Lean Portfolio Manager

Knutsford, United Kingdom; London, United Kingdom; Northampton, United Kingdom; Glasgow, United Kingdom

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Date live: 21/04/2026

Business Area: Decision Intelligence

Area of Expertise: Change

Reference Code: JR-0000107710

Contract: Permanent

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Join us as a Lean Portfolio Manager at Barclays, where you will play a pivotal role in shaping and guiding portfolio strategy from vision through to delivery. You will ensure strategic intent flows consistently across activities, enabling value‑based portfolio decisions through clear, pre‑established decision criteria. You will establish and maintain robust metrics and value‑tracking mechanisms to provide stakeholders with transparent, real‑time portfolio insights. The role will involve implementing Lean governance standards, managing capacity allocation, and driving continuous improvement across delivery. Working in close partnership with Business and Technology leadership, you will foster shared ownership, align priorities, and embed consistent ways of working to maximise value delivery across the portfolio.

To be successful as a Lean Portfolio Manager, you should have:

Proven experience in portfolio prioritisation, balancing strategic value, risk, and delivery capacity
Great risk awareness and control mindset, with experience managing risk and controls at portfolio level
Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and engagement skills, with the ability to influence across multiple levels of the organisation
Demonstrated experience liaising with senior leadership up to Executive Committee (ExCo) level
Excellent communication skills, including the ability to turn complex information into clear, concise briefing materials
An Agile mindset, with experience working in Agile environments and an understanding of Barclays UK Ways of Working
Solid data management and data manipulation capabilities
Advanced Excel skills and proficiency across the full Microsoft Office suite, particularly for analysis, reporting, and executive presentations
Experience using Jira and related Agile delivery tools
High‑degree competencies in analysis, judgement, and decision‑making
Solid finance awareness, including experience working with or supporting financial products and investment cases
Ability to align strategy with execution through data‑driven insights and portfolio governance

Some other highly valued skills may include:

SAFe Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) accreditation or equivalent certification
SAFe/Agile Product Management or Product Owner certification
Demonstrated experience in Product Management within an Agile or SAFe environment
Experience as a SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) or solid understanding of the RTE role and responsibilities
Background in Business Management support with a focus on Portfolio Management
Proven ability to align strategy, investment funding, and execution across portfolios
Experience managing value streams, roadmaps, and prioritisation in complex, matrixed organizations

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role can be based in either Knutsford, London, Glasgow or Northampton.

Purpose of the role

To support the portfolio management team in the delivery of successful projects, while ensuring that portfolio management processes and practices are aligned with controls and governance standards and that projects are aligned with the organization's strategic objectives.

Accountabilities

Facilitate portfolio prioritisation, ensuring the portfolio is compliant with the established control framework, including oversight of controls and standards.
Support the effective governance of the portfolio, helping establish and operate effective Portfolio Governance that enables quality, data driven decision making, ensuring executive reporting is fit for purpose and timely.
Monitor portfolio performance, including tracking of programme and project progress, identification of thematic portfolio risks and issues, and reporting on portfolio status to senior management and key stakeholders.
Facilitate the management of the portfolio Book of Work, prioritisation and dependencies of change initiatives, considering factors like resource availability, stakeholder buy-in, and potential risks.
Oversight of change delivery to ensure alignment with relevant policies and standards, driving consistent, robust controls data; monitoring indicators of control adherence, acting to remediate any weaknesses in the controls; and identifying and implementing actions to drive greater maturity against key control indicators.
Review, resolve, manage and escalate portfolio risks and issues, challenging where appropriate and actively supporting the resolution of variances as necessary.
Engage and influence all stakeholders to help them to understand their responsibilities and fulfil them effectively through clear, timely communication and well facilitated portfolio management processes.
Support an environment of effective delivery by empowering portfolio management resources, utilising data led thinking to inform decisions, leverage expertise, and drive accountability and transparency.
Operate as a source of best practice guidance and expertise, to ensure consistent excellence around controls, and governance (including training) is embedded across the portfolio.

