Portfolio Planning - Vice President

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Purpose of Job

We're looking for a Portfolio Planning Vice President to us SMBC Group. In this role you would:

• Support the Head of Portfolio Planning in the management of SMBC EMEAs transformation portfolio, providing holistic visibility across the portfolio, enabling informed decision making, prioritisation, and optimisation of key initiatives, ensuring effective budget / resource allocation and risk management
• Support the intake, triage, and prioritization process for change initiatives across the EMEA, maintaining a clear view of demand vs. capacity
• Manage TCMG / project budget / headcount including forecasting and tracking
• Lead annual planning activities for EMEA Transformation & Change Management Group covering project demand, budget and headcount
• Deliver executive management reporting and insights providing transparency on portfolio performance, risks, dependencies, and capacity to support senior management decision-making

Background

• The Transformation and Change Management Group (TCMG) provides the SMBC enterprise professional project, programme and portfolio management (P3M) resource and expertise to the organisation. It was established as an independent, centralized business function operating at a strategic level to provide enterprise-wide oversight, standards and delivery of change.

• The oversight function includes governance, guidance, best practices, mentoring and up-skilling project managers from other departments and BAU staff.
• Implementation of a standard enterprise-wide project framework including tools, templates and standardized processes. The aim is that TCMG ensures strategic alignment between business objectives and projects executed.
• TCMG is also a resource centre/ centre of excellence. It is comprised of professionally qualified project, programme and change managers, business analysts and junior analysts. These are divided into multi-disciplinary teams with report lines to a Team Lead.
• Portfolio Planning Provide holistic oversight and visibility across the EMEA change portfolio to enable informed decision making, prioritisation, and optimisation of key initiatives, ensuring effective budget / resource allocation and risk management

Facts / Scale

• Successful design and delivery of the Transformation & Change Portfolio is expected to be a business-critical activity and key to delivering the strategic objectives of SMBC EMEA and the mid term management plan (MTMP).
• The scale of the Transformation & Change Portfolio will vary over time, but is 30+ programmes / projects with an estimated budget of c. USD 150+ million per annum
• The Transformation & Change Management Group consists of c.100 FTE, of which 5 FTE Portfolio Planning

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

Strategic Business Planning

• Lead annual planning cycle, aligning portfolio investments with business objectives, co-ordinating across various teams involved in the delivery of Change and Transformation.
• Provide insights and analysis to inform prioritisation and enable senior management decision making
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on portfolio health and optimization opportunities.

Executive Reporting & Governance

• Manage delivery of high-quality executive reporting (e.g. Board / ExCo / Transformation Committee) on portfolio performance, change agenda progress, and strategic alignment.
• Own PPM tooling and process, ensuring continuous enhancement to current tooling and processes to ensure efficiency and transparency
• Ensure transparency and traceability of decisions  

Change Demand & Portfolio Oversight

• Co-ordinate the intake, triage, and prioritization process for change initiatives across the business.
• Maintain a clear view of demand vs. capacity and ensure alignment with strategic priorities.
• Collaborate with delivery leads to monitor progress, risks, and interdependencies across the portfolio.

Budget & Resource Management

• Manage the portfolio budget reporting, including forecasting, tracking, and variance analysis.
• Partner with Planning, IT & Finance to ensure accurate and timely reporting of financials and resource
• Headcount management: provide a consolidated view of headcount requirements for the purpose of robust budget management, prioritisation and identification of efficiency opportunities
• Spend management: provide a consolidated view of expense (Opex) and investment (Capex) spend across all Change & Transformation related activities

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Essential

• Previous experience in Transformation / Change, Planning, Governance and/or COO (5+ years) preferably within financial services
• Strong analytical skillset – able to derive management insight from complex data
• Strong experience of working with MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Strong organisational skills including ability to set and communicate operating cadence/timelines
• Ability to efficiently multitask
• Clear verbal and written communication skills at multiple levels (English) in an international context
• Ability to remain calm under pressure
• Proven ability to engage stakeholders at multiple levels and capable of influencing to gain agreement and resolve conflict
• Embracing a mindset of continuous improvement

Desirable

• Experience of developing Transformation processes and strategy
• Experience of working with financial and/or headcount planning tools (e.g. Anaplan)
• Experience of design and build of Operational Management Information (MI) including use of relevant tools/systems (e.g. QlikSense, GCP Analytics, PowerBI, Tableau etc..)
• Financial Management or other relevant professional qualifications

Challenges

• The current management information in this domain is relatively immature and enhancement will require co-ordination across a number of internal teams.
• Not all of the programmes / projects and associated budget is owned by TCMG so require co-ordination between a number of other teams e.g. ITSD, STPD

What we offer

For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.

As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:

• Hybrid and flexible working 
• Competitive paid leave days
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance 
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services  
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities 
• Ambitious remuneration package

So, if you like a challenge and want to continuously grow and develop in a role where you will be supported along the way by a dynamic and diverse team, apply today!!