Title - Benefits Manager
Reports to Head of Data & Reporting
Direct Reports N/A
Location London or Manchester
Team CFO - PPI

Background
The client believes in making Britain more connected, so we can all lead smarter, greener lives. We're a relatively young company, with a very mature assignment. Our universal, secure network will be in 30 million homes and businesses. That'll make it the largest network in Britain. The scope of what we do and what's in our roadmap is much further reaching than what the business was originally established to deliver.
The client is at a pivotal point of transformation, looking to enhance its operational efficiency and strategic execution. Our EPMO (Enterprise Portfolio Management Office) is at the heart of this change, driving the development and implementation of best practices across the organisation. We seek a dynamic and versatile Benefits Manager to help us through this exciting journey of growth and innovation.

The Role
Change will play a critical role in enabling the organisation to achieve its strategic ambitions. With an ever-increasing pace and evolving customer needs, the business needs to ensure that its product and change portfolio is delivered effectively and efficiently. As a result a new Enterprise Portfolio Management capability is being established to plan, monitor, assure and report on delivery of all initiatives across the business.
The Enterprise Portfolio Management Office will be responsible for improving the strategic alignment and value for money of the change portfolio. It will ensure that: all change activity aligns to strategic objectives; there is transparency and clarity around change portfolio prioritisation, delivery and outcomes; there is increased focus on the outcome and value of change; delivery standardisation (in the form of best practice procedures, tools, techniques & methodologies) is driven into the organisation where it makes sense for there to be greater consistency and scalability; a capable change delivery community is created to enable greater sharing of best practices. It will also help drive the transition of the organisation to a greater product mindset and outcome-based organisation.
The EPMO additionally provides the objective 'single source of truth' view of delivery performance for the portfolio and leads the management/resolution of cross-programme risks, issues and points of contention to maximise effectiveness of change implementation. It also acts as the central custodian for information and knowledge management.

The Benefits Manager will ensure that initiatives/projects/programmes are delivering in accordance with the agreed cost and benefits profile set out in the business case.
Reporting to the Head of Data & Reporting, this role will be based in London or Manchester with travel to the other office being a pre-requisite. The role will require a minimum of 8 days a month in the office.

Key Accountabilities
* Define, agree and deliver the cost and benefits management process, working with finance and broader business stakeholders as required.
* Develop and oversee the benefits realisation framework, tracking performance against business case projections.
* Work in partnership with Finance to monitor the financial aspects of all portfolio initiatives, identifying deviations from expected outcomes and initiating corrective action as required. Proactively monitoring costs and benefits, calling out under-performance as needed.
* Support the transition to new financial management practices, including the Ex-Ante Price Control regime.
* Collaborate with finance and project teams to validate cost and benefit assumptions throughout project life cycles.
* Provide regular reports on benefits realisation to the EPMO and senior leadership team as required.
* Educate and guide project managers on the importance of benefits tracking and reporting.
* Advocacy for benefits management best practices across the organisation.
* Support the shift to the new Ex-Ante Price Control regime.
* Live the DCC values in all day-to-day activities.
.
Skills and Experience
* Financial Experience - Solid experience in financial management relating to project and portfolio management.
* Benefits Management - Significant knowledge of and experience in tracking and reporting on costs and benefits for a portfolio.
* Analytical Mindset - Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities. Strong analytical and forecasting skills with a focus on financial outcomes.
* Flexibility - Adaptable and able to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
* Product Mindset - Experience operating in a product-driven and outcome-based organisation.
* Collaboration - Ability to work collaboratively across departments and with stakeholders at all levels.
* Effective Communication - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to communicate financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders.
* Resilience - Strong initiative and drive; self-motivated with an aptitude to work well under pressure.

Qualifications
* Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics or a related field OR equivalent professional experience.
* Advanced qualifications in financial analysis and/or portfolio management are highly desirable.

Unfortunately due to the high volum of applicants, we won't be able to respond to everyone.