Head of Portfolio Office

Saffery Trust • Allen, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

This is a hands-on role supporting the delivery of three strategic group-wide initiatives (IC4, IC6 and IC9). The successful candidate will help establish and run the portfolio office function, ensuring effective governance, reporting and delivery. The role combines project and portfolio management expertise with practical execution and stakeholder support, requiring active involvement in day-to-day delivery rather than oversight alone. The contract is for three months, then month by month up to a maximum of six months. Working hours are full-time for the first two weeks, then three days per week.

Requirements

• Has run a portfolio office, project management office (PMO) or transformation office in regulated financial services. Trust, fiduciary, fund administration, or wealth management strongly preferred.
• Has set up or reset governance (steering committee, initiative business cases, benefits tracking) from a written framework, in a firm small enough that they built the pack themselves.
• Hands-on: writes the packs and reports personally and does practical project work when an initiative needs it.
• Credible with directors and boards, and able to hold senior sponsors to account.
• A track record of handing over to internal staff rather than creating dependency, with interim or fixed-term references for outcome-based work.

Nice To Haves

• Working knowledge of AML and regulatory change in a GFSC environment is an advantage, not a requirement.
• Projects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)
• Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)
• Management of Portfolios (MoP)
• Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O)
• Association for Project Management (APM ChPP)
• Portfolio Management Professional (PMI PfMP)

Responsibilities

• Lead the STO day to day for the contract, running it on the framework as written and without reference to its authors, and keep a section-by-section log of where the document works, where it is silent and where it is wrong.
• In the first fortnight, rework and agree the three pilot Initiative Cards with their Executive Sponsors: benefits, internal hours, cash cost, external help, milestones and definition of done. All three cards have moved since they were written; nothing enters governance until its card is agreed.
• Build and maintain the single portfolio view (consolidated status reports, milestone chart and the portfolio risk, assumption, issue, and dependency log) using the framework's templates and status scheme, so that every forum works from the same numbers.
• Prepare and issue the monthly portfolio pack for the relevant Committee session that acts as the framework's Steering Committee, with the decisions required stated plainly; act as secretary, record decisions and actions, and drive them to closure between meetings. At least two full cycles within the contract.
• Run the weekly working groups for the three initiatives: track progress, identify blockages, chase agreed actions, escalate anything unresolved after a week, and support practical project work (requirements, supplier follow-up, preparing acceptance) where agreed with the sponsor, drawing on our virtual CTO, who keeps technical authority. Sponsors keep accountability for outcomes.
• Agree the starting position and measures for each initiative's benefits with its sponsor and Finance and report progress against them.
• Record what the model costs to run: hours from this role, sponsors and leads, decisions taken and escalations raised, so that we can size the permanent role on evidence rather than assumption.
• Deliver the short familiarisation and sponsor briefing the framework describes, and coach a named internal counterpart so that they can run the next cycle unaided.
• Prepare the quarterly Board report the framework requires, for the Managing Director to present.
• By the end of the contract, deliver a written verdict on the framework: what worked, what is too heavy for a firm of our size, what must change, and whether a permanent role is justified and in what form (full-time, part-time or internal), with a handover pack for the internal owner.

Benefits

• a competitive salary
• flexible working and dress for your day policies
• e-bikes free for staff use and opportunities to take part in green initiatives
• regular sports and social events as well as opportunities to support local charities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed