Head of digital portfolio

Band 8c · Digital portfolio manager · 640 job evaluation points

UK GDaD PCF level: Head of portfolio

Most often performed at Civil Service grade G6.

A head of portfolio leads a team of digital portfolio managers. You will ensure the portfolio of digital projects delivers the best possible outcomes.
At this role level, you will:
lead the tracking and governing of digital projects
ensure the right controls are used
address risks and deal with, or escalate, issues
provide leaders with insights into the portfolio's future so they can make informed decisions
build and lead a diverse, skilled and motivated team of digital portfolio managers
ensure the portfolio team is meeting the needs of the organisation
support the professional development of the portfolio community, including line management and coaching

Contains public sector information from the UK Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

Responsibilities

Lead the digital portfolio function and the team of portfolio managers.
Set the portfolio strategy, controls, and governance, and make sure they are used.
Give executive leaders insight into the portfolio's future, so they can make investment decisions.
Make sure the portfolio's benefits for patients, staff, and the organisation are realised and reported.
Address portfolio-level risks and escalate issues to the executive team.
Manage the function's budget and capability.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Agile workingUK GDaD PCF	Awareness (1)	You can: show an awareness of Agile methodology and the ways to apply the principles in practice take an open-minded approach explain why iteration is important iterate quickly
Communicating analysis and insightUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: communicate relevant, compelling stories using the most appropriate medium make complex recommendations at a tactical and strategic level
Governance and assuranceUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: develop appropriate governance and assurance processes identify and recommend improvements to governance and assurance processes support others in following or applying governance and assurance processes
PlanningUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: understand the environment and prioritise the most important or high value tasks use data to inform planning manage complex internal and external dependencies provide delivery confidence remove blockers or impediments that affect plans and can develop a plan for difficult situations ensure that teams plan appropriately for their capacity
Stakeholder relationship managementUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: direct the stakeholder relationship strategy for your teams ensure stakeholder's objectives are set and support teams to meet them influence and negotiate with senior stakeholders to resolve issues and enable progress
Strategic thinkingUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: define strategies and policies, providing guidance to others on working in the strategic context evaluate current strategies to ensure business requirements are being met and exceeded where possible
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyse how a service fits into care pathways across organisations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload
Clinical risk managementThis reference	Working (2)	You can: take part in hazard workshops and contribute to a hazard log follow the clinical risk management process for your work provide evidence for a clinical safety case, such as test results
Information governance and data protectionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead data protection impact assessments and information sharing agreements advise teams on lawful basis, consent, confidentiality, and retention investigate incidents and recommend improvements
Project managementThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: manage large, complex, or high-risk projects set project management standards and coach project managers recover failing projects
Organisational risk managementThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: design the organisation's risk management framework and appetite advise the board on strategic risks
Corporate governance and complianceThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: run the governance cycle for boards and committees review policies and advise on compliance
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession
Budget managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: hold and manage a budget, forecasting and explaining variances build a business case with costs and benefits

Typical qualifications and experience

Extensive experience of leading portfolio management in a complex organisation.

Band 8c outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge, and wide organisational and sector understanding.
Autonomy: Sets strategy for a function; accountable to a director.
Scope: A function or department.
Leadership: Leads a function through several management layers.
Accountability: A function's performance, workforce, and budget.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	6	Gives highly complex, highly contentious information where there are significant barriers to acceptance, using the highest level of communication skills.	60
Knowledge, training, and experience	7	Highly developed specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (master's level or equivalent).	196
Analytical and judgemental skills	5	Judgements on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organisational skills	5	Forms long-term strategic plans, with uncertainty and effects across the organisation.	60
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	5	Implements and develops a range of policies or services for a directorate.	45
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	5	Holds or sets budgets, or manages assets, for several services.	45
Responsibility for people	4	Line manages a function or department, designs training programmes as a main duty, or delivers a full range of HR services.	32
Responsibility for information resources	6	Manages and develops information systems across the organisation as the main duty.	46
Responsibility for research and development	1	Carries out surveys or audits for own work; occasionally takes part in research or testing.	5
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	3	Frequent concentration on unpredictable work, or occasional prolonged concentration.	12
Emotional effort	1	Rare exposure, or occasional indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	5
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8c: 630 to 674)			640

Financial resources is scored at level 5 because the head of digital portfolio oversees investment across the whole digital portfolio, covering several services; information resources is level 6 because the portfolio register and reporting cover the whole organisation.