Warner Hotels is investing heavily in technology change.The portfolio spans commercial growth initiatives (iStay pricing, IBE enhancements), digital and data products (MyWarner portal, AI cockpit, Club Warner ), infrastructure transformation (Warner Connect 2.0 network replacement), and people & operations programmes. Today, this portfolio is managed through a combination of on-site contractors and informal planning — with no formal demand management, no defined project governance framework, and limited visibility of cross-portfolio dependencies.
We are looking for a Head of Transformation and Technology Portfolio who can build a lean, high-performing PMO and PM function from the ground up — one that brings rigour, pace, and genuine business alignment to how Warner plans, governs, and delivers technology change.
The Core Mission
You will own the technology change portfolio end-to-end and the enterprise strategic portfolio broadly: from demand intake and prioritisation through to delivery governance, benefits realisation, and board reporting. You will be the engine that translates strategy into a sequenced, resourced, and governed delivery plan — and the voice that holds the business and technology teams accountable to commitments.
Why Join Us?
- Build the function: The portfolio function does not exist in its current form — this is a greenfield opportunity to design and embed it from scratch.
- Meaningful portfolio: £5M+ capex and growing spanning digital, data, infrastructure and applications.
Board visibility: You will report directly to the CTO and CFO and produce the board-level technology update each quarter.
Key Responsibilities would include:
Portfolio & Demand Management
- Own the technology change portfolio — maintaining a single, prioritised view of all initiatives across digital, data, infrastructure and applications.
- Build and run a formal demand management process: intake, assessment, prioritisation and sequencing aligned to strategic objectives.
- Maintain the technology roadmap, ensuring it reflects current priorities and is communicated effectively to the business.
- Manage the annual technology capex budget (£5M+ FY26), tracking spend against plan and providing regular financial reporting to the CTO and CFO.
Delivery Governance & Assurance
- Establish and embed a delivery framework appropriate for Warner's scale — lightweight but rigorous, covering project initiation, change control, risk management, and benefits realisation.
- Provide programme assurance across all major initiatives — identifying risks, dependencies and blockers before they become issues.
- Own the Warner Connect 2.0 network replacement programme from a PMO perspective, coordinating across infrastructure, suppliers and hotel operations.
- Hold delivery teams, engineering partners and third-party suppliers accountable to committed timelines and quality standards.
Stakeholder Management & Reporting
- Produce the quarterly board technology update — a concise, accurate view of delivery progress, portfolio health, budget status and key risks.
- Manage relationships with senior business stakeholders — translating technical delivery into business language and managing expectations proactively.
- Run the technology steering committee and portfolio review cadence, ensuring the right decisions are made at the right level.
Ways of Working & Capability
- Build and embed agile-at-scale delivery practices across the technology team, balancing sprint-based delivery with portfolio-level governance.
- Develop business analysis and test management capability within the PMO function.
- Coach and support project managers, product owners and technical leads on delivery best practice.
You'll need to have this experience:
- Portfolio and programme management: MSP, MoP, or equivalent.
- Project management: PRINCE2, PMP, or agile-at-scale frameworks (SAFe, Scrum@Scale).
- Technology budget management and financial reporting.
- Demand management and portfolio prioritisation techniques.
- Business case development and benefits realisation.
- Risk and dependency management across complex, multi-workstream programmes.
- Tooling: Jira, Confluence, MS Project, or equivalent portfolio management platforms
- A Delivery Leader: You have a track record of running complex technology portfolios — on time, on budget, and with genuine business impact.
- A Builder: You can design governance frameworks that are rigorous without being bureaucratic — and embed them in organisations that have never had them before.
- A Translator: You bridge the gap between technical complexity and business language. The board trusts your reporting because it is clear, honest, and accurate.
- An Accountable Leader: You hold yourself and your teams to commitments — and create a culture where delivery discipline is the norm.
- Extensive leadership experience in technology and/or transformation delivery roles with at least 3 years managing a portfolio or programme office function.
- Experience building PMO capability in growth or transformation contexts.
- Consumer sector preferred (hospitality, retail, leisure, travel) with multi-site delivery experience.
