Associate Director – Portfolio Management

Turner-; Manchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Turner & Townsend is hiring an Associate Director – Portfolio Management in the UK to drive excellence across global and national portfolios, turning strategy into delivery. You will lead Portfolio Management Office teams, embed governance, and ensure transparent performance against objectives.

Applicants should have accreditation or strong practice in portfolio management within real estate, with proven leadership, stakeholder influence, and capital investment planning experience.

Qualifications

• Accreditation or strong working knowledge of portfolio/programme management methods.
• Proven experience delivering large-scale real estate transformation projects.
• Experience in capital investment planning and performance optimisation.
• Ability to lead teams and build successful delivery partnerships.
• Strong written and verbal communication across senior levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end portfolio vision and direction across delivery activities.
• Define and embed portfolio governance and control frameworks.
• Engage senior leaders and stakeholders to align outcomes.
• Identify and mitigate portfolio risks and health/safety considerations.
• Oversee capex budgeting, cost reporting and financial risk.
• Drive business development and portfolio commissions opportunities.
• Develop and mentor portfolio management teams and foster culture.

Skills

Portfolio management

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Budget tracking

Contract & commercial

MS Office

Education

Degree or postgraduate qualification

Professional membership

Tools

MS Office Suite

Programme management tools

Reporting systems

Job description

• Full-time

Company Description

At Turner & Townsend we’re passionate about making the difference. That means delivering better outcomes for our clients, helping our people to realise their potential, and doing our part to create a prosperous society.

For 75 years we have been leading the delivery of major transformational programmes. Our success at realising outcomes for clients has resulted in significant growth.Every day we help our major global clients deliver ambitious Net Zero programmes from over 110 offices worldwide.

Further to this success we are now facing a new wave of growth to achieve our ambitious 2025 vision. To achieve this, we need great people who are passionate about both delivering great outcomes to our clients and contributing to our future vision. This is made entirely possible through our entrepreneurial culture, allowing employees of all levels to directly influence the business and to own their career.

The world is changing, and we have a responsibility to support that change, helping drive it and be part of it.

Through the commitment, capability and care our team brings, we build trust between clients, suppliers, governments, and society. Delivering better outcomes that have a positive impact on the world around us.

We work smarter to face the challenges of the future; bringing the clarity that helps teams realise their full potential across the real estate, infrastructure, and natural resources sectors.

As an Associate Director – Portfolio Management, you will have experience playing a pivotal role in driving excellence in global/national/regional portfolios with a focus on converting strategy into delivery, optimising portfolio performance, driving strategic capital planning and driving sustained success against annual portfolio objectives.

You lead multidisciplinary Portfolio and Portfolio Management Office teams, working closely with the portfolio leadership and senior client stakeholders. You set up, embed and manage robust governance, assurance and performance management frameworks that provide confidence in portfolio delivery. You ensure compliance with contractual, commercial, financial and risk management requirements, lead delivery teams to operate with transparency, accountability and consistency across portfolios, and drive continuous improvement and performance impact and maturity.

You know how to provide effective oversight throughout the investment lifecycle – including: Strategy Development, Stakeholder Engagement, Partnership Building, Capability Development, Portfolio Management, Portfolio Optimisation, Capital Investment Planning, Scenario Planning, Strategic Analysis, Benefits Realisation Management.

You lead and develop high-performing Portfolio and Portfolio Management Office teams, establishing the governance, controls and disciplines required to enable efficient and effective delivery across complex portfolios, programmes and projects.

Acting as a trusted advisor and critical interface between portfolio delivery teams, senior client stakeholders and the wider business, you provide assurance, constructive challenge and insight into portfolio performance. Your leadership ensures informed decision-making, effective portfolio controls and the successful delivery of strategic objectives, fostering a culture of operational excellence, high-quality client service, a strategically aligned, competitive portfolio and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Portfolio Leadership & Direction: Take end-to-end ownership of shaping, embedding, and communicating portfolio vision and direction. Effectively empower, motivate, and guide high-performing teams to drive success and cohesion across delivery activities, turning strategy into measurable outcomes. Lead on or deliver Strategic Portfolio Management and Capital Investment Planning providing a forward-looking view of capital allocation strategies. Work effectively with internal and client leads as required to deliver sustained strategic performance and business value across the portfolio.
• Portfolio Controls & Optimisation: Evaluate the current state of portfolios through gap analysis, creating a roadmap and effectively leading a team to deliver the optimised future state. Establish and embed portfolio management and control frameworks to ensure rigor, compliance, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Influence: Establish and maintain trusted relationships with senior leaders, clients and key stakeholders, building a reputation as a collaborative partner & advisor. Drive connectivity across business functions, delivery teams and leadership groups, fostering strong partnerships and aligning diverse stakeholders behind a common vision and shared outcomes. Proactively collaborate across stakeholder groups to establish and deliver innovative and integrated solutions.
• Risk & Health/Safety Management: Define and embed safeguards that manage portfolio risks including health and safety considerations. Lead on the proactive identification, escalation, and mitigation of risks and issues across the portfolio.
• Financial Oversight: Drive the implementation and control of financial management processes, including CapEx performance, budget tracking, cost reporting, and financial risk visibility. Ensure portfolio financials are controlled, accurate, and aligned with governance requirements.
• Commission Management and Business Development: Ensure the commission is well-managed from a contractual and commercial standpoint, build trusting client partnerships and identify and pursue future business growth / Business Development opportunities.
• People & Culture: Act as a first-class colleague, taking a lead and positively contributing to the culture of internal and commission teams and demonstrating leadership in internal team growth. Build capability, mentor teams and colleagues, drive inclusion across the team and successfully carry out people management responsibilities to drive internal team performance and growth and our One Business culture.

Qualifications

This is an Associate Director level role. To excel in this role, you will have:

• Accreditation or strong working knowledge of portfolio and/or programme management methodologies and governance frameworks, particularly within real estate and complex/fast-paced delivery environments.
• Proven experience in portfolio and/or programme management, including in large-scale and/or high-profile real estate transformation projects.
• Experience in performance optimisation initiatives and managing capital investment plans.
• Strong experience overseeing the delivery of expected outcomes with best practice and high standards, driving performance and discipline in a culture of continuous improvement.
• Excellent leadership skills, with the ability to lead and empower teams.
• Proven ability to build successful delivery partnerships and trust, leading to strong stakeholder relationships.
• Ability to balance multiple tasks and preserve portfolio delivery performance, team performance and the right behaviours.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills across various seniority levels.
• Experience in effective portfolio / programme financial performance management including financial reporting, budget tracking, and cost / financial management processes. Awareness of procurement methodologies, contract forms, and commercial frameworks.
• Experience in business development and successfully contributing to the securing of portfolio / programme management commissions and roles through your industry networks, competitive tender and interview processes, and/or negotiated opportunities.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and programme management tools, reporting systems and digital platforms, with a proactive approach to data, innovation and technology adoption.
• Professional membership in a relevant field.
• Degree or postgraduate qualification in a relevant field desirable.

Additional Information

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to effect change. We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy, productive, and flexible working environment.

At Turner & Townsend, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from all sectors of the community, and we strongly believe that this diversity is what creates great solutions for our clients, bringing together people with different ideas and skills who want to push boundaries. In celebration of our diversity and to keep this agenda at the forefront of what we do, we have several internal networks, such as LGBT+, Diversity & Inclusion, and Race & Ethnicity which create a safe space for employees to express themselves and to drive change.

SOX control responsibilities may be part of this role, which are to be adhered to where applicable.

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