Head of Portfolio Delivery

Macmillan Cancer Support; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Macmillan Cancer Support is looking for a Head of Portfolio Delivery to oversee the Portfolio Management Team in London. The role focuses on ensuring robust governance and clear prioritization of change initiatives that impact the cancer support community. This leadership position requires skills in stakeholder engagement, analytical capabilities, and a passion for continuous improvement. The successful candidate will lead a high-performing team and drive impactful transformations while promoting an inclusive environment within the organization.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in portfolio management within complex environments.
• Strong expertise in programme and project methodologies.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the team with robust portfolio governance.
• Maintain a single source of truth for all change initiatives.
• Develop and manage portfolio-level plans and dependencies.

Skills

Portfolio management and governance

Programme and project methodologies (e.g. MSP, PRINCE2, Agile)

Stakeholder engagement and influencing

Analytical capability

Continuous improvement

Job description

Hybrid - split between home and our London Office

Contract: Permanent

About the role

At Macmillan, we’re here to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. Delivering on that ambition requires clarity, discipline, and excellence in how we manage and deliver change at scale.

We’re looking for a Head of Portfolio Delivery to lead our Portfolio Management Team and provide a single, coherent view of our transformation portfolio. This is a critical leadership role, ensuring strong governance, clear prioritisation, and robust delivery across all change initiatives—so we can maximise impact where it matters most.

You’ll sit at the centre of our Strategy & Transformation Directorate, working closely with senior leaders to ensure our portfolio is aligned, transparent, and delivering meaningful outcomes.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll lead and evolve Macmillan’s Portfolio of Programmes and Projects driving best practice and ensuring the effective delivery of our transformation portfolio.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading and managing the team, ensuring robust portfolio governance, assurance, and reporting
• Maintaining a clear single source of truth for all change initiatives, budgets, and outcomes aligned to strategy
• Developing and actively managing portfolio-level plans, including dependencies, sequencing, and conflict resolution
• Overseeing assurance processes and ensuring compliance with project, programme, and portfolio frameworks
• Partnering with senior leaders to prioritise investment and optimise delivery of strategic outcomes
• Leading, coaching, and developing Programme and Project Managers, building a high-performing, inclusive team
• Driving continuous improvement in portfolio management tools, processes, and reporting
• Engaging and influencing senior stakeholders, building confidence in delivery and decision-making through our Executive Change Portfolio Panel.

As a senior leader at Macmillan, you’ll also role model our leadership commitments—creating an inclusive environment where people feel supported, empowered, and able to thrive.

Who we’re looking for

You’ll be an experienced portfolio leader, comfortable operating at senior level in a complex organisation, with the ability to balance strategic oversight and operational delivery.

We’re particularly interested in candidates with:

• Significant experience in portfolio management and governance within complex environments - particularly if you have experience of leading multi-million pound transformations in a not for profit organisation.
• Strong expertise in programme and project methodologies (e.g. MSP, PRINCE2, Agile)
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, including at Executive level
• Strong analytical capability, with the ability to translate data into actionable insight
• A track record of driving continuous improvement and delivery excellence

Who you’ll work with

You’ll operate at the heart of the organisation, working closely with:

• Director of Strategy & Transformation
• Programme and Project Managers
• Executive Team and senior stakeholders
• Strategy Integration and Change & Capability teams
• Finance, Planning, and Insight teams

What success looks like

In this role, you’ll:

• Deliver a streamlined, strategically aligned portfolio that drives measurable outcomes
• Provide transparent governance and reporting that enables confident decision-making
• Build and lead a high-performing team grounded in best practice
• Strengthen organisational confidence in portfolio delivery and prioritisation

This is a rare opportunity to lead and shape how a major organisation delivers change at scale. Your leadership will directly enable us to focus our efforts, resources, and investment where they make the greatest difference for people living with cancer.

We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.