Senior Portfolio Analyst Lead in London

UCL is one of the world’s leading universities and a place where education, research and innovation thrive. Our estate is central to enabling this mission. The UCL estate includes more than 240 buildings, over 6.5 million square feet of academic space and around 4,500 student bedrooms across our Bloomsbury campus and UCL East in Stratford.

UCL Estates is responsible for managing and transforming this diverse and complex estate. From long-term masterplanning and capital programmes to the delivery of day-to-day operational services, our multidisciplinary team of around 350 professionals works together to create safe, sustainable and inspiring spaces for our community of more than 46,000 students and 13,000 staff.

Guided by our Estates Strategy, we are delivering ambitious programmes that will shape the future of our campuses, improve the student and staff experience and ensure our estate remains resilient, efficient and environmentally sustainable for decades to come.

The Senior Portfolio Analyst Lead is a key role within the Portfolio Management Office (PMO), which sits at the heart of UCL Estates’ project and programme delivery. The PMO provides oversight, governance and insight across a large and diverse portfolio of projects, including the Capital Programme, Minor Works and the Strategic Maintenance Programme.

In this role, you will provide expert portfolio-level analysis, governance and assurance to support the successful delivery of projects across the estate. Working closely with senior stakeholders, project teams and delivery partners, you will analyse performance data, identify trends, risks and cross-dependencies, and ensure projects are aligned with UCL Estates’ priorities and governance standards.

You will lead the production of high-quality portfolio reporting, dashboards and management information that enable senior leaders to make informed, evidence-based decisions. You will also play a central role in coordinating governance processes such as stage gate reviews, project health checks and portfolio assurance activities, while contributing to the ongoing development and maturity of PMO practices across UCL Estates.

As a senior member of the PMO team, you will also support and guide colleagues, champion best practice in project and programme management, and help strengthen a culture of continuous improvement across the portfolio.

You are an experienced PMO or portfolio professional with a strong track record of supporting complex programmes and project portfolios. You have significant experience working within project governance frameworks and are confident analysing large volumes of data to produce clear, insightful reporting for senior stakeholders.

You bring strong analytical and problem-solving skills, enabling you to identify trends, risks and opportunities across programmes and translate complex information into clear and actionable insights. Your ability to build effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders allows you to influence decision-making and support the successful delivery of projects across the organisation.

You are highly organised, comfortable managing multiple priorities and motivated by improving processes and ways of working. With excellent communication skills and a collaborative approach, you enjoy supporting teams, sharing best practice and helping to strengthen governance and performance across a large and dynamic portfolio. Ideally, you will hold a recognised project or programme management qualification such as PRINCE2 or MSP, or have equivalent professional experience.

Most importantly, you are excited by the opportunity to contribute to the delivery of major programmes that will shape the future of UCL’s campuses and support one of the world’s leading universities.

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.