Market Portfolio Manager

Job Description

Location/s: Altrincham, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Colwyn Bay, Cork, Croydon, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield, Southampton
Relocation supported: Not supported
Recruiter contact: Madeleine Knight

Mott MacDonald

We’re a global engineering, management, and development consultancy.
Our purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything we do, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming our clients’ businesses, our communities and employee opportunities.

A fundamental part of this is respecting each person’s differences and striving to meet their needs.

Our values: Progress, Respect, Integrity, Drive, Excellence.

About the business unit
We help conceive, drive, and implement transport solutions for cities, regions, and asset owners/operators around the globe. From preparing the business case and​ advising on related issues - such as revenue, procurement, and environmental legislation - to delivering the completed infrastructure and helping maintain it. Our planning, engineering, environmental and management skills cover the whole project cycle. We play a major role in developing and delivering the Global Transport Sector Strategy.

Overview of role

We are looking to appoint Market Portfolio Managers to take ownership of the governance, delivery and commercial success of all projects owned by the specific portfolio in the Transport and Mobility Solutions (TMS) division. These are as follows:

1. Market Portfolio Manager Asset Management, Maintenance and Advisory
2. Market Portfolio Manager Highways
3. Market Portfolio Manager Local Streets and Infrastructure
4. Market Portfolio Manager Transport Planning and Modelling
5. Market Portfolio Manager Urban Transit

The successful candidate will champion collaboration across the whole of our Divisional, Unit and global business and help us deliver the best of Mott MacDonald to our Clients.

Reporting to the Divisional Operations Manager, you will work with the Divisional Resource Manager and the Technical Leaders to establish and maintain robust resource groups that are generally aligned to the portfolio’s primary market segment.

This role combines strategic vision, operational efficiency, leadership and client focus to deliver long-term success for the portfolio and the organisation.

Key Accountabilities
1. Portfolio Success: Deliver projects on time, safely, in compliance with BMS, within budget and to the satisfaction of clients.
2. Financial Performance: Meet or exceed portfolio financial targets, including profitability and revenue growth.
3. Client Relationships: Build strong partnerships with client directors and account leads to win and deliver appropriate work.
4. Best for Client and Mott MacDonald Outcome: Actively collaborate across portfolios, divisions and units to maximise the organisational value we bring to clients.
5. Risk and Quality Management: Mitigate risks and ensure adherence to governance and quality standards across all projects.
6. Business Growth: Contribute to winning work that aligns with the portfolio’s strategic focus and capabilities.
7. Resource Utilisation: Achieve target utilisation rates while ensuring employee well-being and development.

Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Portfolio Management
• Portfolio Planning: Working with the Divisional Development Manager, develop and manage a portfolio strategy aligned with business goals and market needs including the use of Global Delivery Service (GDS) resources.
• Utilisation: Assess the needs of the portfolio and work with the Divisional Development Manager to achieve the required workload, including engaging internally to support work led by other parts of the business and making sure sufficient and appropriate resources are assigned to our bids. To achieve this, the Market Portfolio Manager may want to appoint a Portfolio Market Leader.
• Prioritisation: Identify and prioritise projects and talent allocation and recruitment based on value, risks, client needs and resource availability.
• Strategic Talent Management: Identify recruitment needs to ensure a high performing team, address gaps and needs for the future and current markets.
2. Project Delivery and Oversight
• Governance: Ensure projects adhere to risk, quality and compliance standards, while tracking key performance metrics.
• Risk Management: Identify, mitigate and resolve risks and issues at the portfolio level.
• Financials: Oversight of project financials, ensure profitability and report performance to leadership.
3. Collaboration and Business Development
• Work Winning: Collaborate with client directors and account leads to secure and deliver appropriate projects.
• Cross-Portfolio Collaboration: Share resources, insights and best practices across portfolios, divisions and units for the “best for Mott MacDonald” outcomes.
• Practices: Engage with the appropriate Practices and utilise them to deliver high quality work (including support on resources, delivery approaches and reviews). Share lessons learnt across the Practice and support other Practice initiatives.
4. Leadership and Continuous Improvement
• Team Leadership: Inspire and mentor teams to drive performance and professional growth.
• Improvement: Implement lessons learned and innovations to enhance portfolio delivery and efficiency.

