Principal Portfolio Manager

Tesco; Digswell; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Tesco is seeking a Principal Portfolio Manager to act as a strategic partner to Technology Leadership Team members and their Directorates. You will influence major investment decisions, align portfolio priorities with business goals, and drive governance across multiple directorates.

You will build trusted relationships with Directorate leaders, deliver planning and governance support, and shape portfolio strategies using data and insight to improve outcomes.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in enterprise-level portfolio management and governance.
• Strong ability to influence senior leaders and shape investment priorities.
• Proven track record in cross-functional collaboration across Technology and Business.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication at executive level.
• Ability to turn complex portfolio data into clear insights.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Technology Leadership Team and Directorates to shape portfolio strategies.
• Provide governance support and challenge regarding plans and assumptions.
• Maintain integrated view of programmes, products, investment, and dependencies.
• Champion portfolio management best practices and drive continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with Programme, Product, Engineering, and Finance to align priorities.

Skills

Portfolio management

Stakeholder management

Strategic decision-making

Governance

Data-driven insight

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Risk and dependency management

Job description

The Principal Portfolio Manager acts as the strategic portfolio partner for one or more Technology Leadership Team members and their Directorates. They are a trusted advisor to senior leaders in Tech and beyond, directly influencing major investment decisions, portfolio priorities and delivery approaches for multiple Technology Directorates. They ensure effective collaboration and constructive challenge between central and directorate teams so portfolios are visible, well understood and aligned with Business and Technology priorities. Partnering with Tech Programme and Product, and business leaders, they drive up the clarity and transparency of investment, priorities, capacity, dependencies, risks and performance to support governance and senior leadership level decision making, per our federated, ‘freedom in a framework' model.

• Build trusted relationships with Directorate leaders across TLT, Programme, Product and Engineering, and key business stakeholders as appropriate.
• Planning, governance & leadership support
• Challenge and shape portfolio strategies, plans and assumptions, using data and insight to drive informed decision making and improved outcomes.
• Partner with leadership teams across multiple Technology and the business to establish consistent portfolio practices while respecting local business and delivery needs.
• Represent Directorate portfolios within enterprise portfolio processes, ensuring local considerations are reflected in Technology-wide investment and prioritisation.
• Collaboration & dependency management
• Identify and help resolve strategic dependencies across Directorates and enterprise initiatives.
• functional planning, coordination and delivery confidence across Portfolio, Product, Engineering, Architecture, Finance and People.
• Portfolio visibility & insight
• Work with portfolio & PMO teams to maintain a clear, integrated view of programmes, products, investment, resources and dependencies.
• making.
• Portfolio maturity & continuous improvement
• Champion portfolio management best practice across the Directorate and build capability through coaching, guidance and communities of practice.
• Improve processes, tooling, data standards and operating models, including better use of data, automation and AI.
  

• Strong understanding of portfolio management in large-scale, complex technology environments.
• Significant experience in enterprise-level portfolio management, PPMO, technology governance, strategic planning, or business management within a large, complex organisation.
• Excellent senior stakeholder management, partnering, influencing, and relationship-building skills across multiple organisational units.
• Experience working across a variety of product, programme, and engineering delivery models.
• Strong analytical capability, with the ability to turn complex portfolio information into clear, actionable insight.
• Experience supporting portfolio planning, investment governance, prioritisation, capacity management, and benefits tracking.
• Strong facilitation skills in planning, prioritisation, governance, and trade-off discussions.
• Experience operating at the intersection of Technology and Business functions, translating strategic objectives into portfolio priorities and delivery outcomes.
• Ability to work effectively across central functions and local Directorate portfolios.
• Strong understanding of financial governance, benefits management, capacity planning, delivery performance management, and delivery accountability where accountability sits outside direct line control.
• Experience improving portfolio processes, reporting, governance, tooling, or operating models.
• Ability to operate with autonomy in ambiguous, complex, and fast-moving environments.
• Certification in a recognised portfolio, programme, project, or agile delivery methodology would be an advantage.
• Strong communication skills, creating clarity, alignment, and shared understanding across leadership groups.

You might know us as a supermarket, technology company or even for our award-winning mobile network. Truth is, we’re all of those things, and much more. Our colleagues work with one goal in mind, helping to make every day a little better for our customers, colleagues and communities all over the world. No two customers are the same, neither are our colleagues.

At Tesco, we champion a balance that lets you thrive both in and out of work. Spend 60% of your week collaborating with colleagues at our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. Whether you're just kicking off your career, juggling passions, or navigating big life events, we're here to support you. We always welcome a conversation about flexible working, so talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.

We're proud to be an accredited Disability Confident Leader, where everyone’s welcome. That’s why we commit to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need support with your application, for more information. And if you're interested in joining our team but don't tick every box, don't let that hold you back from applying.

When you join us in this role, you'll be employed by Tesco Stores Limited, the Tesco legal entity responsible for your employment.