Assistant Vice President Expectations

To advise and influence decision making, contribute to policy development and take responsibility for operational effectiveness. Collaborate closely with other functions/ business divisions.
Lead a team performing complex tasks, using well developed professional knowledge and skills to deliver on work that impacts the whole business function. Set objectives and coach employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes
If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
OR for an individual contributor, they will lead collaborative assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will identify new directions for assignments and/ or projects, identifying a combination of cross functional methodologies or practices to meet required outcomes.
Consult on complex issues; providing advice to People Leaders to support the resolution of escalated issues.
Identify ways to mitigate risk and developing new policies/procedures in support of the control and governance agenda.
Take ownership for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work done.
Perform work that is closely related to that of other areas, which requires understanding of how areas coordinate and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation sub-function.
Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategy.
Engage in complex analysis of data from multiple sources of information, internal and external sources such as procedures and practises (in other areas, teams, companies, etc).to solve problems creatively and effectively.
Communicate complex information. 'Complex' information could include sensitive information or information that is difficult to communicate because of its content or its audience.
Influence or convince stakeholders to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.

More about working at Barclays

Barclays offices across the UK are designed to be places where our people can come together to do their best work, surrounded by excellent facilities for both work and leisure. These are warm, diverse, supportive communities in some of the UK’s best locations, where everyone can thrive.

Our approach to hybrid working ensures there’s the right balance of working alongside colleagues at our onsite locations, as required for each role. For business areas that offer a hybrid working experience, this will be in a structured way, where colleagues work at an onsite location on fixed, ‘anchor’, days of the week. Some roles may require full onsite working. Please discuss the working pattern requirements for the role you are applying for with the hiring manager.

We continue to embed and review our hybrid working environment and remain in a phase of testing and learning. This means that working arrangements could change, with reasonable notice, to align with the needs of our business.

Barclays welcomes applications from all candidates and is committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments (accommodations) are put in place to allow for a fair and inclusive recruitment process. For more information and how to request one, please review Adjustments to the recruitment process.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive culture and environment, that recognises and supports ways to balance your personal needs, alongside the professional needs of our business. Providing the opportunity for all our employees globally to work flexibly empowers each of us to work in a way that suits our lives, as well as enabling us to better service our customers’ and clients’ needs.

Our approach to working flexibly is designed to support you to balance your life and to accommodate diverse needs, whilst still allowing us to meet our business needs. If you’d like to request a flexible working arrangement, please discuss this with your hiring manager.

We're committed to providing a supportive and simplified experience for our candidates throughout the application and assessment process. Here, you will find information about what to expect and some guidance around your assessment and interview.

While the application process depends on the role, there are some constant steps, which are;

Step 1 - Your application
Step 2 - Your assessment
Step 3 - Your interview
Step 4 - Next steps

We aim to create an inclusive work environment where everyone can reach their full potential. If you require any adjustments to our recruitment process, please click here to learn more.

Find out more information here.

Barclays offers a diverse, inclusive and engaged culture. A place where people can bring their whole selves to work and be respected for who they are, valued for what they do and celebrated for their contribution to our business and our community.
We are an equal opportunity employer and opposed to discrimination on any grounds. It is the policy of Barclays to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, colour, creed, religion, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by law.

Barclays is required by law to confirm that you have the Legal Right to Work in any role that you apply for. If you currently hold a work visa sponsored by Barclays, or you would require sponsorship from Barclays, you must declare this as part of your application. Sponsored visas are role and entity specific and any changes must be reviewed. It is important that you ensure you are working on the correct visa at all times. Failure to accurately disclose your visa status or Legal Right to Work may result in your application or any employment offer being withdrawn at any time.

The Barclays Way

This is the spirit of Barclays. It’s why we exist, what we believe and how we behave. But most importantly, it’s how we make decisions, take action and get things done.

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