Portfolio Director

Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 23,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

The Portfolio Director is accountable for the strategic oversight, governance, and performance of a portfolio of capital‑funded projects and initiatives. A core focus of the role is to define, embed, enforce, and continuously assure adherence to Portfolio and Program Management (PPM) minimum standards across the portfolio to ensure consistent, high‑quality delivery, transparency, and investment discipline.

The Portfolio Director operates and matures a Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) practice, enabling effective prioritisation, funding, execution, and value realisation aligned to enterprise strategy. The role provides regular, high‑quality portfolio reporting and independent quality assurance to support executive decision‑making and delivery confidence.

• Define, own, and continuously improve PPM minimum standards applicable to all capital‑funded projects and initiatives.
• Ensure PPM standards are embedded, understood, and consistently applied across the portfolio through governance, tooling, and capability uplift.
• Establish and operate portfolio‑level quality assurance and assurance reviews, including health checks, gate reviews, and independent assessments.
• Provide clear escalation and intervention mechanisms where standards are not met.
• Act as the responsible owner for portfolio compliance with agreed delivery, financial, and governance expectations.
• Integrate with broader Group‑wide governance to ensure alignment and effective resource prioritisation.

• Own the regular portfolio reporting cadence, providing accurate, timely, and insight‑driven reporting to executive and governance forums.
• Produce consolidated views of portfolio health, risks, dependencies, financials, capacity, and benefits.
• Ensure reporting focuses on outcomes, value, and investment performance, not just activity.
• Continuously improve reporting standards, dashboards, and management information to enhance decision‑making.

• Design, implement, and operate a Lean Portfolio Management practice aligned to enterprise strategy and funding models.
• Enable lean budgeting, investment guardrails, and capacity‑based planning across the capital portfolio.
• Drive prioritisation, sequencing, and funding decisions based on value, risk, and strategic alignment.
• Optimise flow of work across the portfolio by actively managing dependencies and constraints.

• Provide senior oversight of portfolio delivery performance across all capital‑funded initiatives.
• Proactively manage portfolio‑level risks, issues, interdependencies, and delivery constraints.
• Ensure benefits realisation frameworks are embedded and that benefits are tracked, reported, and realised.
• Intervene where initiatives are underperforming to restore alignment, quality, and delivery confidence.

• Act as a trusted advisor to the Global Head of Change and executive leadership.
• Chair or contribute to portfolio governance forums and investment decision bodies.
• Build strong partnerships across business, technology, finance, and risk functions.
• Influence senior stakeholders to adopt and comply with portfolio standards and ways of working.

• Build and lead a high‑performing portfolio management capability.
• Develop portfolio, program, and delivery leaders…