Senior Portfolio Manager

National Physical Laboratory; Tewkesbury; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Portfolio Manager to oversee a portfolio of digital and data initiatives that support operational and strategic objectives. You will blend evidence, sponsorship engagement and delivery oversight to ensure outcomes align with organisational priorities.

You will bring together progress, dependencies and expected benefits, challenging assumptions and guiding sponsors and delivery teams to focus on value and achievable plans.

Qualifications

• Primary responsibilities focus on shaping investment priorities, managing portfolio performance and enabling timely decisions.
• Leadership of cross-functional delivery and governance to realise benefits.

Responsibilities

• Shape investment and priorities: Provide evidence and scenarios that help leaders balance strategic objectives, value, risk and resources.
• Improve portfolio performance: Challenge expected and realised benefits, identify duplication and recommend corrective action where outcomes are at risk.
• Make plans achievable: Assess demand, resources and the organisation's capacity to absorb change, informing annual and longer-term plans.
• Resolve competing priorities: Bring leaders and delivery teams together to address dependencies and constraints before they undermine outcomes.
• Enable timely decisions: Maintain effective portfolio reporting and governance, providing forward-looking insight and proportionate assurance while raising significant risks and investment concerns early.
• Strengthen portfolio capability: Improve ways of working and support practitioners through coaching, knowledge sharing and lessons from delivery.

Job description

Shape decisions. Turn priorities into achievable outcomes.

Choosing what to invest in is only part of the challenge. NPL also needs to understand what it can deliver, where priorities compete and whether investment is producing the intended benefits.

As Senior Portfolio Manager, you'll manage a portfolio of initiatives, helping NPL make informed choices about priorities, investment and delivery capacity. Your initial focus will be a portfolio of digital and data initiatives supporting NPL's operational and strategic objectives. The role may support other areas of NPL as organisational priorities change.

You'll bring together a clear picture of the portfolio, helping sponsors and delivery teams understand progress, dependencies, resource pressures and expected benefits. Looking beyond individual projects, you'll identify pressures early and recommend what should start, stop, be deferred or move forward sooner.

Working with sponsors, delivery leads and operational colleagues, you'll bring independent challenge and help resolve competing priorities. You'll also strengthen portfolio practice through coaching, shared learning and practical improvements. Sponsors and business owners remain accountable for realising benefits; your role is to test the evidence and keep decisions focused on value.

Key Responsibilities

• Shape investment and priorities: Provide evidence and scenarios that help leaders balance strategic objectives, value, risk and resources.
• Improve portfolio performance: Challenge expected and realised benefits, identify duplication and recommend corrective action where outcomes are at risk.
• Make plans achievable: Assess demand, resources and the organisation's capacity to absorb change, informing annual and longer-term plans.
• Resolve competing priorities: Bring leaders and delivery teams together to address dependencies and constraints before they undermine outcomes.
• Enable timely decisions: Maintain effective portfolio reporting and governance, providing forward-looking insight and proportionate assurance while raising significant risks and investment concerns early.
• Strengthen portfolio capability: Improve ways of working and support practitioners through coaching, knowledge sharing and lessons from delivery.