Director, Portfolio Delivery & PMO

KFC•Plano, TX

About The Position

The Director, Portfolio Delivery & PMO is responsible for the governance, operating model, and portfolio coordination required to scale Byte’s revenue-impacting initiatives globally from approval through deployment. This role leads program governance and end-to-end deployment orchestration across products, brands, markets, and delivery partners, ensuring complex cross-functional initiatives are executed with clarity, accountability, and predictability. The Director establishes the frameworks, stage gates, decision forums, and portfolio processes that enable scalable delivery, while overseeing the Global Portfolio Delivery and PMO to drive consistent execution across markets. The role is accountable for aligning priorities, sequencing work across markets, managing program-level risks and dependencies, and ensuring initiatives meet defined readiness criteria before progressing through key milestones.

Requirements

10+ years of experience leading PMO, program governance, or portfolio management in global or multi-market environments
Proven track record establishing governance frameworks and operating models that enable scalable delivery of complex initiatives
Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional portfolios involving Product, Engineering, Markets, and external partners
Experience coordinating delivery across teams without direct reporting authority, using influence and governance structures
Strong experience managing program-level risks, dependencies, and escalations in fast-moving environments
Experience in platform, SaaS, or large-scale technology deployments
Exposure to franchise, multi-brand, or multi-market operating models
Experience working with system integrators or deployment partners
Background in environments undergoing scale, transformation, or operating model change
Experience leading PMO, program, or deployment teams in matrixed environments
Deep program governance mindset with the ability to create structure, clarity, and accountability across diverse teams
Skilled at operating within and establishing stage-gate frameworks, RACIs, and decision forums
Comfortable managing ambiguity and turning incomplete inputs into structured program plans
Able to balance speed and rigor while maintaining governance discipline and delivery quality
Proven ability to lead through influence rather than hierarchy
Strong stakeholder management skills with experience engaging senior leaders, market teams, and partners
Clear, confident communicator who can surface risks early and drive decisions to resolution

Responsibilities

Lead the Byte Global PMO and Deployment function, establishing governance structures that enable scalable deployment across markets and products
Define and implement deployment frameworks, stage gates, RACIs, and decision forums to bring structure and discipline to execution
Ensure initiatives progress through a consistent lifecycle from market alignment through deployment and handoff
Establish clear ownership, accountability, and decision rights across cross-functional teams
Drive adoption of standardized ways of working, governance rhythms, and operating cadences across Byte (incl. Brands, and Markets), while ensuring alignment with enabling functions including Data & AI and Enterprise Technology & Cyber
Own and maintain the global Byte deployment roadmap across all products, brands, and markets
Align deployment timelines with product strategy, engineering capacity, and market readiness
Coordinate prioritization across Product, Engineering, Customer Success, and Market stakeholders
Balance deployment demand with available capacity, ensuring realistic sequencing and delivery commitments
Provide portfolio-level visibility into progress, dependencies, and trade-offs to support strategic decision-making
Establish and manage program-level RAID tracking across all Byte initiatives
Define escalation paths and ensure risks are surfaced early to the appropriate decision-making forums
Facilitate governance forums such as Steering Committees, Architecture Review Boards, and Market governance reviews
Drive timely resolution of cross-functional blockers impacting delivery timelines or quality
Ensure decisions are made at the right level with clear documentation and follow-through
Define and enforce entry and exit criteria across each phase of the deployment lifecycle
Coordinate stage gate reviews to ensure readiness before progression to subsequent deployment phases
Ensure deployment plans, training, communications, and operational readiness activities are aligned prior to go-live
Drive consistency and repeatability in deployment execution across markets
Partner with Market PMOs, Customer Success, and Delivery teams to ensure successful handoffs and market activation
Maintain clear executive-level visibility into portfolio health, deployment status, and key risks
Deliver regular reporting on deployment timelines, capacity, adoption metrics, and value realization
Use reporting to drive action, accountability, and informed decision-making across leadership teams
Capture deployment learnings and continuously refine governance frameworks, tools, and playbooks
Drive ongoing improvement in deployment predictability, speed, and scalability as Byte expands globally
Act as a key member of the Product & Growth leadership team, contributing to broader strategy and organizational design
Foster a culture of accountability, customer-centricity, systems thinking, problem framing and commercial excellence
Influence senior stakeholders across Product teams, Finance and Brand leadership
Act as a change agent during uncertainty and with ambiguity to drive agile solutions to evolve the team in embedding technology and new ways of working
Foster a customer-obsessed, data-informed culture anchored in Yum!’s Smart, Heart & Courage leadership behaviors.
Role-model collaboration, empathy and executional excellence — building strong alignment across markets, brands, and functions.