Head of PMO

Forsyth Barnes; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 77,000; Full time

Job summary

The successful candidate will work with senior leadership to strengthen portfolio governance, ensure reliable data, manage risks and drive improvements across processes, tooling, automation and information flows.

Qualifications

• Proven experience running, owning, scaling or maturing a PMO or Portfolio Management function.
• Strong experience managing complex project and programme portfolios.
• Previous experience within a SaaS or software environment.
• Experience operating within a Professional Services or consultancy environment.
• Strong understanding of portfolio governance, assurance and project controls.
• Experience across portfolio financials, forecasting, resource/capacity planning, risks and dependencies.
• Confident working with senior stakeholders and influencing decisions.
• Strong people leadership and capability development skills.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational delivery.
• Experience improving PMO processes, reporting and ways of working.
• Experience with Power BI, Excel, Jira, Confluence, MS Project or PPM/PSA platforms would be beneficial

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and mature the PMO and portfolio management function.
• Establish consistent portfolio governance, reporting and project control standards.
• Improve the quality, accuracy and consistency of project, financial, resource and delivery data.
• Provide senior leadership with clear insight into portfolio health, risks, dependencies and delivery confidence.
• Oversee portfolio governance, assurance and review processes.
• Challenge project and programme forecasts, capacity constraints and delivery performance.
• Strengthen management of RAID, dependencies, milestones and change activity.
• Support portfolio prioritisation, benefits tracking and evidence-based decision making.
• Develop and deliver a roadmap for continued PMO maturity and improvement.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting, automation, tooling and information flows.
• Lead and develop PMO capability across the organisation.

Skills

Leadership

Portfolio governance

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Delivery visibility

Tools

Power BI

Excel

Jira

Confluence

MS Project

PPM/PSA platforms

Job description

Role: Head of PMO

Location: Liverpool or Leeds - 2 days a week onsite

Salary: £70,000

About Us

We are supporting a growing technology and SaaS organisation with the appointment of a Head of PMO to lead and develop its Professional Services Portfolio Management Office.

This is a key leadership position focused on strengthening portfolio governance, improving delivery visibility and developing the PMO into a more strategic function across the organisation.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to shape how the PMO operates, establish consistent standards and improve the quality of information used to make portfolio and delivery decisions.

Job Description

As Head of PMO, you will take ownership of the PMO function and lead its continued development and maturity.

You will work closely with senior leadership and delivery teams to establish robust governance, improve portfolio reporting and provide greater visibility of delivery performance, risks, resources and financials.

We are looking for someone who can operate strategically while remaining close enough to delivery to understand the practical challenges facing project and programme teams.

A key part of the role will be bringing greater consistency and structure to the portfolio while identifying opportunities to improve processes, tooling, automation and decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and mature the PMO and portfolio management function.
• Establish consistent portfolio governance, reporting and project control standards.
• Improve the quality, accuracy and consistency of project, financial, resource and delivery data.
• Provide senior leadership with clear insight into portfolio health, risks, dependencies and delivery confidence.
• Oversee portfolio governance, assurance and review processes.
• Challenge project and programme forecasts, capacity constraints and delivery performance.
• Strengthen management of RAID, dependencies, milestones and change activity.
• Support portfolio prioritisation, benefits tracking and evidence-based decision making.
• Develop and deliver a roadmap for continued PMO maturity and improvement.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting, automation, tooling and information flows.
• Lead and develop PMO capability across the organisation.

Requirements

• Proven experience running, owning, scaling or maturing a PMO or Portfolio Management function.
• Strong experience managing complex project and programme portfolios.
• Previous experience within a SaaS or software environment.
• Ideally, experience operating within a Professional Services or consultancy environment.
• Strong understanding of portfolio governance, assurance and project controls.
• Experience across portfolio financials, forecasting, resource/capacity planning, risks and dependencies.
• Confident working with senior stakeholders and influencing decisions.
• Strong people leadership and capability development skills.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on operational delivery.
• Experience improving PMO processes, reporting and ways of working.
• Experience with tools such as Power BI, Excel, Jira, Confluence, MS Project or PPM/PSA platforms would be beneficial