Lean Portfolio Manager

Howdens Joinery are looking for a Lean Portfolio Manager to join our busy Digital Solutions Team. This role could be based in our Croxley office in Hertfordshire, our office in Brackmills Business Park or our Raunds office in Northamptonshire. As a FTSE 250 business which is undergoing a digital transformation, this role offers a confident and engaging Lean Portfolio Manager an excellent opportunity to support the delivery of our transformation plans, connecting the portfolio to business strategy, agile portfolio process management and lean governance.

As a Lean Portfolio Manager, you will be a role model for lean agile portfolio principles, process & practices including championing a culture of continuous improvement and flow. The role contributes strongly to the definition of the IT strategy, vision, and the technology roadmap. Understanding the impact of change across the technology and business processes are fundamental.

Reporting to the Enterprise Architect, you will be a trusted business partner to one or more portfolio domains, providing insight and challenge across all areas of delivery, covering costs, value and benefits. In your role, you will provide a consolidated view of the technology change agenda across several portfolios. As a Lean Portfolio Manager, you will be implementing and leveraging the coaching, frameworks and best practice ways of working through the SAFe Agile framework to enable the efficient running of the Portfolio process, with good Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) practices, and focus on collaboration with business and delivery transformation teams.

Working within a dynamic digital team, you will also be actively involved across all elements of strategy and portfolio planning and will be engaged in working with the team to share information and facilitate workshops to investigate, align and agree proposed changes.

In your role you will be:

• Establishing the Portfolio Vision
• Implementing Lean Budgeting and Guardrails
• Establishing flow with the Portfolio Kanban
• Establishing Strategy and Investment funding
• Applying Agile Portfolio Process and Operations
• Applying Lean Governance
• Building a plan for implementing the Lean Portfolio Management function
• Coordinating Value Streams
• Measuring the Lean Portfolio Management function performance
• An active member of the Lean Agile Centre of Excellence (LACE)

Key Experience & Skills needed:

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Computer Science or related field.
• 3+ years of experience in product life cycle management, program management, or portfolio management in a high technology setting
• A passion for agile and lean portfolio management.
• You will have worked as a Scrum Master or RTE in the past and now scaling up as an Agile Portfolio Manager.
• Added advantage if you have any SAFe or Agile certification
• Strong experience in defining and managing Portfolio Management processes
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to synthesise complex information and prepare concise and compelling presentations.
• Strong people management skills, able to lead your team effectively.
• Excellent prioritisations skills, able to understand the impact of delays.
• Demonstrates a high degree of innovation and creativity, balanced with the ability to make the complex appear simple by swift logical and analytical thinking.
• Confident, engaging and possesses a strong work ethic with a passion for transformation and innovation.
• Demonstrable effectiveness in driving change, influencing outcomes and gaining senior management support.
• Strong experience in programme management.
• Good knowledge or experience in Agile methodologies and frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, SAFe
• Demonstrable experience in developing, delivering and supporting product roadmap, transition and delivery processes.
• Comprehensive knowledge of product development lifecycle and the roles of product managers, product owners, development managers and business stakeholders
• Experience in identifying and implementing continuous improvement efforts and coach team on agile principles and best PLM practices through the LACE
• Good knowledge of supporting tools (Azure Dev Ops)

Howdens Joinery is a highly successful FTSE 250 business, with more than 750 depots nationwide and more than 10,000 staff. Last year our sales reached circa £1.5 billion and we continue to experience significant growth and success. Despite our scale, Howdens remains a local business with traditional values.

We have a very competitive salary and benefits package including 25 days holiday increasing to 27 days after 5 years, annual company bonus, fully expensed company car or car allowance, private medical insurance and a contributory pension. There is also great coffee and other refreshments and snacks, onsite car parking, subsidised gym membership, exceptional social events and a friendly and supportive working environment. As well as the opportunity to develop within a high-profile FTSE 250 company, you will be part of a rewarding organisation recognised for excellence in the workplace in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For.