Head, Portfolio Execution

Job Summary • Provide independent, enterprise-wide oversight of transformation portfolio health, execution risk and delivery outcomes. • Own and continuously strengthen the Bank’s Change Delivery Standards, execution-risk and portfolio-health frameworks to improve delivery confidence, surface systemic risk early and enable timely intervention. • Translate programme-level data, risks and dependencies into a cohesive portfolio view that supports executive decisions, regulatory confidence and sustainable delivery discipline. Enterprise portfolio execution oversight • Establish a trusted, independent view of portfolio health, execution risk, delivery confidence and material interdependencies across the Bank’s transformation portfolio. • Aggregate programme-level risks into an enterprise view, identifying systemic themes, cumulative exposure and potential impacts on strategic, financial, regulatory and client outcomes. • Set clear tolerances and escalation thresholds, ensuring material deviations trigger timely executive attention, corrective action and accountable ownership. • Act as deputy to the Global Head, Investment Management and Portfolio Delivery on portfolio execution, governance standards and execution risk matters. Change Delivery Standards and governance • Own the Change Delivery Standards and drive consistent adoption across businesses, functions and transformation teams. • Define and maintain common governance structures, controls, protocols and minimum delivery requirements that improve consistency, accountability and auditability. • Keep the standards relevant, proportionate and actionable by incorporating lessons from delivery performance, regulatory change, audit findings and emerging risks. • Partner with transformation leaders, Accountable Executives and programme teams to address gaps and strengthen delivery discipline. Key Responsibilities Portfolio health and execution-risk management • Own the Execution Risk Dashboard and Portfolio Health Dashboards, ensuring the indicators provide forward-looking insight rather than retrospective reporting. • Ensure the portfolio remains aligned to Change Delivery Standards and within agreed tolerances for execution risk and portfolio health. • Challenge weak recovery plans, unclear accountabilities and unsupported delivery assumptions; drive remedial action with Transformation Leads, Accountable Executives and Programme Managers. • Develop scalable mitigation approaches for high-impact risks and interdependencies, enabling businesses and functions to replan, sequence or intervene before outcomes are compromised. • Track whether interventions restore delivery confidence and reduce risk, rather than only confirming that actions have been completed. Executive, Board and regulatory decision support • Shape the enterprise narrative on portfolio execution risk, explaining the strategic, financial, regulatory, client and delivery implications of material issues. • Prepare decision-ready reports, presentations and papers for Group Management Team, Board and executive committees, clearly setting out risks, trade-offs, decisions required and recommended actions. • Coordinate portfolio-execution input to audit and regulatory responses, partnering with second- and third-line teams on requests from external auditors and regulators. • Provide clear evidence of governance effectiveness, risk ownership, remediation progress and sustained control improvement. Risk and control leadership • Build strong awareness of the principal risks affecting the Bank’s transformation and change portfolio. • Partner with Risk and Financial Crime Risk, Compliance and Conduct Risk and Group Internal Audit to embed risk management principles into portfolio and programme planning. • Maintain effective procedures and controls in line with Group security, risk and audit requirements. • Identify, escalate and resolve material risk, conduct and compliance matters promptly and transparently. People and Talent (for People Leader roles only) • Set direction and drive high performance by translating strategy into clear priorities, measurable outcomes and individual accountabilities. • Build deep portfolio execution, governance and risk capability through coaching, development and succession planning for critical roles. • Ensure the team has the right structure, capacity and skills to provide credible independent oversight and timely intervention. • Role-model the Bank’s values, constructive challenge, sound judgement and strong risk and conduct standards. • Create an inclusive and accountable culture that values evidence, transparency and enterprise outcomes over activity. • Provide evidence-based feedback on transformation leaders to their people leaders as part of performance reviews. Our Ideal Candidate Key Experience • 15+ years experience leading complex programmes or portfolios in financial services, technology or another highly regulated environment. • Proven track record of establishing enterprise governance, delivery standards, risk aggregation or assurance frameworks that improve delivery confidence and decision quality. • Experience influencing senior executives, Accountable Executives, transformation leaders and risk partners across multiple businesses, functions and geographies. • Strong understanding of project and programme lifecycles, portfolio analytics, financial management, risk and control, and both Waterfall and Agile delivery methods. • Ability to turn complex delivery data into clear executive insight, decisions and actions. • Hands-on experience with portfolio and delivery tools, including Clarity and ideally Azure DevOps. • Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, exercise independent judgement and escalate difficult issues constructively. Certifications / Qualifications (only where mandatory) • No mandatory certification required. Relevant experience in portfolio management, programme delivery, transformation, risk or assurance is more impo…