Head of Portfolio Office

Are you looking for a role where you can help shape something new, make a visible difference and work alongside people who care deeply about their place? If so, HSCCA could be a brilliant next step. We are building a new Combined County Authority for Hampshire and the Solent, bringing together partners across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton to bring investment to the region and to create opportunities for our people, places, communities and businesses.

As the Head of Portfolio Office you will play a key role in translating strategic objectives into practical, deliverable change across programmes, projects, and organisational initiatives. Working closely with stakeholders, you will analyse business needs, define requirements, map current and future processes, and support informed decision-making around services, systems, operating models, and ways of working. By reducing ambiguity, identifying improvements, and ensuring solutions align with user needs, statutory requirements, and organisational priorities, you will help strengthen change delivery, improve organisational readiness, and support the development of sustainable and effective new arrangements across HSCCA.

In this role, you’ll play a crucial part in ensuring our teams have the tools, knowledge, and processes they need to deliver a high-quality service. You will:

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• Set the Portfolio Office direction for HSCCA - defining the operating model, standards, governance, tools and ways of working.
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• Lead portfolio prioritisation, sequencing and pipeline management - helping senior leaders make evidence-based choices where demand exceeds capacity or funding.
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• Lead project appraisal and business case challenge - ensuring proposals are tested consistently before they proceed, with clear expectations for strategic alignment, benefits, affordability, risks, dependencies, readiness & value for money.
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• Lead portfolio reporting and performance insight - providing high-quality, decision ready information to the Executive Team, Boards and governance forums on progress, delivery confidence, benefits, risks, issues, milestones, affordability and interdependencies.
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• Lead capacity, resource and affordability planning.
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We’re looking for someone with:

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• Extensive senior-level experience of building or reshaping a Portfolio Office, PMO or strategic project governance function in a complex public sector environment.
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• Strong capability in portfolio management, including strategic alignment, prioritisation, sequencing, integrated planning, pipeline management, governance, assurance, reporting, risk and issue management, dependency management and delivery confidence assessment.
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• Experience of project appraisal, business case challenge, benefits tracking, readiness assessment and evidence-based prioritisation, with the ability to test proposals before they proceed.
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• Excellent stakeholder management, facilitation, communication and influencing skills, with credibility across senior leaders, elected Members, delivery teams, corporate services, partners and external stakeholders.
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• Understanding of public sector accountability, assurance, value for money, inclusion, accessibility, confidentiality and responsible stewardship of public funds.
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We are building the HSCCA on the basis that how we work is as important as what we deliver. We want people who bring energy, drive, and authenticity - who are proactive, open to challenge, and motivated by progress rather than process. We value collaborative leadership: the ability to bring people together across organisational boundaries, respect the expertise of others, and create shared direction without needing to own everything.

We act in line with the Nolan Principles. We use public money responsibly, make evidence-based decisions, and hold ourselves to high standards of integrity, inclusion, and accessibility. We expect feedback to be given and received constructively, challenge to be welcomed, and relationships to be built on openness, trust, and mutual respect.

This is a complex, fast-moving environment. We need people who are energised by that.

As we take on new responsibilities devolved from Government, you will have a genuine opportunity to contribute to building a public service organisation that does things differently.

Our reward package includes:

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• A flexible working environment, with hybrid working arrangements as standard (minimum 2 days per week in our office)
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• A competitive salary and benefits package
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• Investment in your professional development and leadership growth
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• The chance to work alongside a leadership team that is committed to building an organisation where people thrive
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• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme
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The HSCCA is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and accessible workplace where everyone feels valued and able to thrive. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences, particularly those from groups that are currently underrepresented in our workforce. This includes people from ethnic minority communities, disabled people, neurodivergent people, LGBTQ+ people, parents and carers, and individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We are committed to removing barriers to employment and encourage candidates to let us know about any reasonable adjustments they may need at any stage of the recruitment process.

As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we run a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants. If you meet the essential criteria listed in the job description for this position and would like to be considered under this scheme, please state this in your application.

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. As part of this, we use anonymous shortlisting to ensure candidates are assessed solely on their skills, experience, and suitability for the role.