REL Business Portfolio Manager

REL Business Portfolio Manager

Basic Purpose:

To serve as a strategic partner and value steward for the Real Estate Lending portfolio, ensuring initiatives are aligned with member & team member needs, enterprise & department strategy, and measurable outcomes.

Portfolio & Value Managers (PVMs) drive judgment-led and value-based decisions at every stage of the portfolio lifecycle, from ideation through investment decision to implementation and value realization, by translating strategy into coherent initiatives, ensuring investment ready initiatives, anticipating risks, framing outcomes in terms of value and visibility into value, risk, and portfolio health across the enterprise.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Partnership

Partner with business, technology, and governance leaders to translate strategic themes into initiatives with clear value hypotheses.

Act as a capability mirror for leaders coaching them to mature portfolio fluency and stewardship.

Read organizational dynamics, surfacing resistance and adapting messaging to influence stakeholders at all levels.

Intake & Discovery

Review initiative submissions for readiness, segmentation, and value clarity.

Facilitate epic discovery by framing business problems, surfacing risks early, and confirming investment readiness. Step in as discovery coach when momentum drifts or clarity is lacking,

Ensure discovery outcomes are met for all initiatives that are investment candidates.

Investment & Prioritization

Advise on segmentation, prioritization, sequencing, and balancing strategic priorities with portfolio capacity and resource constraints.

Use analytical judgment to evaluate initiative value, viability, feasibility, risks, and trade-offs, asking: Should this be done? Is it worth doing now?

Coordinate adjustments to the portfolio as necessary when portfolio demands necessitate a change in delivery and/or scope of work.

Implementation Oversight

Monitor implementation to ensure alignment with intended value, scope, and impact.

Anticipate midstream pivots, escalate portfolio risks upstream, and advise on course correction.

Partner with Product Managers, Delivery Managers, and Change Leaders to sustain clarity of outcomes during execution.

Value & Impact

Frame and track value expectations with stakeholders, ensuring outcomes (not just outputs) are measured.

Conduct post-implementation value realization reviews and embed learnings into future portfolio cycles.

Provide governance bodies and executives with insight into realized outcomes and lessons.

Visibility & Insights

Prepare for strategic portfolio health reviews and maintain Strategic Business roadmaps.

Monitor and report portfolio status and progress towards initiative execution including milestones and metrics.

Synthesize systemic insights across intake, discovery, and implementation to highlight enterprise patterns, readiness gaps, and value signals.

Deliver executive-ready narratives that connect the dots across initiatives, enabling leadership to make informed, strategic choices.

REL Business Portfolio Manager

Manage portfolio data and conduct analysis across the strategic portfolio to identify and report potential risks, provide input into sequencing and prioritization, and highlight resource constraints.

Build and maintain relationships with lines of business, team members, management, key stakeholders and/or external contacts (e.g., vendors, etc.)

Qualifications and Education Requirements:

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Strategy, or related field, or the equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

SAFe Lean Portfolio Management Certification (or equivalent).

Experience:

Proven ability to manage and advise large, enterprise-wide portfolios or initiatives, preferably in financial services.

Deep knowledge of portfolio management methodologies, strategic planning, and value realization practices.

Strong understanding of Agile, Lean Portfolio Management, and value delivery models.

Experience in product, portfolio governance, executive communication, strategic value realization.

Core Skills:

Analytical Judgment: Ability to evaluate initiative viability, value, and trade-offs with clarity.

Executive Storytelling: Skilled at synthesizing insights into concise, compelling narratives for senior leaders and executive audiences.

Stakeholder Navigation: Able to influence across power centers, adapt messaging to organizational dynamics, and coach leaders toward portfolio stewardship.

Strategic Thinking: Strong systems orientation, connects the dots across initiatives, teams, and outcomes to frame enterprise-level insights.

Data Literacy: Translates business, financial, and delivery data into actionable strategic insights.

Collaboration & Facilitation: Advanced ability to negotiate, resolve conflicts, and build consensus to ensure adoption of change.

Adaptability: Capable of managing multiple priorities in dynamic environments, operating effectively both independently and in teams.