JP Aug12 PortfolioManagementOfficer

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Section 1: Job Description


Job Title:         Portfolio Management Officer               Post No: 5016 & 5019
Band: D                                                       Job family: Professional and Services
Directorate: B&CS                                             Section/Dept: IT, Technology Portfolio
No. of Direct Reports: 0                                      No. of Indirect Reports: 0
Reports to (Position): Portfolio Manager


Job Purpose:

To deliver RBG Kew’s mission by:

Co-ordinating activities and administering key functions in the Technology Portfolio Management Office to support and
improve the efficient delivery of the programmes and projects that are delivering to the Breathing Plant Programme
and 5yr business plan. This role will need to be performed in line with Kew PPM and Best Management Practice ™
governance standards as required by Defra and Cabinet Office to maintain funding streams and satisfy senior
stakeholders.

The role reports directly to the Portfolio Manager working as part of in an agile, team-based environment with other
project professionals reporting into the C.I.O.
Job Context:
The Technology Portfolio is predominantly Defra-funded by approximately £4m pa and has a number of programmes
and projects delivering technology based solutions on behalf of the business units in Kew (inc. Science & Horticulture,
Library and Archives, Content and Learning, Finance, HR and IT). Each of the programmes and projects require
centralised co-ordination to provide a cohesive set of deliverables and good dependency management. The delivery
of the activities will require involvement with a large number of stakeholders including the Programme and Project
Managers, their Steering Groups, the Portfolio Steering Group members and other senior stakeholders. The
governance function affects the reputation of the entire Portfolio. This is an interesting and diverse job, which requires
the post-holder to see numerous aspects of Kew’s business, the issues affecting it and how the Portfolio will deliver a
change for good in line with Kew’s 5 year Rolling Strategic Business Plan which aims to increase the proportion of
revenue which is self-generated through increased sales and fund raising activities.

Kew is a rewarding, challenging and well-respected environment with many staff benefits including flexible working,
pension and staff discounts to several popular visitor attractions.



Accountabilities:
1.   Reviewing, Reporting and Managing:                                                                              30%
     Accountable for reviewing and reporting against progress plans; tracking risks and issues against
     these plans and recommending further actions, managing financials and dependencies for
     programmes and projects and working with project managers to address key issues and following up
     outstanding actions with the team to ensure closure and progress against the plans. Managing the
     Portfolio-level delivery plan and status workbook.
     Ensure programmes and projects update management documentation monthly.
2.   Information Management:                                                                                         15%
     Ensuring master copies are maintained of all Portfolio information; generating necessary quality and
     assurance management documentation to ensure ad-hoc, short notice information requests from
     Kew, Defra and Cabinet Office can be quickly and accurately prepared; maintaining, controlling and
     updating Portfolio documentation; maintaining an electronic library of Portfolio information.
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3.   Financial accounting:                                                                                              30%
     Assisting the Portfolio Manager and Project Managers with budget control, critically evaluating and
     identifying anomalies. Analysing the underlying causes of issues and working as part of a team to
     address them by proactively advising on suitable course of actions and updating financials monthly.
     Key to analysing the financials is the ensuring consistent reporting to Defra through strong analytical,
     problems solving skills combined with an ability to recommend suitable course of actions and
     escalating where appropriate to the Portfolio Manager.
4.   Quality Control and Change Control:                                                                                15%
     Maintaining and improving practices to ensure consistency within the Portfolio’s governance
     arrangements, including project planning, reporting, change control, analysing risks and maintaining
     and updating the Portfolio level risk and issues register
     Acting as a critical friend to programme and project delivery teams at initiation and throughout the
     lifecycle of the programmes and projects, ensuring that a common approach is adopted and good
     practice is shared. Challenging working practices and culture that are not maximising effectiveness
     or contributing to successful project delivery.
     Carrying out health checks and advising on solutions and prompting timely actions and reporting on
     whether they have been carried out
5.   Administrator:                                                                                                     10%
     Generating a strategic overview of the Portfolio, it’s current state, interdependencies key issues and
     financial status for upward reporting senior management, Defra and Cabinet Office as required..
     Responsible for organising and managing secretariat duties for project and Portfolio Steering Group
     meetings.
     Secretarial duties at Steering Group meetings including (but not exclusively) the organisation of
     meetings, managing attendance, setting agendas, preparation of and submission of papers to the
     group, minute taking and reporting.
     Administer the Change Request and Quality Review processes on behalf of the PMO.
     Administer the compilation of ad-hoc reports.
     Administer the receipt, identification and of all Portfolio records and other documents that must be
     approved by the Portfolio Manager and Steering Group.


