Project Planning Manager

Who you are

• Proven experience leading enterprise portfolio management, PMO/VMO leadership or strategic programme governance
• Strong understanding of technology change and the ability to bring together expertise from multiple technical teams to assess investment opportunities
• Excellent financial acumen with experience evaluating investment value, benefits and return on investment
• Experience working within complex, matrixed organisations
• Outstanding facilitation, communication and stakeholder management skills, including engagement with senior leaders
• Ability to translate strategic objectives into practical prioritisation frameworks and governance processes
• Strong analytical skills with a data-driven approach to decision-making
• Experience within media, publishing, digital subscription or technology-led organisations
• Experience supporting investment identification, prioritisation and portfolio oversight
• Familiarity with Agile delivery environments and product operating models
• Experience with portfolio management frameworks such as Lean Portfolio Management, MoP, SAFe LPM or enterprise PPM platforms

What the job involves

• As Portfolio Governance and Planning Manager, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the FT's portfolio of change initiatives is governed, prioritised and planned effectively
• Working within Portfolio and Programmes, you will lead the governance processes that assess proposed initiatives for strategic alignment, value creation, cost, risk and feasibility before investment decisions are made
• Acting as the gateway between idea generation and execution, you will enable informed, data-driven decision-making, balancing organisational priorities, capacity and investment to maximise business value
• You will work closely with senior stakeholders across Product, Technology, Editorial, Data, Commercial and Corporate functions to drive transparent governance and effective portfolio planning
• Lead portfolio intake and demand management processes, facilitating reviews of new initiatives and identifying duplication, consolidation opportunities and appropriate delivery pathways
• Partner with stakeholders to shape and refine proposals, ensuring sufficient information is available for evaluation and prioritisation
• Ensure initiatives are consistently assessed against governance standards, impact criteria and investment requirements
• Challenge business cases, assumptions and benefit forecasts to support evidence-based investment decisions
• Highlight risks, dependencies, opportunity costs, trade-offs and capacity impacts to enable transparent prioritisation
• Manage the quality and completeness of submissions to governance forums for senior leadership review
• Lead portfolio capacity planning, maintaining visibility of demand, resource utilisation and delivery constraints
• Support quarterly and annual planning cycles with robust analysis and prioritisation recommendations
• Produce governance reporting, monitor delivery against approved business cases and provide actionable portfolio insights
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, promoting collaboration, accountability and effective portfolio governance
• Drive continuous improvement by embedding best practice portfolio management, lean governance and outcome-based investment approaches
• Support the automation and enhancement of portfolio management tools, reporting and governance frameworks

Benefits

• A range of training courses as well as confidential career coaching and mentoring
• Flexibility - working from home, job sharing, compressed weeks, and flexible working hours
• Enhanced parental leave, flexible leave allowance and paid volunteer leave
• Pension contribution
• Local health coverage plans
• Gym memberships and healthcare schemes, professional counselling sessions, 24-hour employee wellbeing helpline, weekly meditation classes
• Financial wellbeing products and services