PMO & Governance Manager – Warner Head Office

Warner Leisure Hotels; Hemel Hempstead; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Warner Leisure Hotels seeks an experienced PMO Manager to run the Technology and Transformation Portfolio function, delivering effective governance, demand tracking, and insightful reporting to enable strategic investments.

You will oversee demand intake, governance forums, and business case development, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives and timely decision-making. The role requires strong stakeholder engagement and continuous improvement mindset.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to think strategically and independently to drive improvement.
• Experience in a PMO Manager or Portfolio Governance role.
• Experience supporting complex transformation portfolios.
• Strong portfolio reporting, planning and organisational skills.
• Experience designing governance frameworks and controls.
• Financial management, budget tracking and forecasting experience.
• Strong understanding of project and portfolio management methodologies.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and reporting tool expertise.

Responsibilities

• Oversee demand intake and prioritisation for new initiatives, ensuring opportunities are captured and progressed through the portfolio lifecycle.
• Maintain a transparent demand pipeline with clear visibility from assessment through approval, delivery and benefits realisation.
• Coordinate demand assessment activities and governance forums to route requests appropriately.
• Support development and evaluation of business cases including benefits, costs and risks.
• Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to support investment decisions and resource allocation.
• Ensure initiatives are incorporated into portfolio plans, roadmaps and reporting processes.
• Drive continuous improvement of PMO processes, governance controls, tools and reporting standards.
• Maintain consolidated view of technology, operational and business change activities across the organisation.
• Monitor portfolio performance—delivery, risks, dependencies, resources and budgets.
• Oversee portfolio risks, issues and dependencies with mitigations in place.
• Produce reporting and executive updates to provide insight for decision-making.
• Maintain governance frameworks and portfolio documentation (RAID logs, business cases, schedules).
• Assist in annual portfolio planning and prioritisation with the Head of Technology Transformation.

Skills

Strategic thinking

PMO Manager experience

Portfolio governance

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Communication and influencing

Attention to detail

Problem solving

Tools

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Reporting tools

Job description

Warner Hotels’ portfolio of change is growing significantly, with over £5m of annual investment spanning digital products, data and analytics, infrastructure transformation, cyber security, business applications, and wider business initiatives. As the Technology and Transformation function continues to mature, effective portfolio management, governance, reporting, financial oversight and demand management are critical to ensuring strategic investments deliver business value.

The PMO Manager will be the operational engine of the Technology and Transformation Portfolio function. Reporting to the Head of Technology and Transformation Portfolio, the role is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective portfolio management and governance practices across the organisation. And will oversee demand and investment tracking, and support informed decision-making through accurate reporting and insight.

The successful candidate will be a highly organised PMO professional who combines strong governance discipline with a proactive approach to portfolio management, stakeholder engagement and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities

Demand management and prioritisation

• Oversee and manage the demand intake process for all new business initiatives, projects and change requests, ensuring opportunities are captured, assessed and progressed efficiently through the portfolio lifecycle
• Maintain a transparent and prioritised demand pipeline, providing clear visibility of requests from initial assessment through approval, delivery and benefits realisation
• Coordinate demand assessment activities, facilitating twice-weekly triage sessions and monthly governance forums to ensure requests are reviewed, challenged and routed through the appropriate governance and delivery pathways
• Support the development and evaluation of business cases, including analysis of strategic alignment, benefits, costs, risks, dependencies and resource requirements
• Provide data-driven insight, portfolio impact assessments and recommendations to support investment decisions, prioritisation and resource allocation
• Ensure approved initiatives are incorporated into portfolio plans, roadmaps, governance frameworks and reporting processes, maintaining alignment with organisational objectives
• Drive continuous improvement of PMO processes, governance controls, tools and reporting standards to enhance portfolio visibility, operational efficiency and decision-making effectiveness

Portfolio management and governance

• Maintain a consolidated view of technology, operational and business change activities across the organisation
• Monitor portfolio performance, including delivery, risks, dependencies, resources, benefits and budgets
• Oversee portfolio-level risks, issues and dependencies, escalating concerns and ensuring appropriate mitigations are in place
• Analyse portfolio trends, investment outcomes and delivery performance to support planning and prioritisation. Support portfolio resource planning, capacity management and demand forecasting
• Produce Technology portfolio and PCE reporting, dashboards and executive updates to provide insight and support decision-making
• Maintain and enhance portfolio governance frameworks, ensuring compliance with standards, methodologies and controls
• Manage portfolio documentation and artefacts, including business cases, RAID logs, benefits plans and portfolio schedules
• Work with Technology Finance and Operations Co-ordinator to monitor CAPEX budgets, forecasts and expenditure, providing financial reporting, analysis and benefits realisation tracking in partnership with Finance teams
• Assist Head of Technology Transformation with annual portfolio planning, investment planning and ongoing portfolio reprioritisation
• Support the Head of Technology and Transformation in shaping, embedding and continuously improving portfolio governance frameworks, project delivery methodologies and controls, using insight, challenge and stakeholder influence to drive consistent and effective project and programme delivery across the organisation
• Project management of small to medium-size Technology projects, where capacity permits

Technology governance

• Coordinate Technology governance forums (to be chaired by Technology leadership team), review boards and reporting cycles, ensuring effective stakeholder engagement and timely decision-making
• With support from the Finance and Operations Lead, be accountable for coordinating and chairing Technology Town Hall and quarterly away days, presentations, reporting, and logging actions and decisions
• Oversee the maintenance of RAID and decision logs, ensuring accountable owners keep records current and actions tracked through to completion
• Ensure governance processes are applied consistently and operate effectively in line with agreed frameworks, standards and controls
• Continually improve governance practices, reporting quality and meeting effectiveness to support successful portfolio delivery

Key Performance Indicators

• Portfolio reporting delivered accurately and on time
• Executive and Board reporting produced to agreed schedules
• Budget tracking and forecast accuracy
• Governance compliance across the portfolio
• Percentage of projects maintaining current governance artefacts
• Demand intake and assessment cycle times
• Portfolio roadmap accuracy and currency
• Timely escalation and management of portfolio risks and issues
• Benefits realisation tracking and reporting effectiveness
• Stakeholder satisfaction with PMO services and reporting

Skills and experience

Essential

• Proven ability to think strategically and independently, using insight and judgement to identify opportunities, solve problems and drive continuous improvement
• Proven experience in a PMO Manager, Portfolio PMO or Portfolio Governance role
• Experience supporting complex transformation or change portfolios
• Strong portfolio reporting, planning and organisational skills
• Experience designing and operating governance frameworks and controls
• Financial management, budget tracking and forecasting experience
• Strong understanding of project and portfolio management methodologies
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills
• Strong analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail
• Advanced Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and reporting tool expertise

Desirable

• Experience within hospitality, leisure, retail or customer-focused organisations.
• Professional qualifications such as P3O, MoP, MSP, PRINCE2 or Agile certifications
• Experience with portfolio management tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, Smartsheet, Planview or similar
• Experience using automation tools such as Power Automate

Location: Warner Head Office, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 4YL