Business Relationship Manager (Technology Business Representative - CPPW)

City of Portland; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The IT Business Relationship Manager (BRM) at City of Portland partners with City leaders to translate business goals into technology strategies and investments. You will manage a portfolio of bureaus, align initiatives with Citywide priorities, and guide technology planning across Service Areas.

You will collaborate with SATMs, BTS Core teams, and executives, communicate complex issues clearly, and help teams balance risk, funding, and delivery to improve public services.

Qualifications

• Experience applying principles of business relationship management, strategic partnership, technology planning, or related discipline.
• Ability to connect organizational strategy with technology planning and budgeting.
• Strong communication across executive, business, and technical audiences.
• Experience facilitating strategic discussions and building consensus among stakeholders.
• Experience collaborating across organizational boundaries in a matrixed environment.
• Experience contributing to technology portfolio planning and investment decisions.

Responsibilities

• Build strategic relationships with SATM and Service Area leaders, understanding their direction and needs.
• Translate business direction into technology implications and investment priorities.
• Clarify outcomes, value, timing, funding, risks, and measures of success before choosing a path.
• Collaborate on roadmaps, budgets, and tradeoffs with SATMs, leaders, and BTS partners.
• Work across boundaries to align business, Service Area, Core, and delivery perspectives for shared solutions.
• Communicate complex issues to executive and technical audiences and surface concerns early.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Relationship building

Effective communication

Collaboration

Enterprise mindset

Investment advisory

Problem solving

Change management

Inclusive leadership

Public sector knowledge

Education

BRMP

PMP

ITIL

SAFe

Prosci

Job description

The Position

Job Appointment: Full Time, Regular

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Alternate schedules may be available.

Work Location: Hybrid, this position reports to 1120 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR 97204. Remote work must be performed within Oregon or Washington. For more information, click here.

Union Representation: City of Portland Professional Workers Union (CPPW). To view current labor agreements, click here.

Starting Pay: The City of Portland follows the Oregon Equal Pay Act. Your salary is determined based on the experience listed in your resume that is directly related and equivalent to the position for which you are applying.

Position Summary

The IT Business Relationship Manager (BRM) is a strategic role within the Bureau of Technology Services (BTS) Technology Shared Services division. The BRM builds trusted relationships with City leaders and develops a strong understanding of their business strategies, priorities, operating environments, and emerging needs. The BRM uses that perspective to help connect business direction with technology strategy, investment, and Citywide priorities.

BRMs work in close partnership with Service Area Technology Managers (SATMs), who serve as the primary technology partners for their Service Areas and maintain the integrated view of technology priorities, demand, commitments, and delivery. The BRM complements this role by bringing broader business strategy, executive priorities, investment and budget considerations, and enterprise perspective into technology planning and decision-making.

Each BRM supports a portfolio of City bureaus and offices and works across organizational boundaries to identify significant and emerging needs, shape strategic technology investments, support prioritization and tradeoff decisions, and identify opportunities for shared or Citywide solutions. BRMs collaborate with SATMs, BTS Core teams, delivery teams, and City leadership to bring the right perspectives together early and help ensure business priorities and technology decisions remain aligned.

Successful BRMs are strategic thinkers, skilled relationship builders, and effective translators between business and technology. They help leaders navigate complex decisions, make risks and tradeoffs visible, anticipate emerging needs, and strengthen a coordinated technology partnership between BTS and the City organizations it serves.

