Portfolio Sponsor

Key Information

Job title: Portfolio Sponsor

Salary: From £56,000      Grade: Pay band 3

Contract type: TfL     Reference: 1451

Team: Major Projects and Environment & Technology     Directorate: Investment Planning (IP)

Contract details: Full-time     Location: Palestra with hybrid working
Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements

Permanent and fixed-term opportunities

One fixed term contract opportunity (Environment & Technology) for 6 months with extension possible

The fixed term contract opportunity is also available to employees of the GLA Group of companies as a secondment opportunity
If you are successful in securing this role a secondment opportunity, you will need to be released from your existing position, so please ensure that you make your line manager aware of your application. Higher Duty Pay may apply, depending on individual circumstances

One permanent vacancy (Major Projects)

Application closing date: 24 June 2025 @ 2359

Why work for us?

Transport is at the heart of the greatest economic, social, and environmental challenges the world faces. And London is one of the world’s greatest cities. The work of Transport for London’s Investment Planning (IP) directorate touches every corner of the business – we play an integral role in the development and outcomes of projects that will help shape London.

We now have opportunities to join our team as a Portfolio Sponsor.

The Portfolio Sponsor position will ensure portfolio outcomes are aligned with the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and TfL Business Plan. This requires oversight across their respective portfolios, which are subject to a high level of interest and scrutiny from the public, boroughs, stakeholders and City Hall. The role also offers an opportunity to shape common processes and to support robust investment decision-making – helping Transport for London choose the right investments to deliver its targets and ambitions across its entire transport network to create:

• A safer network
• A greener network
• A more accessible network
• A better quality, more reliable, and more efficient network

As well as those who share our profession, we want people around the world to continue to look at London and its iconic transport network admiringly.

We have an exciting opportunity within the Environment & Technology team. The role will co-ordinate a strategic view of the Technology Portfolio, which renews and improves TfL’s technology estate to support the operation of our services, the safety of our colleagues and customers, and drives the use of sustainable travel options. The portfolio includes a wide range of schemes from systems to tackle fare evasion and operate TfL’s cycle hire scheme, to new technology trials to better manage the road network and delivering improvements in safety and security for our customers and staff.  In this role you’d be responsible for oversight of a c.£240m budget per annum, working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure TfL is delivering value for money and to its strategic outcomes.

With another opportunity in the Major Projects team which leads the Sponsorship of the largest, most complex and novel projects including the multi-million-pound HS2 scope delivered for TfL by HS2 Ltd from Euston and Old Oak Common to ensure our customers can make seamless journeys safely and efficiently once HS2 is operating. This programme includes multi modal schemes including LU, Buses, Cycling the Euston Healthy streets programme. 

In this role, you’ll be responsible for the integration between projects within the HS2 programme, working across Investment Planning, other departments across the TfL Value Chain and with a wide range of external stakeholders. You will act as a coordination point within TfL for HS2. You’ll support and challenge delivery teams and be highly collaborative with a passion for empowering and motivating project teams to embody the TfL Vision and Values. You’ll also make sure that we learn lessons from the monitoring and evaluation of the things that we do. You’ll help TfL make the right investment choices to deliver its targets and ambitions across London.

As part of our continued focus on wellbeing and diversity across the department, Investment Planning welcomes and supports flexible working arrangements including part time and job share opportunities and many people are already benefitting from this. As such, we would like to highlight that this campaign is also open to those who already work flexibly or would like to explore this as an option.

What are we looking for?

A good Portfolio Sponsor has a passion for the role and a willingness to learn, but we are also looking for the following qualities and abilities in you:

Key Accountabilities 

• Ensuring integration within the portfolio, across the Investment Delivery Planning Directorate and with other departments within TfL, you’ll be responsible for managing and maintaining internal and external stakeholder relationships; deputise for the Lead Portfolio Sponsor or Lead Sponsor and line manage if required
• You will also own all key information and reporting relating to the portfolio, including milestones, finance and budgets, risks and issues and benefit monitoring, providing briefings to the Lead Portfolio Sponsor and senior management

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (Essential)
• Highly numerate, good IT skills, detail conscious and well organised (Essential)
• The ability to engage effectively with senior managers in TfL (Essential)
• Ability to work in cross business teams, resolving conflict and motivating and leading matrix teams (Essential)
• Able to organise and present information to senior stakeholder groups and recommendations to senior management (Essential)
• Have the ability to influence and negotiate with internal and external stakeholders at senior levels (Essential)
• Ability to prioritise multiple requirements to achieve business outcomes (Essential)

Knowledge

• Degree level education or equivalent experience (Essential)
• Considerable knowledge of Project Sponsorship in the public sector (Essential)
• Thorough knowledge of business case development, project requirements setting, outcome definition and benefits management (Essential)
• A full understanding of TfL strategy, policies, standards and guidelines including corporate governance (Highly desirable)
• Holds or working towards a recognised professional qualification (e.g. APM) (Desirable)

Experience

• Experience of delivering or sponsoring projects/programmes or investment portfolios in large complex, regulated organisations where there are multiple interfaces, and delivering to time, budget and scope (Essential)
• Significant experience of using diplomacy to influence colleagues and support external delivery partners at a senior level in achieving joint objectives (Essential)
• Experience of undertaking project governance and reporting on programme / project progress to support senior level decision making (Essential)
• Experience of project or programme prioritisation, balancing conflicting requirements and demands, including funding, time and resource (Essential)

If you would like more information on these vacancies, please email:

Major Projects: jennyhamilton@tfl.gov.uk

Environment & Technology: estherdavidson@tfl.gov.uk

Interviews are provisionally scheduled to take place from 28 July 2025.

Application Process

• Please apply using your CV and a one-page covering letter
• Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and cover letter
• PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.

Benefits

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow.  Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below:

• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home or 75% reimbursement on a 28-day flexi ticket
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.