Portfolio Operations Manager

Aquent Talent is thrilled to partner with a leading financial services institution dedicated to helping individuals and organizations achieve their financial goals through innovative solutions and a commitment to client success. This organization is at the forefront of driving financial well-being, continuously evolving its strategies to meet the dynamic needs of a diverse client base. As an Aquent talent, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of how this institution manages its strategic initiatives and delivers value, directly impacting critical business outcomes and enhancing operational excellence.

Are you a visionary leader with a passion for optimizing strategic execution and fostering agile transformation? We are seeking an exceptional individual to join our client's dynamic team, where you will be instrumental in elevating their strategic portfolio management capabilities. This is an incredible opportunity to make a tangible impact, guiding teams to deliver exceptional value, streamline processes, and drive continuous improvement across critical initiatives. Your expertise will directly influence how strategic objectives are translated into actionable plans, ensuring alignment and accelerating the realization of benefits for our clients and stakeholders.

What You'll Do:

In this impactful role, you will champion the adoption of Lean-Agile principles and enhance the operational efficiency of strategic portfolios. You will collaborate closely with business and technology partners, providing thought leadership and practical guidance to optimize how value is defined, measured, and delivered. Your contributions will directly influence strategic decision-making, improve project predictability, and foster a culture of continuous improvement and data-driven insights.

• Support and operationalize enterprise benefits realization frameworks, including tracking, validation, and reporting, to ensure consistent and accurate value measurement.
• Partner with business and technology teams to define clear value hypotheses, key performance indicators (KPIs), and outcome measures that align with strategic goals.
• Execute robust value measurement processes, connecting delivery outputs directly to tangible business outcomes.
• Ensure the consistency and integrity of value data across various enterprise tools.
• Execute and continuously improve Lean-Agile portfolio workflows, encompassing intake, demand management, prioritization support, and execution tracking.
• Maintain and enhance portfolio operating practices, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and templates, serving as a subject matter expert for process adoption.
• Facilitate and enable effective prioritization processes by preparing insightful data, analytics, and trade-off scenarios for informed decision-making.
• Assist teams in defining and refining Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that are directly tied to strategic themes.
• Translate high-level portfolio strategy into execution-ready artifacts and measurable metrics.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive dashboards and reporting artifacts that illustrate value realization, delivery performance, and progress against strategic objectives.
• Provide data-driven insights to governance forums and leadership reviews, enabling strategic decision-making.
• Collaborate with data teams to ensure reporting accuracy and adherence to established standards.
• Contribute to the design and refinement of end-to-end portfolio processes, identifying inefficiencies and recommending improvements in workflow design, tool experience, and data capture.
• Drive continuous improvement through effective feedback loops and performance metrics.
• Support the rollout of new portfolio practices through the creation of training materials, role-based guidance, job aids, and playbooks.
• Assist in establishing Communities of Practice (CoP) and adoption mechanisms to foster a culture of shared learning and continuous growth.
• Collaborate effectively with Portfolio Governance teams to enable informed decision-making.

Must-Have Qualifications:

• 5-8+ years of experience in Portfolio Management, Program Management Office (PMO), Value Management, or related disciplines.
• Proven experience with Lean-Agile practices and portfolio operations.
• Experience with leading reporting and analytics tools.
• Demonstrated experience in process execution and continuous improvement.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, and communication skills, capable of influencing stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience with leading enterprise portfolio management tools.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications:

• Exposure to benefits realization frameworks and OKR models.
• Relevant Agile or portfolio management certifications.
• Ability to design processes that protect business integrity and manage risks effectively.
• Capability to execute sophisticated processes to efficiently manage interrelated projects and programs.
• A track record of establishing advanced processes to evaluate project requirements and drive execution success.
• Skill in refining strategies and workflows to ensure adaptability in evolving circumstances.
• Adept at synthesizing complex data, managing resources, and developing strategic insights.
• Experience establishing communication processes for smooth information flow with others involved in a project or effort.
• Strong collaboration skills, facilitating partnerships and supporting cooperative efforts across teams.
• Ability to provide thought leadership in the business area and independently drive strategic initiatives.
• A desire to support peers in technical areas to refine their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• A knack for influencing best practices to plan and prepare for opportunities or challenges.
• A champion of innovative solutions to improve efficiency.
• A talent for influencing decisions that drive functional success and operational improvements.
• Proactive in taking action to achieve success in situations that require more than normal effort.
• Ability to verbally articulate ideas impactfully, fostering open dialogue.
• Inspires confidence with proven expertise, integrity, and accurate communication.
• Capable of presenting compelling arguments to inspire action.
• A history of setting performance-driven goals across groups and driving continuous improvement.
• A skill for leveraging diverse expertise to develop strategies in cross-functional projects or programs.
• Proficiency in creating clear, persuasive, and professional written documents that meet business standards.

Please note: This position is available on a W-2 employment basis only and is not open to Corp-to-Corp (C2C) arrangements. The client is also unable to provide employment-based visa sponsorship or transfers for this role.

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About Aquent Talent:

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.

Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match.

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.