Management of Resources

Financial Responsibilities: All staff are responsible for management of their own time and resources.
         .
1.     As part of the responsibility for updating financials for the whole Portfolio on a monthly basis, the post-holder will
       be responsible for monitoring allocated budgets to each programme and project and updating the Portfolio
       Manager where budgets exceed tolerances, or forecasts seem inaccurate.

Management of People

1.     None
2.




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Position within the Team –




Job Description Agreed

Job Holder                           Simone Jagoe                         Date ............................................



Line Manager (F7) or above           David Ivell                          Date ............................................
                                                   (Signatures)




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Section 2: Person Specification

Education and Experience

Essential
Professional qualification in Project Management such as PRINCE2, P3O, MSP or equivalent
Educated to degree level or equivalent work experience in a Technology, Engineering, Science or Business subject
Experiencing of tracking and reporting on projects: specifically project planning techniques, analysis, reporting, risks
and issues analysis and procedures for management of these.
Experience of Financial Management within Projects: specifically cost estimating, cost tracking and analysis and
presenting data in appropriate formats.
Experience of Information Management; specifically management of physical and electronic filing systems, version
control and governance.

Desirable
Experience of working with Government Bodies
MS Tools and techniques
An ability to work in a nimble PMO environment and participate in knowledge sharing experiences.



Job Specific Competencies –

Essential
Ability to adhere to and maintain a set of governance standards.
Ability to identify and recommend improvements in quality control processes.
Ability to manage a change control process.
Excellent organisational skills
Ability to write and present clearly and concisely
Ability to plan ahead, articulate the activities required
Demonstrable strong planning and risk management skills
Numerate and comfortable working with large amounts of numerical data
Good communication skills
Comfortable working with senior representatives of the business and usefully engage time-limited stakeholders.
Experience of working in a resource-limited environment
Effective interpersonal skills
Proactive attitude, takes ownership of problems
Consultative and highly communicative



Desirable
Familiarity with government project management processes



Kew Competency Framework:

Competency                                                                                    Essential ()
1.Leading and Influencing                                                      ()
2.Developing High Performance                                                  
3.Collaboration                                                                
4.Thinking with Vision
5.Making Effective Decisions

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6. Delivering Value for money                                                 
7. Making things happen                                                       
8. Delivering in Partnership
9. Changing with Pace



Section 3: Additional Information (Only complete this section if the post is being evaluated)

Complexity, Problem-solving and Thinking challenge:

Fact-finding, analysis and resolution of problems and issues
The post holder will be expected to work independently on the analysis of a range of management issues to resolve
work prioritisation conflicts; know when to escalate issues and concerns to senior managers and make an assessment
as to when action can be taken straight away. The post holder will be expected to find creative approaches to solving
portfolio management issues regarding the co-ordination of activities that require large stakeholder group involvement.
The post holder will also be expected to have a solid understanding of the scope and direction of the Portfolio and its
component programmes and projects, with the ability to handle and manage information requests from the
organisation and Defra. This will require a tenacious attitude with desire to succeed and achieving this by knowing
how to inspire and motivate others into doing the same.
Autonomy
The post holder will be expected to have a considerable level of autonomy in carrying out his or her duties. A strong
degree of self reliance to get the job done and carry people with them to work towards challenging deadlines in a
potentially ambiguous, and priority conflicting environment.



Decision Making:

Typical decisions required of post holder
The post-holder will be required to make informed decisions regarding the PMO based on their significant experience
in the project management environment and speak to suppliers and the wider stakeholder group on behalf of the PMO
and the responsibilities it holds. Based on a full understanding of the programmes and projects reports and
responsibility for reviewing them, the post holder will be expected to provide risk-based advice to support the Project
Managers, assisting with the thought process of defining actions and being able to handle non-standard situations with
good judgement because of the wider knowledge they have across the Portfolio. The post holder will be expected to
take ownership of their work with weekly meetings to review PMO team progress.
Typical decisions requiring approval by line manager/others
The post-holder will have to seek approval for all requests from Programme and Project Managers that will materially
change the scope, cost, quality, time, benefits or risks of any project delivery.
Decisions that are strategic and vision-led will also need to be approved by the Portfolio Manager. Other requirements
required by Kew processes will require that the manager signs-off and approves any expenditure and other expected
HR and H&S requirements.



Communication and Relationships:

Internally    Will be required to work cooperatively with others across Kew and will be required to explain, and clearly
              articulate PPM methods and ways of working to instil better governance into the Portfolio’s delivery
              teams.
              The post-holder may on occasion act as a filter for senior colleagues and will have a wide ranging
              contacts with middle and senior managers to arrange meeting and papers
Externally    There will be regular contact with key suppliers within the Portfolio to support the smooth running of
              contractual agreements.
              The post-holder will also, on occasion, have contact with Defra to support information requests and
              identify requirements to support the processes required to satisfy funding and approvals bodies.



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