Central PMO Manager

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Job Introduction

Main Responsibilities

The Central Project Management Office (PMO) Manager evaluates and communicates the health and performance of the portfolio, ensuring its strategic positioning is clearly conveyed to the executive audience. By analysing key management information, the role provides timely data-driven insights that empowers leadership to make informed decisions and drive portfolio success.

The role drives critical portfolio capabilities, e.g. dependency, financial, resource, risk/issue, and business outcome management. By designing and embedding best practices, processes and capabilities. The role ensures the portfolio operates effectively, strengthening its resilience and enabling the delivery of strategic outcomes.

• Build and lead the central PMO, embedding best-in-class portfolio capabilities, processes, and tools to drive consistent, high-impact delivery and ensure strategic alignment across the Bank
• Create visibility across change, maintenance, and run activities to create a complete portfolio view, ensuring interdependencies are managed, insights are leveraged, and strategic priorities are effectively supported
• Deliver executive-level strategic analysis and insights on overall portfolio health, performance, and value realisation, proactively identifying critical risks and opportunities to drive informed decision-making, and optimal investment allocation
• Lead portfolio wide trend analysis, uncovering systemic patterns, emerging risks, and cross-functional interdependencies to enhance governance, strengthen execution, and provide strategic foresight
• Design, strengthen, and embed portfolio capabilities, including dependency, financial, resource, risk/issue, and business outcome management, ensuring operational excellence
• Drive the continuous evolution of reporting, insights, tooling, and processes, ensuring they remain agile, data-driven, and aligned with shifting strategic priorities
• Oversee portfolio execution with a focus on driving measurable impact, ensuring strategic initiatives, deliverables, and workstreams remain aligned with key performance indicators and long-term business objectives
• Embed a high-performance PMO culture which fosters continuous learning, collaboration, and capability development, driving excellence in portfolio management, data-driven decision-making, and strategic alignment across the business.
• Lead and line management of the Central PMO team
• Champion a customer-centric and business-integrated mindset by fostering bank-wide collaboration, ensuring portfolio management is fully aligned with both organisational strategy and evolving customer needs while embodying and promoting the Bank's culture
• Actively promotes and ensures adherence to the Bank's Risk Management framework and relevant risk and compliance policies and procedures, ensuring timely and appropriate escalation of concerns to relevant senior stakeholders

Ideal Candidate

Research (by Harvard University) shows that women are particularly likely to second guess themselves and not apply - so if you are worried you don't meet all the criteria, get in touch anyhow and let us do the worrying...

The role holder will have extensive experience in owning and leading large, complex portfolio management offices, with full accountability for aligning with strategic objectives. They will be a critical thinker who sets high standards, has a continuous improvement mindset, and is capable of collaborating effectively across different teams and departments to effect positive improvements. The successful candidate will be an experienced change professional who understands the bank's strategy, its change portfolio, the change processes and standards, and industry best practice.

• Extensive experience within a Portfolio Management Office (PMO) environment, specifically the establishment of PMO disciplines and introduction of new PMO processes.
• Professional certification and experience across both Waterfall and Agile methodologies and the ways in which finance and resource management may vary across the two.
• Strong ability to align the portfolio with the broader business strategy, ensuring projects deliver maximum strategic value
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, solve problems, and take decisions.
• Ability to see the bigger picture and anticipate future needs or risks, guiding the portfolio in a direction that supports long-term organisation success.
• Team Player. Enjoys collaborating with, learning from, and guiding others.
• Problem-solving abilities and a results-oriented mindset, identifying issues and driving resolutions to conclusion with minimal management support
• Proven track record of influencing senior executives and facilitating alignment across complex, multi-stakeholder environments
• Skilled in managing time effectively, prioritising tasks and meeting deadlines
• Ability to work well under pressure
• Proactive, forward looking, flexible attitude with the ability to challenge constructively
• Attention to detail and an organised approach to work
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to analyse, and present complex issues clearly, in order to influence stakeholders at all levels
• Experienced user of enterprise portfolio management tools, JIRA, Confluence, Teams, SharePoint, Excel and Power Point.
• Strong understanding of Change risk, governance and controls in a regulated environment

Company Information

Handelsbanken is a relationship bank with a decentralised way of working, a strong local presence thanks to a nationwide network of branches, and a long-term approach to customer relations. Each Handelsbanken branch operates as a local business enabling it to make decisions at a local level and provide a bespoke service. The focus is always on the need of the individual customer and not on the sale of specific products.

We are embarking on an exciting Business Transformation journey. This transformation will significantly enhance our technology system systems, processes and services, bringing evolution to our ways of working. Join us in this transformative journey, where your dedication, adaptability and commitment will play a crucial role in shaping the future of banking for our valued customers.

The Bank is deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all of our activities. This is so that we are an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work that encourages everyone to apply, regardless of socio-economic background, age, disability, pregnancy and/or parental status, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), veteran status, marital and civil partnership status, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment or sexual orientation.

Check our Handelsbanken website for further information

At Handelsbanken, we deeply value our unique culture and values including trust in and respect for each individual. We take pride in nurturing a work environment where people flourish, and where they are empowered to take decisions in their areas of expertise. We take a long term perspective in everything we do and want each employee who joins us to build a long terms successful career with the Bank.

What is in it for you?

• We have a wide range of learning and development available, empowering and enabling our colleagues to take ownership of their own development.
• Competitive Salary and an extensive range of benefits is provided, including private medical insurance, income protection and life assurance
• A market-leading pension contribution of 15% paid by the bank, which can be invested in a wide range of funds (including ESG and Shariah funds)

Application next steps

Your journey with us begins once you have submitted your application. One of our Handelsbanken recruiters will be reviewing your details and will later organise a phone conversation if you match the role requirements. If there is a mutual fit, we will extend an invitation for you to participate in an interview.

How can we support you to be your best self? Our Talent Acquisition team will be happy to provide support e.g. if you need additional time to prepare for an interview or you have any requirements for any part of the interview/hiring process - just let us know by email uk_talent@careers.handelsbanken.co.uk .

This advert will be live for a minimum of two weeks. However, please note that after the two weeks, the closing date could change at any time depending on the number of responses received.

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