Head of PMO

Head of PMO

Permanent

Oxfordshire

About The Company

My client, based in the Oxfordshire area, are a leading leisure and tourism company who focus on boutique and bespoke travel packages for their customers who want to explore and travel the world in their own unique way. They are looking for a Head of PMO to lead their virtual team and manage a small number of contract Project Managers hired in for complex projects.

About The Role

This role will be reporting into the CFO. In this role you will ensure that business projects conducted within ad consistently realise the benefits expected, by creating and promoting an environment in which project managers and business owners deliver their projects successfully. The role covers all offices and locations, working closely with the CEO and Global Leadership Team, and with stakeholders from all business functions.

Main Responsibilities:

Planning:

• Leading annual portfolio planning, based on the company strategy, and long-range investment plans
• Coordinating and preparing monthly PMO reviews with the GLT.
• Supporting monthly reviews of the portfolio with the board
• Maintaining the project portfolio
• Ensuring the benefits expected from the portfolio of projects are being tracked and reported
• Maintaining the demand management process for the company, assessing project proposals and making recommendations on prioritisation
• Providing ad-hoc planning support for projects

Delivery and budgetary assurance:

• Production of the fortnightly key projects report
• Ensuring new projects are set-up for success, and that projects are delivering to their committed timescales, budgets, scope and quality
• Conducting reviews and assurance activities for key projects
• Reviewing project steering, to ensure appropriate stakeholder engagement in key projects
• Ensuring projects are closed appropriately
• Facilitating post-project reviews
• Taking a consolidated view of risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies for the delivery portfolio, identifying and addressing systemic challenges

Centre of excellence:

• Providing internal consultancy on business projects to project managers, business owners and sponsors
• Maintaining the company's methods and standards for delivery in line with best practice
• Training new project managers, business owners on the methodology and standards
• Assisting with the recruitment of project managers when required
• Maintaining knowledge on project delivery, seeking to ensure that lessons are learned, and applied to support continuous improvement

About The Person

• Leadership - the ability to inspire and empower others to deliver successful cross-functional change initiatives. Displays the presence required to influence stakeholders at all levels, to deliver results. Experience of leading significant business projects successfully is desirable

• Governance - the ability to establish and maintain governance structures that define clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, aligned with the needs and practices of the organisation. Previous experience operating a successful governance structure for portfolios, programmes and projects is essential. Proficiency in providing portfolio, programme and project reporting is essential

• Flexibility - to be able to manage programmes of work, but also to be adaptable, managing specific projects in detail, when needed.

• Capability development - the ability to understand the maturity of an organisation with respect to project, programme and portfolio management, and to assist the development of those capabilities. Previous experience of coaching and/or training project managers in core skills is essential

• Frameworks and methodologies - the ability to identify, develop, adopt and adapt appropriate frameworks and methodologies to ensure consistent delivery of change initiatives. A recognised formal project management qualification (PMP/APMP/Prince2/P30 or equivalent) and/or demonstrable proficiency in the use of the associated methodologies is essential

• Independent assurance - the ability to gather independent evidence that the information on the change initiative is valid, and whether the initiative will achieve its objectives. Previous experience of project or delivery assurance is essential

• Proficiency in the use of software planning tools such as MS-Project is desirable

• Competence in using Excel for the financial analysis of project business cases is desirable

• A university degree is desirable

If you are interested in this opportunity then please apply and I will aim to get back with 48 hours. Alternatively, you can contact me directly on rassin.wurie@projectpeople.com.

Project People is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.