About us
We’re the team behind digital retailer Very. Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do. We want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high-performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go.
About Digital Customer Experience
This role spans our Digital Customer Experience and Marketing Tech functions: our Digital Customer Experience team owns the end‑to‑end journey across web and app, creating seamless, insight‑led experiences for our customers. The Marketing Technology Function designs, builds, integrates and operates the technology that underpins our marketing strategy. By bringing together Product, UX, Research, Engineering, Delivery and BA expertise, we use customer insight and data to design, build and optimise intuitive, high‑performing journeys that remove friction, improve engagement and deliver measurable value.
About the role
We are looking for a Portfolio Manager to orchestrate and oversee change across our marketing and digital customer experience pillar to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and delivery of maximum value. The Portfolio Manager will lead a team of lead and senior delivery managers and drive delivery of a wide portfolio of activity across their performance unit(s). They are responsible for building delivery capability and ensuring optimal resource utilisation across their PU(s).
Leadership & Impact
- Lead multi‑disciplinary teams in a large‑scale, fast‑moving digital business, through up to 6 direct reports and matrix management of multiple delivery teams (100+ colleagues).
- Role model exemplary delivery principles and champion a culture of performance, accountability and continuous improvement.
- Manage recruitment, performance and development of senior delivery managers. Act as coach and mentor.
- Accountable for all change delivery within one or more PUs, including planning, funding, resourcing and reporting to deliver business value early and at high velocity.
- Manage delivery interconnectivity across PUs and ensure effective delivery drives benefits to customers and colleagues underpinning PU’s annual strategy.
Key Responsibilities
- Steer delivery teams to deliver on time, to cost, and with quality outcomes.
- Establish and manage PU delivery plan, ensuring alignment across squads.
- Facilitate collaboration, remove blockers and build talent pipelines internally and externally.
- Drive team productivity using metric‑driven continuous improvement.
- Support Head of Delivery and PMO in raising standards and implementing strategies to meet OKRs.
- Champion knowledge sharing and innovation through forums and showcases.
- Proactively identify and manage risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies.
- Manage escalation process with GLT and Head of Delivery/ePMO.
- Facilitate portfolio planning cycles and contribute to Quarterly Planning Process (QPP).
- Work with stakeholders to prioritise work from technical and product roadmap perspectives.
- Ensure adherence to governance framework across projects, small change and BAU.
- Monitor delivery performance, risks and status.
- Facilitate portfolio‑level decision‑making forums with senior executives and sponsors.
- Monitor squad/team capacity, align resourcing to priorities and optimise allocation.
- Identify and resolve resource bottlenecks.
- Manage budget allocations and expenditure tracking.
- Support business case creation and benefits tracking.
- Provide advice and information to senior management for investment decisions.
- Act as primary delivery contact for exec PU sponsor and GLT stakeholders.
- Build productive relationships with senior leaders, Heads of Product, Heads of Tech and delivery teams.
- Communicate progress, risks and changes clearly to PMO and stakeholders.
- Provide regular portfolio updates and manage escalations.
- Deliver accurate and timely reporting on KPIs and delivery metrics.
Essential knowledge and skills
- Expert in portfolio and programme management with proven ability to govern large, complex, cross‑functional portfolios.
- Experience in managing incoming dependencies and sequencing work to minimise bottlenecks.
- Strong people leader with evidence of delivering transformation.
- Excellent commercial and financial acumen.
- Deep understanding of agile, waterfall and hybrid delivery models.
- Skilled in change leadership and influencing across organisational boundaries.
- Action‑oriented, removes barriers to rapid delivery.
- Strong stakeholder and third‑party management skills.
- Ability to coach, mentor, mediate and build team resilience.
- Significant experience in delivery and leadership roles in large, complex, technology‑led organisations, with deep knowledge of PU area.
Benefits
- Flexible, hybrid working model
- Inclusive culture and environment
- £10,000 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
- 30 days holiday + bank holidays
- Udemy learning access
- Bonus potential (performance and business‑related)
- Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk
- Matched pension up to 6%
- More benefits can be found on our career site
Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities
We’re building a culture of everyday inclusion and welcome applications from anyone who believes they can do the job. We don’t discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview or perform a role, let us know. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have nine colleague networks – including DAWN and Think – that help make Very an even more inclusive place to work.
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