Head of Portfolio Management - 12 Month FTC

Head of Portfolio Management - 12 Month FTC with an option to potentially go permanent.

About the team

Freeths is one of the UK’s fastest growing law firms, which operates as a fully national business. As we scale, the volume and complexity of proposed change grows, including opportunities arising from rapid technological and AI-enabled developments. The firm needs a clear enterprise view of demand, priorities, capacity, dependencies and risk.

This is a genuine greenfield opportunity to help shape and implement Freeths’ first enterprise portfolio management capability. Working under the strategic leadership and final approval of the Director of Change & Transformation, the role will bring substantial portfolio expertise to the design and lead implementation and ongoing operation. The postholder will create the processes, information and governance that allow leaders to compare proposed initiatives, make informed trade-offs and maintain a trusted view of the portfolio. The role will also establish the portfolio route through which Innovation and AI opportunities that are ready to scale can be assessed alongside other proposed initiatives.

About the role
The Head of Portfolio Management will be the principal portfolio specialist within Change & Transformation. Working in close partnership with the Director, the postholder will shape the detailed portfolio model, and will lead its implementation, operation and continuous improvement.

The role will sit alongside project delivery and change. Its focus is the portfolio discipline around projects and programmes: demand intake, classification, prioritisation, sequencing, governance, portfolio risk and dependency oversight, capacity and investment insight, assurance and decision-led reporting.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation and ongoing management of the organisation’s portfolio management framework.
• Manage the portfolio roadmap, ensuring clear visibility of priorities, progress, risks, dependencies, resources and investment.
• Oversee the intake, assessment and prioritisation of new initiatives, ensuring appropriate governance and oversight.
• Provide senior leaders with clear portfolio insight and recommendations to support prioritisation, sequencing and investment decisions.
• Identify and manage portfolio-level risks, dependencies, capacity constraints and competing priorities.
• Establish effective portfolio governance, reporting, assurance and data standards.
• Work closely with Project Delivery, Finance, Technology, AI, Innovation and other specialist teams to support effective delivery.
• Develop and embed portfolio tools, processes and ways of working that provide effective oversight without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Use portfolio insight and lessons learned to continuously improve governance, planning and delivery.
• Build portfolio management capability across the organisation through practical guidance, tools and coaching.

Your skills and qualifications

• Strong experience leading enterprise portfolio management, strategic PMO or portfolio governance within a complex organisation.
• Proven expertise in portfolio prioritisation, roadmaps, capacity planning and dependency management.
• Experience designing effective governance, assurance and decision-making frameworks.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to turn complex information into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders.
• Confident influencing and challenging at senior level, supporting effective prioritisation and investment decisions.
• Collaborative approach, working effectively across Finance, Technology, Change and business teams.
• Experience within professional services, regulated or similarly complex environments would be advantageous.

What we offer

• A greenfield opportunity to shape and implement a strategically important national capability.

• Visibility across the strategic agenda of a growing firm in a sector experiencing rapid technological and AI-driven change.

• A senior peer relationship with project delivery leadership and close working relationship with C-Suite and Directors across the firm.

• Competitive benefits package

• Hybrid working with 13 national offices as
• base

No Recruitment Agencies Please

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We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know and we will be happy to support you.

About Us

We’re 1000+ Freethinkers, striving to create a better place. We’re committed to living our values – smart, bold, together – and making a positive change at every touchpoint for our colleagues, clients and communities. We’ve built our law firm on solid foundations of integrity, entrepreneurialism and expertise. This has helped us grow into one of the largest full-service law firms in the UK, with 13 offices and over 1000 colleagues, and counting.

1. Think Ambition: We’ve built our law firm on solid foundations of integrity, entrepreneurialism and expertise. This has helped us grow into one of the largest full-service law firms in the UK, with 13 offices and over 1,000 colleagues, and counting. Matching individual ambition and our firm’s ambition matters. That’s why we develop our people by making sure every one of our team feels connected through a clear progression pathway and leadership support. It’s helped us to grow an award-winning reputation in the eyes of our clients and competitors that each and every one of the Freeths team works hard to uphold in everything we do.

2. Think Recognition: Sharing success matters to us. We love to showcase excellent work across the firm and celebrate our people through our employee awards. We recognise our teams work hard together to deliver the best solutions for our clients. That’s why great work is well rewarded - our rewards and benefits are among the best in the business.

3. Think Together: Our people are at the heart of what makes Freeths such a great place to be. We’re a firm where people care about each other and employee wellbeing is high on the agenda. Our firm is set up to ensure everyone’s voice is heard, and mutual respect is shown by all. We understand that differences add strength, which means we maintain a diverse culture where everyone has the freedom to be themselves and thrive.

Equal Opportunities

We're committed to championing diversity and building an inclusive culture. We want to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people, regardless of their background. We welcome applications from everybody, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds.

We celebrate difference, encourage diversity of thought and are dedicated to continually challenging our processes to maintain fairness, equity and transparency. If you require additional support at any stage of the recruitment process due to a disability or a health condition, please do not hesitate to contact !recruitmentfreeths@freeths.co.uk and we will be happy to discuss.

Recruitment Agencies

We are committed to sourcing candidates directly where possible. For particular roles, we may work with preferred suppliers who will be invited by our resourcing team to support us. We may also agree to accept CVs from other suppliers on an ad hoc basis (to be agreed in writing). We will not be responsible for fees in relation to CVs or profiles submitted directly to our partners or other employees or for any applications not submitted via our portal. Agencies should contact our recruitment team before submitting unsolicited applications.