Technology Portfolio Delivery Lead / Senior Delivery Lead

Company: Essential Consulting
Apply for the Technology Portfolio Delivery Lead / Senior Delivery Lead
Location: Handsworth
Job Description:

Technology Portfolio Delivery Lead / Senior Delivery Lead

Location: Sheffield – 3 days per week onsite

Find out more about this role by reading the information below, then apply to be considered.Contract: Initial 6 monthsRate: Approx. £500–£625 per day (inside IR35), dependent on experience and level of roleStart: Targeting late November / early December 2026

We are currently looking to onboard a number of Technology Portfolio Delivery Leads to join the CTO Portfolio Management function of a leading global bank.

We are onboarding across two different levels of seniority, with opportunities for both experienced Delivery Leads and more senior candidates capable of operating with significant autonomy and engaging directly with senior technology leadership. The advertised rate range reflects the different levels of role and will be dependent on relevant experience.

The roles combine portfolio governance, delivery oversight, analysis and senior stakeholder engagement, providing clear insight into the health of a complex technology portfolio and proactively identifying areas requiring intervention.

We are particularly interested in candidates who combine strong Portfolio Management/PMO experience with a practical understanding of technology project delivery. You may have previously worked as a Project Manager before moving into portfolio management, governance or delivery oversight, and should be comfortable working closely with Project and Programme Managers to challenge delivery status, investigate issues and provide meaningful insight into overall portfolio health.

This is therefore not a traditional Project Manager role or a purely process/reporting-focused PMO position. The successful candidates will need to understand what good delivery looks like, identify where information or plans don’t stand up to scrutiny and proactively work with delivery teams to understand and resolve issues.

Key Responsibilities

  • Providing delivery and governance oversight across a portfolio of technology change.

  • Working with Project and Programme Managers to understand delivery status, milestones, dependencies, risks and issues.

  • Maintaining a clear view of overall portfolio health and proactively identifying areas requiring intervention or escalation.

  • Driving effective portfolio governance, planning and reporting.

  • Challenging delivery teams where information, plans or controls are incomplete or require further investigation.

  • Coordinating and analysing portfolio information to provide meaningful insight rather than simply consolidating reporting.

  • Supporting resource, financial and capacity planning across the portfolio.

  • Producing clear, high-quality reporting and materials for senior technology leadership.

  • Building strong relationships across project, programme, engineering and senior leadership teams.

  • Taking ownership of issues and proactively working across teams to identify answers and drive resolution.

  • Supporting continuous improvement of portfolio management practices, processes and tooling.

Key Requirements

  • Strong experience within technology Portfolio Management, PMO or Delivery Management environments.

  • Previous experience within banking or financial services.

  • Experience overseeing multiple projects/programmes or a significant technology change portfolio.

  • Strong governance, planning, RAID and delivery assurance capability.

  • Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret portfolio information, identify gaps and provide meaningful insight.

  • Strong senior stakeholder management and communication skills.

  • A proactive, self-starting approach – comfortable investigating issues and finding answers rather than relying solely on established processes.

  • The confidence to constructively challenge Project Managers, Programme Managers and technology stakeholders.

  • Experience working within large, complex technology organisations.

  • Strong reporting and presentation skills.

Previous experience within a large global bank would be advantageous but is not essential. Exposure to modern portfolio management, automation or AI-enabled tooling would also be beneficial.

The roles are based in Sheffield and require attendance in the office 3 days per week, so candidates must be able to commit to this working pattern. xwwtmva

We are targeting late November / early December 2026 start dates, so candidates available within this timeframe are particularly encouraged to apply.

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Posted: October 4th, 2026