Portfolio Manager Jobs
Business change and transformation has to be thoroughly planned, organized and monitored during execution if they are to be successful and efficient. A team needs to be put together, and progress needs to be regularly reported to the board. In many companies the portfolio manager is the person with these responsibilities. They oversee several workstreams or perhaps an entire company’s ongoing programmes, depending on its size.
The portfolio manager is also a line manager of the team putting the programme into action, including its analysts. How or she is in regular contact with these practitioners and acts as the channel of communication between the process staff and the board. Because he or she is in charge of several workstreams, they also need to monitor how they influence and interact with each other. The job carries a good deal of responsibility as the head of process.
The skills required
Portfolio managers are highly experienced business change and transformation professionals, and companies need to see a solid track record of delivery of multiple simultaneous workstreams to qualify for the position. You need a methodical and logical mindset too, as you are overseeing workstreams that could be distant geographically or in terms of physical similarities, where confusion can sink portfolio managers who are not on top of things.
Experience of managing portfolios in the same sector as the job advertised will be a distinct advantage, as differences between sectors can make a huge difference to how a project is managed. While most companies demand experience in a management role, others recognize that managers have to start somewhere and are looking for experienced deputies, senior staff and other such positions so they can absorb them into their own company structures.
Portfolio Manager Jobs in Torquay
Torquay is located on the East-facing coastal area of Devon, in the area called Torbay. Exeter is 17 miles (27 km) to the north and Plymouth is 27 miles (43 k) to the west. Torquay was a tiny fishing and farming village until the Napoleonic wars, when the Royal Navy would take anchor in the bay and the members of the upper ranks would often go to shore in the area. It soon gained a reputation as being a healthy place to stay and by the 19th century, just in time for the arrival of the railways it became a famous spa town and later, a tourist resort. Nowadays it has a static population of around 65,000 but in high season this can swell to 200,000, the size of a small city.
Tourist towns almost always have great logistical requirements, which is why Portfolio Manager jobs can sometimes become available in the town or the surrounding area. Torquay is not particularly industrialised, but there are several trading estates dotted around the outskirts. Plymouth and Exeter are better employers and are both nearby, which does make Torquay a popular commuter town, and people living there seeking non-tourism related work will often look north and west.
For its population, Torquay has produced a fair number of world-famous people. Top of the pile is thriller author Agatha Christie, for whom a mile of plaques, the “Agatha Christie Mile”, is dedicated. Peter Cook, one half of Pete and Dud, was born in the town, as was comedy actor Miranda Hart and model Lily Cole. Sketches of The Goodies and Monty Python’s Flying Circus were filmed there, and it was during one of the latter’s stays that the team happened upon a grumpy hotelier who became the inspiration for Basil Fawlty, TV’s most famous Torquay-based hotel owner.
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Find Portfolio Manager Jobs with Cast UK
Cast UK is a specialist in the field of business change and transformation recruitment, and because we only deal with management and executive level jobs, we have a focus that keeps companies coming back to us when they need experienced portfolio managers.
We were founded in Manchester and now have offices in London and Birmingham, but our reach is much wider – every day we are helping candidates find their perfect jobs in fantastic companies the length and breadth of the UK. If you’re looking to make the change, call us today on 0333 121 3345.
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