Senior Manager, EPMO Governance

Carnival UK (P&O Cruises & Cunard); Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discounts on cruises

Annual bonus

Flexible hybrid working

Learning & development opportunities

Pension scheme

Private medical insurance

Life Assurance

Employee assistance program

Staff events and entertainment

Career progression opportunities

Onsite restaurant

Gym access

Job summary

Carnival UK is seeking a Senior Manager, ePMO Governance within the Strategy Department. You will guide the Change Delivery Framework, define stage gates, and drive governance standards across Carnival UK. The role blends structured governance with agile/hybrid practices and requires collaboration with senior stakeholders.

You will design training and guidance for PMO teams, foster cross-functional partnerships, and help ensure delivery plans stay on track while enabling continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• A recognised project, programme, portfolio or PMO qualification (e.g. MSP, MoP, P3O, APM PMQ, PRINCE2 Practitioner or PMI) or comparable experience in a complex PMO environment.
• Proven experience designing, implementing and embedding project and programme governance frameworks, including stage-gate governance and delivery standards.
• Strong knowledge of waterfall delivery with working understanding of agile and hybrid approaches within one governance framework.
• Experience creating and delivering training, coaching and guidance on ways of working within PMO/ePMO environments.

Responsibilities

• Owning, embedding and continuously improving the Carnival UK Change Delivery Framework as the single, consistent way of working across Carnival UK.
• Defining and maintaining stage gates, minimum standards, tools and templates for varying project sizes.
• Driving adoption through communications, training, coaching, pilots and rollouts, refining the framework based on feedback.
• Acting as a critical friend to programme teams and building partnerships across Carnival UK.
• Set and drive standards for programme and project management across Carnival UK.

Education

MSP

MoP

P3O

APM PMQ

PRINCE2 Practitioner

PMI

Job description

Job Description

In our pursuit of excellence within our Strategy Department here at Carnival UK, we're seeking individuals who are not just adept at numbers but who also bring a wealth of knowledge to the table for our Senior Manager, ePMO Governance position. At our core, we believe in the strength of a diverse and skilled team to drive our business forward. Your skills and qualifications are valuable to us.

Role Overview

Our Enterprise PMO (ePMO) is a small, specialist team within Strategy Execution and Value. It acts as an in-house centre of excellence, helping the business set up projects and programmes for success and giving our Executive team confidence that our plans are on track.

• Owning, embedding and continuously improving the Carnival UK Change Delivery Framework as the single, consistent way of working across Carnival UK.
• Defining and maintaining stage gates, minimum standards, tools and templates, scaled to fit everything from small, low-complexity projects to large transformation programmes.
• Driving adoption through communications, training, coaching, drop-in sessions, pilots and rollouts, then refining the framework based on feedback.
• Acting as a critical friend to programme teams and building strong partnerships with functions across Carnival UK, so the business works as one team.
• Set and drive standards for programme and project management across Carnival UK

Position Requirements

Our ideal candidates are those who possess not only the technical skills required for PMO, but also a a keen eye for detail.

• A recognised project, programme, portfolio or PMO qualification (e.g. MSP, MoP, P3O, APM PMQ, PRINCE2 Practitioner or PMI), or comparable experience in a complex PMO environment.
• Proven experience designing, implementing and embedding project and programme governance frameworks, including stage-gate governance and delivery standards.
• Strong knowledge of waterfall delivery, with a working understanding of agile and hybrid approaches within one governance framework.
• Experience creating and delivering training, coaching and guidance on ways of working within a PMO, ePMO or centre-of-excellence setting.

About You

You are someone who thrives in a collaborative environment yet is capable of working independently with a high degree of accuracy and accountability. Your qualifications are just the start; we're looking for team members who are eager to learn, grow, and contribute to our collective success.

• Influences without dictating, winning hearts and minds and bringing people along.
• Builds strong relationships, balancing structure with a people-focused approach.
• Confident giving constructive challenge to senior stakeholders, up to VP level.
• Curious and outcome-focused, adapting as the role develops from rollout to continuous improvement.

Why Join Us?

Positioned within our internal structure from CUK15 (entry level) to CUK1 (Brand President), this role is classified as a CUK06, offered as a full‑time position, on a permanent basis, with hybrid working including up to two days from home.

Read our employee experience guide to learn more about life as a Carnival UK colleague here.

We offer a dynamic and inclusive workplace where your work makes a real impact. Beyond competitive salaries and benefits, here's what we offer:

• Employee Discounted Cruising plus Friends and Family offers
• Annual bonus
• A friendly welcome with help settling in
• Regular office events including live entertainment, lifestyle events and charity partner fundraisers
• Extensive learning and development opportunities
• Minimum 25 days leave, bank holiday allowance and holiday trading scheme
• Employee‑led networks
• Employee Assistance and Wellbeing programmes
• Recognition scheme with prizes and awards
• Contributory Defined Contribution Pension scheme
• Company paid private medical and dental insurance and health assessment
• In‑house Occupational Health help and access to digital GP
• Life Assurance
• Parental and adoption leave
• Employee Shares Plan
• Electric Car and Cycle to Work schemes
• Onsite restaurant offering range of healthy cooked and grab and go meals
• Discounted retail and leisure via discounts portal