What You’ll Do

• Build strategic relationships with your portfolio’s SATM and Service Area leaders, developing a strong understanding of their business direction, priorities, challenges, and emerging needs.
• Connect business and technology strategy by helping translate business direction into technology implications, strategic priorities, investment needs, and longer-term planning.
• Shape significant and emerging demand by clarifying business outcomes, value, priority, timing, funding considerations, risks, and measures of success before determining a technology path.
• Support strategic planning and investment decisions by collaborating with SATMs, business leaders, and BTS partners on technology roadmaps, prioritization, budgets, significant investments, and tradeoffs.
• Work across organizational boundaries to bring together the right business, Service Area, Core, and delivery perspectives; identify opportunities for shared solutions; and support a coordinated One BTS experience.
• Communicate and influence effectively across executive, business, and technical audiences, translating complex issues, constraints, risks, and tradeoffs and proactively surfacing significant needs or concerns before they become escalations.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• A strategic thinker who connects business goals and emerging needs with technology strategy, planning, and investment.
• A trusted relationship builder who develops strong partnerships with executive leaders, Service Area Technology Managers, and business and technical teams.
• An effective communicator who translates complex technology capabilities, constraints, risks, and tradeoffs into clear business terms and helps technology teams understand business priorities.
• A collaborative facilitator who brings together stakeholders with differing perspectives, builds consensus, and helps groups reach clear, informed decisions.
• An enterprise-minded partner who works across organizational boundaries to identify shared solutions and advance coordinated, Citywide technology priorities.
• A thoughtful investment advisor who evaluates technology needs based on business outcomes, value, risk, timing, funding, capacity, and organizational impact.
• A proactive problem solver who anticipates emerging needs, makes tradeoffs visible, and raises concerns early to support effective planning and prevent escalations.
• An adaptable change partner who helps leaders and teams navigate organizational change, improve services, and strengthen the customer experience.
• An inclusive professional who respects diverse identities and perspectives and builds productive relationships in a culturally and gender-diverse workplace.
• An experienced business and technology partner who may bring public-sector knowledge, technology practitioner or leadership experience, or relevant certifications such as BRMP, PMP, ITIL, SAFe, or Prosci.

To Qualify

• Experience applying principles and practices of business relationship management, strategic partnership, technology planning, or a related discipline in a complex organization.
• Experience understanding organizational strategy, business operations, priorities, and desired outcomes and connecting them to technology planning, investment, and decision-making.
• Ability to communicate effectively with executive, business, and technical audiences, including translating technology capabilities, constraints, risks, and tradeoffs into clear business terms and communicating business context and priorities to technology professionals.
• Experience facilitating strategic discussions and decision-making among multiple stakeholders with differing priorities, including surfacing tradeoffs, building consensus, and helping groups reach clear decisions or recommendations.
• Experience establishing trusted working relationships and collaborating effectively across organizational boundaries in a matrixed environment where responsibilities, expertise, and decision-making are distributed across multiple teams.
• Experience contributing to technology strategic planning, portfolio management, road mapping, prioritization, budgeting, or investment planning, including evaluating new or emerging technology needs based on business outcomes, value, risk, timing, funding, capacity, and organizational impact.

Applicants Must Also Possess

• Ability to successfully pass an in-depth background investigation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Three (3) or more years of experience in a customer-facing, strategic partnership, business relationship management, consulting, or technology leadership role; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Professional certification such as BRMP, PMP, ITIL, SAFe, Prosci, or another certification related to business relationship management, technology management, project or portfolio management, or organizational change.
• Experience working within a shared-services, matrixed, or federated technology operating model.
• Strong understanding of local government operations, public-sector budgeting, governance, or decision-making processes.
• Experience with technology portfolio, demand, project, product, or program management.
• Five (5) or more years of experience as a technology practitioner, lead, or manager within an information technology specialization such as IT Infrastructure, application development, or IT service management.

The Recruitment Process

What To Expect

• Application Review - Week of October 19, 2026 : We'll review your application materials to ensure you meet the minimum qualifications listed above.
• Notice/Feedback - Week of October 26, 2026 : You will receive an email when the minimum qualification review is complete. If you disagree with the evaluation results, you may request a review within 14 days of the email notice, per City Administrative Rule 3.01.
• Selection Process - Mid November : The hiring bureau will review qualified applications, conduct interviews, and check references.
• Conditional Job Offer: Final candidates may undergo a background or driving record check, depending on the position.

Additional Information

Learn More About

• How to Apply Videos and Workshops
• City of Portland Core Values
• HRAR-3.01 - Recruitment Processes
• Veteran Preference Information
• Total Compensation and Benefits
• Language Pay Differential Eligibility

We’re committed to providing a fair, inclusive, and accessible hiring process. If you need assistance with your application or would like to request a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, pregnancy, or religious belief, please contact the recruiter listed below.

Questions? We're here to help!

If you have questions about this recruitment or need assistance, contact:

TroyLynn Craft, Senior Recruiter

[e-mail]

Bureau of Human Resources