Portfolio Lead
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working - 3 days in the office)
Working hours per week: 40 hours
Level: Lead
Application Closing Date: Thursday 16th July 2026
About us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value. We’re also on a mission to empower our business with smart technology; we've recently launched our AI Academy, providing a tailored AI learning journey for every colleague.
We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, ocado.com. Not only is Ocado the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service.
About the team and the role
The Transformation team is responsible for planning, sequencing and executing a portfolio of exciting transformation projects across the business. This role is critical in ensuring that as a business we are clear on the project and programmes we are doing and why we are doing them. This role will ensure alignment and consistent prioritisation across the business and transformation initiatives ensuring that they align to and deliver on ORLs strategy. This role will embed and run a flexible and agile approach to prioritisation, ensure effective planning and clarity on what we are trying to achieve with initiatives, and that we apply a consistent ROI framework to initiatives we choose to undertake. The role works closely with a wide range of teams from across Ocado Retail, Ocado Technology & Ocado Logistics, coordinating and driving alignment across functions.
Reporting to: Head of Transformation
What you’ll do
Develop and maintain the rolling transformation roadmap - ensuring alignment and prioritisation which reflects current business priorities
Identification of interdependencies and management of risks and issues at a portfolio level ensuring that these are escalated and raised appropriately
Support the prioritisation process with LT ensuring initiatives are aligned with business objectives
Understand initiatives that are happening across the business and how they deliver the ORL strategy
Lead the intake process (business cases) for ideas applying consistent scoring methodologies to assess strategic fit, ROI, and risk before initiatives are approved for delivery
Value maximisation/realisation - framework for tracking business benefit - working with finance and stakeholders to validate business cases
Work with finance and business owners to ensure that outcomes agreed are measured and achieved
Capacity and demand management. Provide a macro-view of resource demand across the portfolio, identifying where bottlenecks (e.g., tech, change, or PM resource) may prevent the roadmap from being achieved.
Build and maintain excellent relationships with senior leaders, project managers and functional leads
Support the creation of materials (steer cos and prioritisation forums) to ensure value lens/ROI
Who you are
Strategic Thinking: Proven experience in portfolio management or strategic planning within a high-growth or retail environment.
Stakeholder Management: Ability to build strong working relationships quickly and work cooperatively within a complex stakeholder environment with a wide range of departments and specialists, tailoring the approach to effectively influence colleagues with other business priorities
Financial & Commercial Acumen: Strong ability to understand business cases, ROI models, and financial re-forecasting.
Influencing & Negotiation: Ability to manage competing priorities between different departments and guide senior stakeholders toward a unified roadmap.
Analytical Mindset: Expert at using data (from tools like FocusHQ) to create a "Single Source of Truth" regarding portfolio health and value.
Knowledge of Portfolio Frameworks: Deep understanding of MoSCoW, WSJF, or similar prioritisation frameworks, and how to apply them pragmatically.
Communication: Ability to translate complex project data into a high-level strategic narrative for the C-suite.
Resilience: Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment where priorities can shift quickly based on market conditions.
What’s in it for you
By joining Ocado Retail, you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail. You'll also be part of our AI Academy, a dedicated learning journey designed to empower every colleague with the smart technology skills of the future.
If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here’s a taste of what we offer:
Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.
Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.
Never miss the moments that matter: Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.
Our Hiring Process
Lucky for us, we receive a high volume of applications and genuinely appreciate the time and effort invested by every candidate. To ensure a fair and thorough process, every application is reviewed by a member of our team. If your skills and experience are a strong match, a Talent Partner will contact you to discuss the role and guide you through the next steps of our hiring process.
Your Application and AI
In the spirit of innovation, we welcome you to use AI tools in your application, just as we use them in our own business at Ocado Retail. However, as you leverage this technology, please don't lose sight of the most important element: your unique self. Your experiences, passions, and personality are what truly set you apart. Ensure that your application still authentically conveys who you are and why you're a great fit for us.
Everyone’s welcome
We’re an equal opportunities employer, which means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. We want to ensure everyone has a fair chance to apply; if you need this job description in an alternative format (e.g., larger print, different document type, etc.), please reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to assist you, and if you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.
