Finance Project Management Office (PMO) Lead - Customer Care

Join us as a Finance Lead for the Customer Care technology business area within Barclays. This role forms part of a portfolio management team that oversees all of the strategic investment for Customer Care which is a 70m+ budget spanning a large number of projects & business outcomes. You will be responsible for the oversight of all of the Customer Care financials and month-end processes, defining and adopting best practice financial forecasting and tracking of spend across the outcomes, working alongside our Project Management Office (PMO) and Portfolio Management (PM) community.

You will need strong knowledge of financial accounting principles and an ability to extract/analyse data from tools such as SAP and Navigator. You will demonstrate best in class financial management processes and lead on the affordability/cost control position for Customer Care technology, while also taking lead on the completion of capitalisation assessments and approvals with Finance and managing the Customer Care Lab’s risks and opportunities position, recommending self-solving approaches to resolving and highlighting where support to resolve cost challenges require intervention from the Senior Leadership team.

Strong level of negotiating and agreeing cost movements as well as processing accruals and journals, raising purchase orders will be required.

Some essential skills you will need to be successful in the role of a Finance Lead - Customer Care are:

• Analytical skills – excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities to interpret financial data and trends.
• Strong understanding of financial accounting principles.
• Effective communication skills for presenting financial information and collaborating with stakeholders; Advanced skills in MS Excel.

Some other highly valued skills are:

• Experience of using SAP.
• Preparing and presenting financial reports – experience in compiling accurate financial reporting for decision making; Change delivery knowledge/experience/methodologies.

You may be assessed on key critical skills relevant for success in the role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job specific technical skills.

This role is based in Knutsford.

Purpose of the role

To support the portfolio management team in the delivery of successful projects, while ensuring that portfolio management processes and practices are aligned with controls and governance standards and that projects are aligned with the organization's strategic objectives.

Accountabilities

• Facilitate portfolio prioritisation, ensuring the portfolio is compliant with the established control framework, including oversight of controls and standards.
• Support the effective governance of the portfolio, helping establish and operate effective Portfolio Governance that enables quality, data driven decision making, ensuring executive reporting is fit for purpose and timely.
• Monitor portfolio performance, including tracking of programme and project progress, identification of thematic portfolio risks and issues, and reporting on portfolio status to senior management and key stakeholders.
• Facilitate the management of the portfolio Book of Work, prioritisation and dependencies of change initiatives, considering factors like resource availability, stakeholder buy-in, and potential risks.
• Oversight of change delivery to ensure alignment with relevant policies and standards, driving consistent, robust controls data; monitoring indicators of control adherence, acting to remediate any weaknesses in the controls; and identifying and implementing actions to drive greater maturity against key control indicators.
• Review, resolve, manage and escalate portfolio risks and issues, challenging where appropriate and actively supporting the resolution of variances as necessary.
• Engage and influence all stakeholders to help them to understand their responsibilities and fulfil them effectively through clear, timely communication and well facilitated portfolio management processes.
• Support an environment of effective delivery by empowering portfolio management resources, utilising data led thinking to inform decisions, leverage expertise, and drive accountability and transparency.
• Operate as a source of best practice guidance and expertise, to ensure consistent excellence around controls, and governance (including training) is embedded across the portfolio.

Assistant Vice President Expectations

To advise and influence decision making, contribute to policy development and take responsibility for operational effectiveness. Collaborate closely with other functions/business divisions. Lead a team performing complex tasks, using well developed professional knowledge and skills to deliver on work that impacts the whole business function. Set objectives and coach employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes.

If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.

For an individual contributor, they will lead collaborative assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will identify new directions for assignments and/or projects, identifying a combination of cross functional methodologies or practices to meet required outcomes.

Consult on complex issues; providing advice to People Leaders to support the resolution of escalated issues. Identify ways to mitigate risk and developing new policies/procedures in support of the control and governance agenda. Take ownership for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work done.

Perform work that is closely related to that of other areas, which requires understanding of how areas coordinate and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation sub-function. Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategy.

Engage in complex analysis of data from multiple sources of information, internal and external sources such as procedures and practices (in other areas, teams, companies, etc.) to solve problems creatively and effectively. Communicate complex information. 'Complex' information could include sensitive information or information that is difficult to communicate because of its content or its audience. Influence or convince stakeholders to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.