PMO Manager

PMO Lead / PMO Manager

Location: Birmingham
Salary: c.£65,000 + Bonus + Benefits
Working Pattern: Hybrid

The Opportunity

We are supporting an established UK business through an important period of transformation and investment as they look to strengthen how strategic projects and programmes are governed, prioritised and delivered across the organisation.

As part of this, they are looking to appoint a PMO Lead / PMO Manager to establish and develop a fit-for-purpose PMO capability.

This is not a role for someone looking to simply maintain an existing PMO. You will be expected to build the structure, introduce the governance and create the tools, reporting and disciplines needed to improve project delivery across the business.

It is a highly hands-on position, combining PMO leadership with the practical delivery work required to get the function established and embedded.

The Role

Working across a portfolio of business and technology change initiatives, you will create greater visibility, consistency and control around project delivery.

You will work closely with project managers, workstream leads and senior stakeholders to understand what is being delivered, establish appropriate governance and ensure leadership has a clear view of progress, risks, dependencies, resources and priorities.

Key responsibilities will include:

Establishing and developing the PMO framework, governance and ways of working.
Creating practical project standards, templates, controls and reporting processes.
Establishing portfolio-level visibility across projects, programmes and change initiatives.
Implementing effective RAID, dependency, milestone and action management.
Developing clear and meaningful reporting for senior leadership and steering groups.
Establishing appropriate governance forums, project gates and decision-making processes.
Supporting portfolio planning, prioritisation and resource visibility.
Improving consistency around project planning, status reporting and delivery controls.
Challenging project teams where milestones, risks or dependencies are not being effectively managed.
Working directly with Project Managers and workstream leads to improve delivery discipline.
Supporting business cases, benefits tracking and post-implementation reviews.
Identifying gaps in the existing project environment and putting pragmatic solutions in place.
Helping embed a consistent project delivery culture across the organisation.
Continually improving the PMO as the transformation portfolio develops.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who has previously built, established or significantly improved a PMO, rather than simply operated within a mature one.

You are likely to have:

Strong experience as a PMO Manager, PMO Lead or Senior PMO professional within a transformation or change environment.
Experience establishing PMO governance, controls and reporting from the ground up.
Strong portfolio and programme governance experience.
The ability to turn an inconsistent project environment into a clear, structured and manageable portfolio.
Experience producing concise, insightful reporting for senior stakeholders.
Strong knowledge of RAID management, dependencies, planning, governance and delivery assurance.
Confidence working with and challenging Project Managers and senior stakeholders.
A pragmatic approach - introducing enough governance to improve delivery without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Strong Excel, PowerPoint and project/portfolio reporting capability.
Excellent communication, organisation and stakeholder management skills.

Most importantly, you will be a doer.

This role requires someone comfortable moving between the strategic and the detailed - one minute helping leadership understand the health of the overall portfolio, the next building a reporting pack, improving a RAID log or working directly with a Project Manager to get a project back under control.

Why Join?

This is an opportunity to put your stamp on a PMO rather than inherit someone else's.

You will join a successful organisation with a meaningful portfolio of change underway and have the autonomy to shape how projects and programmes are governed and delivered going forward.

For someone who enjoys creating structure, solving delivery problems and building PMO capability, this offers the opportunity to make a visible impact across the business