Project Portfolio Governance & Planning Manager

Financial Times; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Parental leave

Gym membership discount

Generous annual leave

Community involvement

Job summary

Financial Times in London seeks a Project Portfolio Governance Manager to govern and prioritise the FT’s change initiatives portfolio. You will lead governance across Portfolio and Programmes, assessing initiatives for strategic alignment, value, cost, risk and feasibility before investment decisions.

You will enable data-driven decision-making, balancing priorities, capacity and investment to maximise business value.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading enterprise portfolio management or PMO/VMO governance.
• Ability to align change initiatives with strategy, value, cost and risk.
• Experience in matrixed organisations and senior stakeholder engagement.
• Strong financial and ROI evaluation capabilities.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery and product operating models.

Responsibilities

• Lead portfolio intake and demand management, reviewing new initiatives and consolidation opportunities.
• Shape proposals with collaborators, ensuring sufficient information for evaluation and prioritisation.
• Ensure initiatives meet governance standards and investment criteria.
• Challenge forecasts to support evidence-based decisions with ROI focus.
• Highlight risks, dependencies and trade-offs for transparent prioritisation.
• Maintain submissions quality for governance forums and leadership reviews.
• Lead capacity planning and demand visibility across the portfolio.
• Support quarterly and annual planning with robust analysis and prioritisation.
• Produce governance reporting and actionable portfolio insights.
• Build trusted relationships with senior collaborators for governance.

Skills

Portfolio governance

PMO/VMO leadership

Financial competency

Strategic prioritisation

Stakeholder management

Agile/Lean Portfolio

Media/publishing/tech domain

Tools

Lean Portfolio Mgmt

MoP

SAFe LPM

Enterprise PPM platforms

Job description

London

About Us

The Financial Times ranks among the world’s top news organisations and is known worldwide for its authority, integrity, and accuracy. Its mission is to provide quality information and services around the globe.

At the FT, curiosity flourishes and ambitious thinking is appreciated. Here, you’re given the chance to reach millions, create work that matters and deliver impartial journalism in a polarised world.

In our warm, collaborative culture, you’ll connect with a diverse community of experts who support your growth, career aspirations and wellbeing.

Your future at the FT will be filled with opportunities that challenge and inspire you. Without a set route, you’ll uncover new skills and build a career that can lead you anywhere.

Develop a newsworthy career at the FT.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe in the strength of diverse viewpoints and want every voice within our organisation to be acknowledged, respected and appreciated. A nurturing workplace is one where employees feel free to be authentic and perform at their highest capability. We are dedicated to eliminating obstacles for all, especially concentrating on challenges encountered by underrepresented groups.

The Role

As Project Portfolio Governance Manager, you will ensure the FT's change initiatives portfolio is governed, prioritised, and planned effectively. You will lead governance processes within Portfolio and Programmes. These processes assess proposed initiatives for strategic alignment, value creation, cost, risk, and feasibility before investment decisions.

Acting as the gateway between idea generation and implementation, you will enable informed, data-driven decision-making, balancing organisational priorities, capacity and investment to maximise business value. You will work closely with senior collaborators across Product, Technology, Editorial, Data, Commercial and Corporate functions to promote transparent governance and effective portfolio planning.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead portfolio intake and demand management processes, facilitating reviews of new initiatives and identifying duplication, consolidation opportunities and appropriate delivery pathways.
• Partner with collaborators to shape and refine proposals, ensuring sufficient information is available for evaluation and prioritisation.
• Ensure initiatives are consistently assessed against governance standards, impact criteria and investment requirements.
• Challenge arguments, assumptions and benefit forecasts to support evidence-based investment decisions.
• Highlight risks, dependencies, opportunity costs, trade-offs and capacity impacts to enable transparent prioritisation.
• Manage the quality and completeness of submissions to governance forums for senior leadership review.
• Lead portfolio capacity planning, maintaining visibility of demand, resource utilisation and delivery constraints.
• Support quarterly and annual planning cycles with robust analysis and prioritisation recommendations.
• Produce governance reporting, monitor delivery against approved arguments and provide actionable portfolio insights.
• Build trusted relationships with senior collaborators, promoting cooperation, responsibility, and effective portfolio governance.
• Drive continuous improvement by embedding standard portfolio management, lean governance and outcome-based investment approaches.
• Support the automation and enhancement of portfolio management tools, reporting and governance frameworks.

Required Skills and Experience

• Proven experience leading enterprise portfolio management, PMO/VMO leadership or strategic programme governance.
• Strong understanding of technology change and the ability to bring together expertise from multiple technical teams to assess investment opportunities.
• Excellent financial competence with experience evaluating investment value, benefits and return on investment.
• Experience working within complex, matrixed organisations.
• Outstanding facilitation, communication and collaborator management skills, including engagement with senior leaders.
• Ability to translate strategic objectives into practical prioritisation frameworks and governance processes.
• Strong analytical skills with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Experience within media, publishing, digital subscription or technology-led organisations.
• Experience supporting investment identification, prioritisation and portfolio oversight.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery environments and product operating models.
• Experience with portfolio management frameworks such as Lean Portfolio Management, MoP, SAFe LPM or enterprise PPM platforms.

What's in it for You?

Our benefits differ depending on the location, but we are dedicated to offering top-tier perks at all our offices. These consist of generous annual leave, medical coverage, inclusive parental leave packages, discounted gym memberships, and chances to contribute to the community. Full details of our benefits are available here: https://aboutus.ft.com/careers/benefits.

We’ve embraced a 50% hybrid working model with two to three days onsite. This fosters trust and remote adaptability. It also encourages in-person camaraderie and peer learning. Additionally, we are open to flexible working pattern requests for all roles where feasible.

Accessibility

We are a Disability Confident employer and a Valuable 500 signatory.

Please inform us if you need any reasonable accommodations or customised assistance during the application process or interview. If you have any questions, please contact [e-mail].

Further Information

At the FT, we value innovation and technology and understand that candidates may use AI tools when applying for jobs. Feel free to harness AI to assist your application, but it is crucial that all details are authentic and accurately show your skills, experience, and qualifications.

Candidates should be informed that the use of AI during the application process might be observed to guarantee a fair and transparent hiring experience for everyone.

United Kingdom - Voluntary Disclosure

Voluntary Information

We use data to better understand local talent pools and inform our approach – from identifying where we can do more to reach a broader range of people, to improving our processes to create a more inclusive experience for everyone. Sharing information about yourself is voluntary and will not affect your application. Your information is stored separately from your application, kept secure and confidential, and is not visible to hiring managers or recruiters on an individual basis. We may use anonymised data for reporting or to meet local statutory requirements.