal investment funding for targeted recruitment, and translated directly into subsequent client wins.
**Mapping to JD:** Business Development (strategy, revenue and capability management for the team; thought leadership and proposition).
### A4. Dodewaard Nuclear Power Plant — Confirmatory Review
**Context:** Confirmatory review for the Dutch Ministry of Finance — validating and updating the 2023 infrastructure and safe-enclosure assessment of the decommissioned Dodewaard nuclear power plant. Multi-organisation delivery (PA + TÜV Rheinland JV).
**My scope:**
- Took the engagement over mid-flight as Project Lead and Assignment Manager (replaced the outgoing lead). Picked up scope, commercials and the technical lead role across PA and TÜV Rheinland.
- Joint lead author of the issued report; led client comments management.
- Exercised senior technical and assurance judgement: radiological risk analysis, dose-rate decay calculations, shielding effectiveness, reactor internals condition, civil structures and degradation mechanisms.
- Closed the engagement commercially and administratively, including subcontract management with TÜV Rheinland.
**Outcome:** Final report accepted by the Dutch Ministry of Finance with zero client comments and a written client commendation.
**Mapping to JD:** Programme Assurance (primary). Also a strong example of "lead larger, complex engagements" and "provide advice and constructive challenge to senior management."
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## Appendix B — Next steps tracker
| # | Action | Owner | Target date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugh and Hywel review business case + CV | Hugh, Hywel | Within 2 weeks of receipt |
| 2 | Joint call (Ahmed + Hugh + Hywel) — agree level, package, sponsor model, target start date | All | Following review |
| 3 | If Director: confirm panel readiness, sponsor letters, named opportunities | Hugh (sponsor) | Within 4 weeks of joint call |
| 4 | If AD-with-route: agree milestone framework, sponsor cadence, sales recognition framework | Hywel (anchor sponsor) | Within 4 weeks of joint call |
| 5 | Notice period at PA + transition plan | Ahmed | Per package agreement |
| 6 | Target start date | Ahmed + Deloitte HR | September / October 2026 |
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*Document prepared by Ahmed Alshawi, June 2026. This is the source content for design into the final business case PDF and the accompanying personal website (with the CV PDF embedded). Numbers, dates, employer names and named engagements in this document are grounded in: the May 2026 PA CV, the June 2026 Deloitte CV, the 2024–25 and 2025–26 PA End of Year Reviews, the PA Transforming Capital Delivery Strategy (pp. 1–16), the SR27 transition weekly report extracts, the Dodewaard engagement documentation, the SR27 bid evidence, the NEO NL engagement documentation, the Siggins Model reference materials, and the Moving to Deloitte conversation thread with Hugh and Hywel. The Notes on Case for Promotion document (originally drafted as the PC→MC case for PA) provided the structural template for the Siggins-aligned proposition.*