Enterprise Portfolio Management Lead

LGBT Jobs; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

National Highways is seeking an Enterprise Portfolio Management Office Lead to oversee a complex portfolio of digital, data and technology initiatives within the Digital Services directorate. The role focuses on masterplanning, governance and quarterly planning to maximise value from digital investment and ensure alignment with strategic priorities.

You will manage a small team, drive demand management, and collaborate with PMO stakeholders to mature planning processes and deliver measurable

Qualifications

• Significant experience in complex IT programme and portfolio environments with high‑risk, high‑value initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead and facilitate discussions with senior stakeholders and executive audiences.
• Knowledge of current technologies used to build and operate digital services and enable informed decision‑making.
• A recognised project or programme management accreditation or equivalent experience.
• Leadership that drives change using lean, continuous improvement and structured planning processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead Enterprise Portfolio Management across programmes and projects, overseeing demand and quarterly cycles.
• Ensure governance of programmes and projects, aligning to strategy, benefits realisation and the 80/20 demand model.
• Collaborate with operational delivery leaders and senior stakeholders to align cross‑functional activities and enable enterprise‑wide technology change.
• Drive continuous improvement in portfolio, service and capacity management, setting policy, standards and best practices.
• Provide strong people leadership, manage the EPM team, budgets, forecasts and cost management.

Skills

Portfolio management

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Governance

Change management

Education

Project management accreditation

Job description

About the job.

Location: UK offices with travel

Responsibilities: Overseeing digital, data, and technology initiatives

Qualifications: Recognised project management accreditation

Organisation: National Highways

National Highways has an incredible opportunity for an Enterprise Portfolio Management Office (EPMO) Lead to play an integral role across our Digital Services directorate, overseeing a complex portfolio of digital, data and technology initiatives. This high-profile leadership role will be responsible for overseeing the masterplan and shaping and implementing our quarterly planning process.
Working closely with Digital Services Portfolio Leads to understand the pipeline of demand and emerging business needs, you will be responsible for overseeing the masterplan, tracking and monitoring milestones and dependencies, and ensuring the portfolio remains aligned to strategic priorities. Through robust governance, performance reporting and portfolio insight, you will enable informed decision-making, support effective prioritisation, and help maximise the value delivered through Digital Services investment.

You will lead a small team responsible for demand management and the execution of quarterly planning cycles, establishing robust processes and governance to ensure accurate data is captured, effective prioritisation is enabled, and informed decisions can be made. You will identify capability requirements across the Enterprise Portfolio team and implement the tools, processes and support needed to continuously mature our planning and portfolio management capabilities.
Partnering with the Programme Management Office (PMO), you will maintain visibility of portfolio performance, dependencies, and risks, providing senior leaders with the insight needed to optimise delivery and maximise the value of digital investment across National Highways.
Our technology estate is broad, diverse and continuously evolving. You will work across everything from internal business platforms to the systems that manage physical assets and keep England's road network operating safely and reliably. This is an opportunity to develop solutions that have a real‑world impact for millions of people.[

Please note this position can be based from any of our UK offices however travel to other offices to attend team meetings will be required, including in person quarterly planning sessions.

• Lead Enterprise Portfolio Management (EPM) across programmes and projects, providing oversight of demand and ensuring delivery is aligned to organisational and Digital Services Strategy, including ownership of the execution of quarterly cycles.
• Ensure effective governance of programmes and projects, including alignment to the Digital Services Strategy, financial and resource assurance, benefits realisation, and intervention where delivery risks or business case benefits cannot be met, supporting the targeted 80/20 planned versus reactive demand model.
• Work closely with operational delivery leaders and senior stakeholders across the directorate to align cross‑functional activities, identify opportunities for enterprise‑wide technology change, and provide leadership for the delivery of those change initiatives.
• Drive continuous improvement in portfolio, service and capacity management, keeping abreast of industry best practice, setting policy and standards, embedding efficient ways of working, and providing direction on the use of appropriate tools, methodologies and justified new investments.
• Provide strong people leadership, managing and developing the EPM team to deliver portfolio operations and business process improvement, while owning team budgets, forecasts and cost management to ensure effective and transparent use of resources.
  

About you.

• Significant experience operating in complex IT programme and portfolio environments, leading high‑risk and high‑value initiatives, prioritising demand and resources based on strategic intent and return on investment, and ensuring effective governance across the full delivery lifecycle including designing and leading structured quarterly planning cycles that bring clarity, alignment and accountability.
• Proven ability to lead and facilitate discussions with senior stakeholders, including Heads of Service, Digital Services leadership teams and executive audiences, confidently accepting challenge, providing constructive challenge in return, and bringing clarity to complex or constrained situations.
• Demonstrates strong knowledge of current technologies used to build and operate digital services, with the ability to understand technical plans, service design and delivery activities sufficiently to enable informed, evidence‑based decision‑making at pace.
• Holds a recognised project or programme management accreditation, or equivalent professional experience gained through leading complex digital and technology portfolios.
• A confident and credible leader who leads from the front, successfully implementing change across teams and functions, applying lean, continuous improvement and lifecycle‑based approaches, and creating an environment where teams are supported to perform, improve and deliver sustainable outcomes.
  

About us.

Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England's motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.

The Digital Services Directorate is helping to reshape the way National Highways operates by delivering digital, data, and technology services across all areas, from frontline to back office, in a modern and efficient manner. Our vision is to develop integrated information and technology that empowers our colleagues and provides real‑time information to our customers, as well as integrating with intelligent vehicle and transport systems as they evolve, to enhance journey safety and reliability.

Current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

If this job opportunity is not suitable, then check out the other LGBT friendly jobs across UK!