Portfolio Governance & Assurance Lead (PMO Lead)

Skipton Building Society; Skipton; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual discretionary bonus

25 days standard annual leave + bank

Matching pension contribution up to 10

Private medical insurance

Flexible working

Home and Tech voucher

Job summary

Skipton Building Society is seeking an experienced Governance & Assurance Lead to shape how enterprise change is governed, assured, and continuously improved across Skipton Group.

You’ll act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, developing a SAFe-aligned governance framework, leading health reviews, and delivering executive reporting that informs decision-making. The role is hybrid, with three days in the Skipton office and two from home.

Qualifications

• Proven experience providing governance, assurance and oversight across complex portfolios, programmes or Agile Release Trains.
• Strong knowledge of SAFe, Agile delivery and Lean Portfolio Management, with ability to apply best practice at scale.
• Experience conducting independent health checks and assurance reviews, identifying risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Confidence producing and presenting executive and Board-level reporting, translating complex information into clear insights.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with credibility to influence, challenge and collaborate with senior leaders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including risk assessment, assurance and root cause analysis.

Responsibilities

• Play a key role in ensuring Skipton's most important change initiatives are delivered with strong governance, transparency and control.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, providing independent insight, challenge and assurance across enterprise portfolios.
• Shape and continuously improve a modern, SAFe-aligned governance framework that supports delivery at scale.
• Lead portfolio and Agile Release Train health reviews, identifying risks, opportunities and practical recommendations for improvement.
• Provide high-quality reporting and insights to Executive and Board-level stakeholders, influencing strategic decision-making.
• Help drive successful change outcomes by assessing delivery health, managing dependencies and strengthening controls across the organisation.
• Collaborate with senior teams across Technology, Transformation and the wider business to maximise value and minimise risk.

Skills

Governance & assurance

SAFe / Lean Portfolio Mgmt

Agile delivery

Executive reporting

Stakeholder management

Risk assessment

PRINCE2 / P3O

Tools

Jira

Job description

We’re looking for an experienced Governance & Assurance Lead to help shape how enterprise change is governed, assured, and continuously improved across Skipton Group. If you thrive on creating clarity, reducing delivery risk, and providing independent insight that influences executive decision‑making, this could be your next big move.

At Skipton, we're founded on fairness. We exist to do right by our members - and we believe that starts with doing right by our people. So whoever you are and whatever you bring, there's a place for you here and a genuine plan for where you go next.

What You’ll Do

Every day at Skipton is innovation day. Join our Technology team and you’ll discover that we’re constantly focused on real challenges as we build the tools that get things done for our members - quicker than you imagine.

• Play a key role in ensuring Skipton's most important change initiatives are delivered with strong governance, transparency and control.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, providing independent insight, challenge and assurance across enterprise portfolios.
• Shape and continuously improve a modern, SAFe-aligned governance framework that supports delivery at scale.
• Lead portfolio and Agile Release Train health reviews, identifying risks, opportunities and practical recommendations for improvement.
• Provide high-quality reporting and insights to Executive and Board-level stakeholders, influencing strategic decision-making.
• Help drive successful change outcomes by assessing delivery health, managing dependencies and strengthening controls across the organisation.
• Collaborate with senior teams across Technology, Transformation and the wider business to maximise value and minimise risk.

We work in a hybrid way, balancing flexibility with collaboration. For this role, you'll typically spend three days a week in our Skipton office, with the remaining two days working from home.

What You’ll Need

Try to summarise them in around 5-7 bullet points (although again, you may need more or fewer than this).

• Proven experience providing governance, assurance and oversight across complex portfolios, programmes or Agile Release Trains.
• Strong knowledge of SAFe, Agile delivery and Lean Portfolio Management, with the ability to apply best practice at scale.
• Experience conducting independent health checks and assurance reviews, identifying risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Confidence producing and presenting executive and Board-level reporting, translating complex information into clear insights.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to influence, challenge and collaborate with senior leaders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of risk assessment, assurance and root cause analysis.
• Relevant Agile, SAFe, Scrum, PRINCE2, P3O or similar qualifications, alongside a passion for driving successful change outcomes.

What’s In It For You

Your work matters.

And the way we reward you matters, too.

At Skipton, we offer pay and benefits that really do make life better, together with a genuine thank you for making a difference.

• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• 25 days standard annual leave + bank holidays + rising 1 day per year of service to a max of 30 days
• Matching employer pension contribution (up to 10% per annum)
• Colleague Mortgages and access to Skipton products and services at discounted rates
• Flexible working to help balance your commitments
• Private medical insurance, health and wellbeing app, volunteering opportunities, cycle-to-work scheme, discounted gym memberships
• Lifestyle perks such as a Home and Tech voucher, which can be used at Currys, and IKEA

We’re here to make life better for our members.
About Skipton.

Our story began in 1853 in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Today, you’ll find us across England and Scotland, from Aberdeen to Plymouth.

We help over a million members put down roots, save for what matters, and feel good about their money. As a mutual, they own us, so everything we do is for them.

You’ll feel that same fairness and purpose in how all 2,500 of our colleagues work together, too

It all means that life at Skipton is more exciting than you imagine.

What it's like to work here
Life at Skipton

We talk and we listen to each other. And we make decisions as a team. That way, you get all the support you need to do work that works for everyone.

For most of our roles there's the option of blended working, which means we mix working from home and meeting in person. The right balance depends on your role, and what works best for you, your manager, and your team.

We also value what everyone brings to Skipton. And we create a fair place where you can be yourself. Our colleague networks play a big role in this. They connect people with similar life experiences and make our workplace warm, friendly, inclusive and welcoming.

It’s not just our members who are important to us.
You are, too.

Lots of organisations talk about wellbeing, but they don’t always back it up. As a mutual, we put people first. And that includes the people who work here. So, when we say we care about your wellbeing, we mean it.

Wellbeing isn't just one thing. It’s about feeling good, having energy, and being able to be yourself and perform at your best. That’s why we offer help for your mental and physical health across five key areas.

What’s more, it’s help that you can actually use too - not just read about.