plentific - Head of PMO

• 1. Coach Programme & Project Managers, and hold the standard • Own and continuously improve the standard toolkit every programme uses — charter, RAID log, status report, change log. • Coach PMs on using the standards well — raising the general standard of programme management practice, not just chasing form-filling. • Own the stage-gate review process: assess whether a programme is genuinely ready to pass each gate, and issue go/no-go sign-off. • Set and enforce mandatory reporting — PMs submit standard, current status on a fixed cadence; the PMO follows up where reporting lapses. • 2. Build and run portfolio-level reporting and governance • Consolidate individual programme status into one current, accurate portfolio view of schedule, spend, risk, and resourcing. • Own the portfolio tracker and the cadence of updates that feed it. • Track cross-programme risks and dependencies; make sure each has a named owner and a clear escalation threshold. • Prepare and present the portfolio report at each Steering Committee review. • Track benefits realisation — confirm delivered programmes actually produced the outcome they were funded for. • 3. Work with senior management to report and unblock • Act as the primary escalation point when a programme risk or dependency needs a decision above the PM’s authority. • Bring blockers to the right senior stakeholder quickly, with a clear ask and options — not just a status update. • Represent delivery status and risk to senior management accurately and without spin, including when the news is difficult. • Chair or co-chair the portfolio review, and prepare materials for Steering Committee meetings. • Track follow-through on decisions and unblocks agreed with senior management, so they don’t silently drop. • AUTHORITY AND MANDATE • This role carries a Controlling PMO mandate — meaning the successful candidate has the authority to require compliance, not just recommend it: • Authority, via the PMO charter, to require compliance with standards and mandatory reporting across all active programmes. • Owns sign-off at stage gates — a programme cannot proceed to the next phase without PMO gate approval. • Is the named escalation path for cross-programme risk and resourcing conflicts. • Does not directly manage PMs day to day: PMs remain people-managed within their business unit, with a functional (“dotted-line”) reporting relationship into the PMO for delivery standards, gate compliance, and escalation. • KEY RELATIONSHIPS • Executive Sponsor / Steering Committee — monthly portfolio reporting, escalation, gate decisions. • Programme & Project Managers — coaching, mandatory reporting, gate reviews. • Senior management / business leaders — status reporting, unblocking, resourcing conversations. • PMO Analyst (future hire) — as the portfolio grows, this role would oversee a second PMO hire supporting reporting and gate reviews. • HOW SUCCESS IS MEASURED • On-time delivery rate across active programmes. • Forecast accuracy — how closely planned cost and effort track actuals over time. • Share of active programmes with an up-to-date RAID log. • Time from a risk being raised to being escalated to someone who can unblock it. • Sponsor and PM confidence in delivery, tracked each quarter. • PERSON SPECIFICATION • Proven experience running programme or project governance, ideally in a PMO capacity, in a fast-moving organisation. • Comfortable holding people accountable to standards without owning their day-to-day work — a coaching style, not a command style. • Strong stakeholder management skills; credible in the room with senior leadership. • Confident synthesising status across multiple concurrent initiatives into a single, honest, current view. • A clear, direct communicator, comfortable surfacing bad news early rather than letting it surface late. • A formal programme/PMO qualification (e.g. P3O, PRINCE2, MSP, PMP). • Experience standing up a PMO from scratch, or maturing one from a Supportive to a Controlling model. • Familiarity with portfolio/PPM reporting tools.