Portfolio Manager

An established mid-tier UK bank is hiring an experienced Payments Lead to own the Payments portfolio, report directly to the Delivery Director and take ownership of the delivery of several high-priority payments initiatives across the bank. This is a senior delivery role for someone who can operate confidently across the full lifecycle of change — from early-stage shaping through to embedding new capability into the business — while keeping a portfolio of interlinked projects moving in the same direction.

The role includes:

• Owning end-to-end delivery for the Payments Portfolio, partnering closely with the wider programme leadership and delivery team across every stage of the project lifecycle.
• Shaping new initiatives from the outset — early scoping, planning, and initial business case work — through to their entry into the pipeline and prioritisation against other demand.
• Mobilising approved work: defining solutions, scope, and content, and pulling in the right resources to give each initiative a genuine shot at delivering strong value.
• Managing the web of dependencies across linked projects and programmes so each one hits its own commitments while still moving the broader portfolio forward.
• Working with business stakeholders to land agreement on realistic timelines and budgets.
• Supporting the business case process — helping quantify costs and benefits during the early and design stages.
• Ensuring new capability transitions smoothly into live operation.

Experience required:

• Deep and broad Payments experience, ideally within a UK Bank or other regulated Financial Services environment.
• Strong hands-on experience of leading Change across business and technology.
• Ability to build strong senior-level relationships, both internally and with external partners.

This is a great opportunity for someone with a natural ability to build collaborative, high-performing teams and a genuine appetite for operating in a challenging and high-accountability environment.