Portfolio Manager - Harrogate

Portfolio Manager Jobs

Business change and transformation has to be thoroughly planned, organized and monitored during execution if they are to be successful and efficient. A team needs to be put together, and progress needs to be regularly reported to the board. In many companies the portfolio manager is the person with these responsibilities. They oversee several workstreams or perhaps an entire company’s ongoing programmes, depending on its size.

The portfolio manager is also a line manager of the team putting the programme into action, including its analysts. How or she is in regular contact with these practitioners and acts as the channel of communication between the process staff and the board. Because he or she is in charge of several workstreams, they also need to monitor how they influence and interact with each other. The job carries a good deal of responsibility as the head of process.

The skills required

Portfolio managers are highly experienced business change and transformation professionals, and companies need to see a solid track record of delivery of multiple simultaneous workstreams to qualify for the position. You need a methodical and logical mindset too, as you are overseeing workstreams that could be distant geographically or in terms of physical similarities, where confusion can sink portfolio managers who are not on top of things.

Experience of managing portfolios in the same sector as the job advertised will be a distinct advantage, as differences between sectors can make a huge difference to how a project is managed. While most companies demand experience in a management role, others recognize that managers have to start somewhere and are looking for experienced deputies, senior staff and other such positions so they can absorb them into their own company structures.

Portfolio Manager Jobs in Harrogate

The North Yorkshire town of Harrogate came to national prominence in the 17th century as a spa town, and over the following centuries visitors would go to the place to take the waters, which they thought had healing properties. Of course, the common people would not have had the wherewithal or the ability to get to the town, especially since they would have been sick, so Harrogate became a resort for the wealthy. Hotels sprung up and the town took on a genteel atmosphere which, some would say, survives to this day. The streets of the town centre are lined with restaurants and cafes, and several large parks give the town a green feel.

Harrogate is 13 miles (21 km) north of Leeds and 18 miles (30 km) west of York. Although the Yorkshire Dales are just to the west and the North York Moors to the north east, the town is not in a national park. It is, however, separated from any major settlement by at least 10 miles of countryside in any direction. The A1(M) passes reasonably close by over to the west; Leeds and York are connected a via rail route that stops at the town.

Despite its largely affluent populace, the town does have some industry, and boasts the Harrogate International Centre, the UK’s third-largest conference and exhibition centre. Thanks to Bucks Fizz’s 1981 triumph, the Centre hosted the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by the German singer Nicole, with her song A Little Peace, something non-Eurovision fans have wished for ever since.

With an economically active populace of about 70,000 and a constant stream of professional visitors and day-trippers, Harrogate has a healthy need for logistics and supply chain professionals, meaning that Portfolio Manager positions here and in the region are not uncommon.

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Find Portfolio Manager Jobs with Cast UK

Cast UK is a specialist in the field of business change and transformation recruitment, and because we only deal with management and executive level jobs, we have a focus that keeps companies coming back to us when they need experienced portfolio managers.

We were founded in Manchester and now have offices in London and Birmingham, but our reach is much wider – every day we are helping candidates find their perfect jobs in fantastic companies the length and breadth of the UK. If you’re looking to make the change, call us today on 0333 121 3345.

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