The Role

The Lead PMO (Project Management Office) plays a critical role in ensuring the successful delivery of a wide range of IT projects across the business. This role is responsible for the development and implementation of best practices, focusing on benefits and quality management, stakeholder management, portfolio management, and project planning, including milestone, risk, and issue management. The Lead PMO also oversees financial management, vendor management, and maintains comprehensive logs for risks, issues, assumptions, actions, and resources.

Principle Accountabilities

• PMO Leadership: Lead the PMO function, ensuring robust project intake, resource demand planning, budget management, and risk, assumption, issue, and dependency management.
• Project Governance: Establish and maintain delivery frameworks to ensure projects and programs are executed effectively and in line with business objectives.
• Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders, challenging decisions constructively and ensuring clear communication of technical issues in a non-technical manner.
• Financial Management: Oversee financial reporting and resource planning, enabling informed decision-making and ensuring projects are delivered within budget.
• Vendor Management: Engage and support third-party suppliers to ensure the successful delivery of IT projects.
• Performance Tracking: Monitor and report on project/program performance, identifying and addressing risks and issues promptly.
• Continuous Improvement: Conduct root cause analysis and audits, ensuring lessons learned are integrated into project improvements.

Skills and Experience Required

Essential:

• In-depth understanding of program delivery and governance frameworks.
• Proven experience in leading a PMO function and managing project/program managers.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Experience in financial management and project performance tracking.

Desirable:

• PRINCE2 and MSP certifications or similar.
• Proficiency in PlanView or similar portfolio management tools.
• Strong skills in data analysis, process documentation, and requirements capture.
• Experience within FMCG or similar industries.
• Knowledge of PowerBI and Excel for data manipulation.

People Management:

• Manage a team of 5-10 professionals.
• Provide guidance, support, and development opportunities for team members.

Key Relationships:

• Internal: Project Managers, Platform Leads, Business Engagement Leads, IT Business Partners, EPMO, IT Finance, GBS, GSC Project Portfolio team.
• External: Third-party vendors and suppliers.

What We Offer

In return for playing your part in building our future, you will receive a comprehensive compensation package with salary, bonus scheme and many extras including a great pension scheme, generous holiday entitlement and hybrid/flexible working opportunities as well inspiring places to work and collaborate with purpose. Here at Imperial we will give you the opportunity to grow and learn, innovate at pace and be a part of our purpose to forge a path to a healthier future for moments of relaxation and pleasure for our consumers.

Everyone Belongs

Everyone belongs in Imperial. We are proud of being a truly inclusive organisation. We encourage and welcome applications from people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, disabilities, sexual orientation, religions or beliefs and of neuro divergence. We give fair and equal consideration to all our applicants. Please contact us at resourcing@uk.imptob.com to let us know if we can provide support in helping you complete an application and/or attend an interview.

About Us

We're a truly international company, fourth largest in our industry and operating across 119 markets. An inclusive, innovative global FMCG business supported by 25,000 employees. As we embrace a new era of growth, we are transforming. Our ways of working and culture are driven by a challenger mindset, constantly questioning the status quo where people can bring their best selves to work. Our agility and collaboration are driving our ambitions, innovation and success all supported by our award-winning development programmes that creates exciting and rewarding career opportunities for all.  Encouraging inclusion at local levels and supporting a developing and robust diversity agenda globally, we’re fully committed to creating and maintaining an environment that celebrates and respects difference