What are the responsibilities and job description for the PMO Manager – IT Portfolio Governance position at Hays?
The IT Portfolio Governance Manager ensures that the organization’s project portfolio is strategically aligned, effectively prioritized, and consistently executed. This role is responsible for establishing and maintaining governance frameworks, driving portfolio-level oversight, and enabling informed decision-making across business units. The individual will serve as a key liaison between senior leadership, project teams, and stakeholders to ensure transparency, accountability, and successful delivery of initiatives that support organizational goals.
This position offers a hybrid work schedule, with weekly in-office attendance required, along with participation in occasional team meetings, training sessions, and organizational events.
Key Responsibilities and Essential Job Functions
- Collaborate with senior leadership to define and align departmental portfolio projects with strategic goals.
- Develop and enhance strategies to prioritize projects based on business value, risk, and resource availability.
- Establish and maintain governance standards, policies, and procedures to ensure consistency and compliance across all projects.
- Provide oversight of project plans, budgets, and schedules to proactively identify and mitigate risks.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including business leaders, department heads, and external partners/vendors.
- Act as a liaison between the Portfolio Governance Committee and business units to ensure alignment and clear communication of project objectives.
- Monitor project performance using industry-standard tools and metrics, including project status, budget variance, and resource utilization.
- Prepare and deliver regular reports to senior management and stakeholders on portfolio performance, risks, and key achievements.
- Identify and implement opportunities for process improvement and operational efficiency.
- Promote the adoption of best practices, tools, and techniques to enhance project and portfolio management capabilities.
- Perform special projects and other duties as assigned.
Required Skills
- Strong understanding of portfolio and project management methodologies (e.g., PMBOK, Agile).
- Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills with a strategic mindset.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
- Hands-on experience with project management and portfolio tracking tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, ServiceNow).
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organization.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong leadership and stakeholder management capabilities.
- Ability to interpret complex data and translate it into actionable insights.
Required Qualifications & Education
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration, information technology, project management, or a related field.
- 5–7 years of experience in project/portfolio governance, program management, or a related role.
- Demonstrated experience in establishing governance frameworks and managing enterprise-level portfolios.
- Professional certification in project or portfolio management (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2, PfMP, or equivalent).