Portfolio Manager

Forest Services (FS)as part of Forestry Commission are the Government's forestry experts. We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and support the forestry sector to protect, improve and expand England's valuable woodland assets, ensuring that they continue to provide benefits to people, the environment and the economy. We are looking for a positive person with substantial experience of programme and project management to join us. You will work closely with our change and development teams, and with business experts across Forest Services to define and manage a portfolio of business transformation projects. If you are passionate about the role of forestry in creating a better future for England, and want to play a key part in that, we want to hear from you., As Portfolio Manager for Forest Services you will:

• Define and manage the business transformation portfolio for Forest Services and lead key transformation projects
• Act as project management lead for Forest Services, with responsibility for project management tools and templates and the associated upskilling of staff
Key work areas You will:
• Lead the development of a portfolio of business change and development projects for Forest Services, establishing a prioritisation framework and appropriate governance
• Actively manage the portfolio including:
+ the overall portfolio plan, with key milestones and decisions to support delivery + allocation of resource to agreed priority projects (and reprioritise as necessary) + management of risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies via a RAID log + the effective operation of the Portfolio Evaluation Board + progress reporting as required to Forest Services Executive Team, and to other governance groups + working closely with the strategy and business planning team to ensure transformation projects are aligned with FS strategy and are included within the business planLead specific transformation projects, from concept phase through to benefits realisation
• Lead the ongoing development of the project management toolkit and establishment of a regular review cycle
• Lead the upskilling of staff across FS in project management (working closely with the Learning and Development team)
• Directly line manage a team of up 6 project managers, coaching them to effective delivery and ensuring their continuing professional development
• Make an active contribution to wider business transformation team's work as a senior manager within the team.