Key Performance Metrics
The primary objective of the role is to support governance, delivery and commercial success of all projects owned by the specific portfolio in a division:
• Governance: HS&W, BMS & Commercial metrics meeting targets.
• Financial: Delivery of portfolio revenue and profit to be agreed with the Divisional Operations Manager (DOM).
• Client Satisfaction: No material client issues and achieving high results in Client Questionnaires.
• GDS Delivery: Agree percentage of revenue delivered via GDS with the DOM.
• Efficient Delivery: Improved efficiency in delivery by achieving a multiplier to be agreed with the DOM.
• Growth and Utilisation: Achieve target FTE and utilisation for resource groups under the portfolio.

Candidate Specification
We estimate the role to require up to 2-4 days a week of work covered by an overhead code depending on the portfolio size. Remaining time will be fee-earning across a range of projects under your control, taking the lead on key projects within your portfolio where required.

Required Experience
1. Project and Portfolio Management:
• Proven experience managing portfolios or large projects, including budgets, resources and risks.
• Strong understanding of governance, compliance and quality standards in technical consulting or similar industries.
• Experience building and maintaining client relationships, with a focus on delivering value.
• Collaboration with client directors or similar to align project opportunities with strategic goals.
2. Leadership and Team Management:
• Experience leading diverse, high-performing teams and creating an inclusive, supportive culture.
• Skilled at managing resource allocation and fostering collaboration across teams or business units.
3. Collaboration Across Functions:
• Comfortable working across divisions and teams to achieve shared outcomes.
• Strong team player, balancing competing priorities for the greater good.

Competencies
1. Strategic Thinking:
• Ability to align portfolio activities with broader business goals and adapt to changing priorities.
• Proactive in identifying opportunities to improve performance and drive growth.
2. Inclusive Leadership:
• Skilled at leading, motivating and mentoring diverse teams, ensuring every voice is heard and valued.
• Commitment to fostering equity, diversity and inclusion in decision-making and team dynamics.
3. Communication and Relationship-Building:
• Clear and confident communicator, capable of engaging with clients, senior leaders and teams.
• Strong interpersonal skills to manage stakeholder expectations and resolve conflicts.
4. Resource and Risk Management:
• Expert in optimising resource utilisation while balancing workload and team well-being.
• Proactive in identifying risks and implementing practical solutions.
5. Adaptability and Resilience:
• Flexible and calm under pressure, able to manage change and keep teams on track.
• Problem-solver who embraces challenges and focuses on outcomes.

This role is ideal for candidates who are strategic thinkers and collaborative leaders, and who are passionate about creating inclusive, high-performing teams. Even if you do not meet all the criteria, please consider applying for the position. Your unique strengths and potential may be exactly what the role needs.

We are actively recruiting a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve. We recognise that differences in ability, skills and experience are a strength and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

How to Apply
Alongside your application, please confirm which Market Portfolio Lead position you are applying for and submit:
• An up-to-date CV
• A brief approach of no more than 1 A4 pages which should set out the following:
o How would you approach the role?
o What does your first 100 day plan look like?

Please note that the deadline for applying for this role is midnight on Monday 20th January 2025.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

Agile working

Happy to talk Flexible Working and how we can support your responsibilities beyond the workplace.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

• Pension matched up to 7%
• Life insurance
• An annual professional institution subscription
• Continuous development opportunities – because we want you to thrive
• Agile/flexible working – because life isn’t 9-5
• Enhanced parental leave; shared parental leave policies – for parents and care givers
• Annual bonus scheme
• Flexible benefits that suit you, including ability to buy/sell annual leave entitlement, cycle to work & interest free season ticket loans
• Wellbeing support including access to an independent Employer Assistance Scheme, wellbeing champions and access to learning and support resources
• Access to our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability and parents/carers communities
• The opportunity to make a difference; learn more about our social outcomes

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.