AI and Innovation Portfolio Manager

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United Kingdom.

📋 Description

• Take full ownership of the AI portfolio from start to finish, ensuring that initiatives are captured, comprehended, prioritized, governed, and advanced with clear accountability.

• Oversee a complex cross-business portfolio, balancing priorities, capacity limitations, dependencies, risks, and anticipated value.

• Lead portfolio governance activities, which include intake, triage, prioritization, stage gates, decision forums, dependency management, and risk escalation.

• Facilitate AI-enabled solutions from conception to implementation, guaranteeing clear ownership, realistic plans, credible benefits, and successful adoption.

• Deliver executive-ready reports covering the roadmap, portfolio performance, delivery progress, financial status, benefits, risks, dependencies, and necessary decisions.

• Monitor budgets, forecasts, committed expenditures, actuals, benefit realization, and return on investment in collaboration with Finance and initiative owners.

• Collaborate with senior and executive stakeholders to shape demand, validate business cases, resolve escalations, establish priorities, and build trust.

• Ensure that AI initiatives comply with regulatory requirements, technology and data strategies, security standards, risk appetite, and principles of responsible AI governance.

• Develop and maintain business cases, delivery plans, benefit metrics, reporting packages, decision logs, and value-tracking methodologies.

• Proactively identify delivery issues and implement changes to scope, sequencing, resourcing, governance, or stakeholder engagement.

• Maintain awareness of portfolio resourcing and capability needs, including internal capacity, supplier contributions, and specialized expertise.

• Communicate progress and future priorities to stakeholders across the business.

• Foster collaborative AI delivery practices by establishing standards, sharing lessons learned, creating templates, and implementing reporting routines.

• Collaborate with Procurement to ensure AI vendors are held accountable and to secure effective commercial agreements.

⛳️ Requirements

• Proven experience managing complex cross-business technology programs, transformation portfolios, or enterprise delivery pipelines.

• Practical experience in AI implementation, automation, data, analytics, or initiatives involving emerging technologies.

• Background in a legal, professional services, or regulated environment is advantageous.

• Capability to establish and manage portfolio governance, including prioritization, stage control, risk and dependency management, benefits tracking, and senior-level reporting.

• Demonstrated ownership in complex delivery settings, which includes clarifying accountability, following through, escalating, and driving results.

• Experience working with senior and executive stakeholders, preparing decision papers, presenting portfolio updates, constructively challenging, and managing escalations.

• Hands-on experience with portfolio financial tracking and reporting, including budgets, forecasts, committed spend, actuals, benefit realization, and ROI analysis.

• Understanding of technology governance, data protection, information security, responsible AI practices, operational risk, and compliance.

• Familiarity with structured delivery methodologies, portfolio management tools, reporting dashboards, and project controls.

• Strong skills in ownership, organization, governance, stakeholder relationship management, communication, financial insight, problem-solving, and managing ambiguity.

🏝️ Benefits

• Inclusive and accessible recruitment process.

• Reasonable adjustments available at any stage of the application, assessment, or interview process.

• Confidential recruitment support.