At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead application lifecycle governance and design processes for a high-growth tech environment.
- Company: Dynamic PE-backed business in central London with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, growth opportunities, and a collaborative work culture.
- Other info: Join a team where your contributions directly impact business success.
- Why this job: Shape the future of technology governance in a rapidly expanding organisation.
- Qualifications: Experience in application portfolio management and process design in large organisations.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ 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 (high-growth, M&A/PE environment) in London 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 a commitment to professional development and a vibrant office atmosphere just four days a week.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Application Portfolio Manager (high-growth, M&A/PE environment) in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in your industry, attend events, and connect with potential colleagues on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company and its culture. Understand their recent acquisitions and how they manage their application portfolio. This will help you tailor your answers and show that you're genuinely interested in the role.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your pitch! Be ready to explain how your experience aligns with the responsibilities of the Application Portfolio Manager role. Highlight your ability to design processes and manage vendor relationships effectively.
✨Tip Number 4
Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, it shows you're serious about joining our ambitious team and contributing to our growth.
We think you need these skills to ace Application Portfolio Manager (high-growth, M&A/PE environment) in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Application Portfolio Manager role. Highlight your experience in application portfolio management and any frameworks you've built from scratch. We want to see how you can bring order and visibility to our tech landscape!
Showcase Your Process Design Skills:Since this role is all about designing processes, don’t shy away from sharing examples of how you've created or improved governance frameworks in the past. We’re looking for someone who can take the initiative and shape our technology governance!
Highlight Cross-Functional Collaboration:This position involves working closely with various teams like procurement, legal, and finance. Make sure to mention any experiences where you’ve successfully partnered with different departments to achieve structured outcomes. We love a team player!
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 don’t miss out on any important updates. Let’s get started on this exciting journey together!
How to prepare for a job interview at Ethos BeathChapman
✨Know Your Application Lifecycle
Make sure you understand the end-to-end application lifecycle and be ready to discuss how you would design and implement governance processes from scratch. Think about examples from your past experience where you've successfully managed applications through their full lifecycle.
✨Showcase Your Cross-Functional Collaboration Skills
This role requires working closely with various teams like procurement, legal, and finance. Prepare specific examples of how you've partnered with different departments in previous roles to achieve structured outcomes. Highlight your ability to communicate effectively across functions.
✨Demonstrate Your Vendor Management Expertise
Be prepared to talk about your experience managing technology vendor relationships. Discuss how you've handled contract tracking, licensing, and renewals in the past. If you have any insights on how to rationalise a portfolio of vendors, share those too!
✨Bring Data-Driven Insights
Since this role involves producing clear, data-driven reporting for senior leadership, think about how you can present data effectively. Prepare to discuss how you've used data to inform decisions in your previous roles, especially in relation to technology spend and application performance.
