At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and manage the application lifecycle, ensuring effective governance and value delivery.
- Company: Fast-growing PE-backed business in central London with a dynamic work environment.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, growth opportunities, and a collaborative team culture.
- Other info: Exciting role with potential for career advancement in a high-growth setting.
- Why this job: Shape technology governance in a rapidly expanding organisation and make a real impact.
- Qualifications: Experience in application portfolio management and building governance frameworks.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Our client is an ambitious, high-growth, acquisitive PE-backed business based in central London (4 days per week in the office). Every acquisition brings new applications, contracts, and vendor relationships. Some are excellent; some overlap with what we already have; some were purchased locally and have never been reviewed at group level. They need someone to bring order, visibility, and discipline to this landscape so that every pound they spend on technology is justified, governed, and delivering value.
The Role
They are looking for an Application Portfolio Manager who can build and own the discipline. This is not a role where you inherit a mature framework and operate it. You will design the processes, build the governance, and establish the ways of working that ensure that the software and technology services estate is actively managed through its full lifecycle: from identification and selection, through deployment and operation, to retirement.
You will report to the Head of IT Services and work closely with procurement, legal, finance, the wider IT team and business stakeholders across the group. For the highest-value vendor relationships, you will provide portfolio intelligence and technical insight to the senior relationship owners, ensuring they have the information they need to make good decisions. For the long tail of smaller vendors and regionally purchased tools, you will be the primary owner: rationalising, consolidating, and ensuring nothing falls through the gaps.
This is a building role with genuine growth potential. You will design the process and then scale it across a rapidly growing organisation. If you want to shape how a PE-backed business governs its technology estate, not just administer what already exists, this is the opportunity.
Key Responsibilities
- Application Lifecycle Governance: You will own the end-to-end application lifecycle at Lomond, applying consistent governance from the point a need is identified through to eventual retirement. This means designing and embedding the processes that do not yet exist, not waiting for someone else to hand you a playbook.
- Portfolio Intelligence and Rationalisation: You will provide the insight that enables good decisions about our technology estate, both for individual applications and across the portfolio as a whole.
- Process Design and Cross-functional Partnership: The processes that govern how Lomond selects, purchases, onboards, and retires technology do not yet exist in a structured form. A core part of this role is designing them, in partnership with the Head of IT Services, procurement, legal, and finance.
- Commercial Administration: You will maintain the commercial backbone of the application estate, ensuring contracts, renewals, and licensing are actively managed rather than passively consumed.
Required Experience
Must Have
- Demonstrable experience in application portfolio management, IT asset management, or a closely related discipline involving software estate governance in organisations of 500+ employees, ideally with experience of rapid growth or acquisition-driven scaling.
- Proven ability to build frameworks and processes, not just operate existing ones: you have designed governance from scratch or materially improved what you inherited.
- Experience managing technology vendor relationships at a commercial and governance level, including contract tracking, licence management, and renewal preparation.
- Enough technical understanding to evaluate how applications fit within a wider technology ecosystem: integration points, data flows, SSO and authentication, and API connectivity. You do not need to be an engineer, but you need to ask the right questions and understand the answers.
- Experience working cross-functionally with procurement, legal, finance, and business stakeholders to deliver structured outcomes.
- Comfortable producing clear, data-driven reporting for senior leadership audiences.
Nice to Have
- ITIL certification or equivalent service management framework experience.
- Experience with Microsoft 365 licensing and SaaS cost governance at scale.
- PE-backed business experience; familiarity with exit readiness, investor due diligence, and the expectation to demonstrate efficient technology spend.
- M&A integration experience, particularly managing the technology implications of high-volume acquisitions.
- Property, distributed retail, franchise, or multi-site service business experience.
Application Portfolio Manager/Software Asset Manager (high-growth, M&A/PE environment) employer: Ethos BeathChapman
Join a dynamic and ambitious PE-backed business in central London, where you will have the unique opportunity to shape and govern the technology landscape from the ground up. With a strong focus on employee growth and a collaborative work culture, this role offers the chance to design innovative processes and make impactful decisions that drive value across the organisation. Enjoy the benefits of working in a high-growth environment, with four days a week in the office, fostering both professional development and a supportive team atmosphere.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Application Portfolio Manager/Software Asset Manager (high-growth, M&A/PE environment)
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in your industry, especially those who work in PE-backed businesses. Attend events, join relevant online groups, and don’t be shy about asking for informational interviews. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings!
✨Tip Number 2
Showcase your skills in action! If you’ve got experience in application portfolio management, consider creating a mini-case study or presentation that highlights your process design and governance skills. This can really set you apart during interviews and show how you can add value.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for those tricky questions! Think about how you would approach building frameworks from scratch and managing vendor relationships. Practise articulating your thought process clearly, as this will demonstrate your strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We’re always on the lookout for talented individuals who can help shape the future of technology governance. Plus, applying directly can sometimes give you a better chance of getting noticed by hiring managers.
We think you need these skills to ace Application Portfolio Manager/Software Asset Manager (high-growth, M&A/PE environment)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Us Your Process Design Skills:Since this role is all about building and designing processes from scratch, make sure to highlight any experience you have in creating frameworks. We want to see how you've tackled similar challenges in the past!
Be Clear About Your Vendor Management Experience:This position involves managing vendor relationships, so don’t hold back on sharing your experiences. Tell us about how you've handled contracts, renewals, and licensing in previous roles. We love a good story!
Demonstrate Your Cross-Functional Collaboration:You’ll be working closely with various teams like procurement, legal, and finance. Make sure to mention any collaborative projects you've been part of, showcasing your ability to work across different functions.
Apply Through Our Website!:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity. Don’t miss out!
How to prepare for a job interview at Ethos BeathChapman
✨Know Your Stuff
Make sure you understand the ins and outs of application portfolio management. Brush up on your knowledge of software governance, vendor relationships, and lifecycle management. Being able to discuss specific examples from your past experience will show that you’re not just familiar with the concepts but have actually applied them.
✨Showcase Your Process Design Skills
Since this role involves building processes from scratch, be prepared to talk about how you've designed frameworks in previous roles. Bring examples of how you’ve improved existing processes or created new ones, and be ready to discuss the impact they had on the organisation.
✨Cross-Functional Collaboration is Key
This position requires working closely with various departments like procurement, legal, and finance. Highlight your experience in cross-functional teams and how you’ve successfully partnered with different stakeholders to achieve structured outcomes. Share specific instances where collaboration led to better decision-making.
✨Prepare for Technical Questions
While you don’t need to be an engineer, having a solid understanding of how applications fit into the broader technology ecosystem is crucial. Be ready to discuss integration points, data flows, and API connectivity. Prepare some questions to ask the interviewers about their current technology landscape to demonstrate your interest and insight.
