Transformation And Portfolio Director (Internal), Ids

University of Essex; Colchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Essex, Infrastructure and Digital Services (IDS), seeks a Transformation and Portfolio Director to join the senior leadership team. You will lead the transformation portfolio, ensuring investment focuses on high-impact priorities that deliver measurable benefits for students and staff.

You will establish governance and delivery standards, shaping complex initiatives, and driving continuous improvement with data, automation and AI to reimagine services across the University.

Qualifications

• Experience leading large-scale transformation portfolios and programmes.
• Strong governance, prioritisation and benefits realisation skills.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders across a complex organisation.
• Expertise in organisational change, delivery, and improvement methodologies.
• Experience using data, automation and AI to enhance services.

Responsibilities

• Lead the University transformation portfolio and align investments with strategic objectives.
• Establish governance, prioritisation, and delivery standards across programmes.
• Collaborate with senior leaders to shape complex transformation initiatives.
• Build organisational capability for sustaining change and embedding new ways of working.

Skills

Transformation leadership

Portfolio governance

Stakeholder influence

Change management

Data & AI in ops

Continuous improvement

Capability development

Job description

**This vacancy is only available to existing University of Essex staff**

Infrastructure and Digital Services (IDS)

Infrastructure and Digital Services (IDS) is seeking a visionary Transformation and Portfolio Director to join our senior leadership team.

IDS provides the digital infrastructure, physical environment, and information resources that underpin teaching, research, learning, and the day-to-day operation of the University. This is an exciting opportunity to play a central role in shaping how the University delivers strategic change and innovation.

About the Role

As one of six senior leaders within IDS, the Transformation and Portfolio Director will lead the University's transformation portfolio, ensuring investment is focused on a small number of high-impact priorities that directly support the University's strategic objectives and deliver measurable benefits.

This pivotal role will provide leadership for portfolio governance, prioritisation, and delivery, translating strategic ambition into practical and achievable change. Working closely with senior leaders and service areas across the University, you will help shape complex transformation initiatives, challenge existing assumptions, and ensure change programmes are sustainable, effective, and centred on the needs of students, academics, and professional services colleagues.

You will champion a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, identifying opportunities to simplify processes, improve the use of data, automation, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies, and fundamentally rethink how services are designed and delivered.

A key aspect of the role is building organisational capability for successful change. You will establish and embed a consistent approach to programme and change delivery while enabling colleagues across the University to take ownership of transformation and improvement, reducing reliance on central project teams and creating lasting capability across the institution.

What We're Looking For

• A proven track record of leading large-scale transformation portfolios and programmes.
• Strong experience of portfolio governance, prioritisation, and benefits realisation.
• The ability to influence and collaborate effectively with senior stakeholders across a complex organisation.
• Expertise in organisational change, programme delivery, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience of leveraging data, automation, AI, and technology to improve services and outcomes.
• A passion for building organisational capability and empowering others to lead change successfully.

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of a forward-looking University, helping to deliver transformational change that enhances the experience of students and staff while supporting the institution’s long-term ambitions.

If you are a strategic and collaborative leader with the vision, influence, and expertise to drive meaningful change at scale, we would love to hear from you.

At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.

To support this commitment we have our , a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre, which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives. For more information see: .