Program Manager

The opportunity

Our Data Office is looking for a Program Manager to work alongside the Data Portfolio Manager on a group of connected data initiatives.

You'll report to the Data Portfolio Manager and spend most of your time with the Project Managers who run the individual projects. Your job is to pull their separate plans into one coherent program view, keep an eye on the dependencies between them, and make sure nothing drifts away from what the portfolio is actually trying to achieve.

To be clear about where the lines sit: the Data Portfolio Manager owns portfolio strategy, investment decisions, capacity allocation and overall performance. Project Managers own the scope, schedule, budget and delivery of their own projects. You sit in between --- responsible for program-level coordination, governance, benefits and consolidated reporting.

Depending on how the structure evolves, Project Managers may report to you directly or work with you in a matrix. Either way, you provide the program-level direction.

Day-to-day responsibilities

Planning and delivery

• Translate portfolio priorities into a program plan that people can work from --- objectives, milestones, outcomes that can be measured. Build and maintain the integrated plan with the Project Managers, consolidating their schedules, resourcing, budgets and forecasts into a single picture.
• You'll run cross-project planning sessions, delivery reviews and dependency meetings. When a project wants to change scope, dates or resourcing, you work out what that means for the rest of the program. When a plan looks thin, a forecast looks optimistic or nobody seems to own a piece of work, you say so.
• You'll also coordinate capacity with Project Managers, technical leads, product managers and functional managers, and make sure decisions and commitments made in program meetings are written down and followed up.

Governance, risks and dependencies

• Set up and run the program governance framework, under the Data Portfolio Manager's direction. In practice this means keeping reporting timely and consistent, making sure project plans, status reports, budgets, action logs and RAID logs are genuinely up to date, and consolidating project-level risks, issues and dependencies into one program view.
• Anything that spans several projects, or that a single Project Manager can't resolve on their own, lands with you. Mitigation actions need a named owner, a date and a clear outcome --- not just an entry in a log.
• You'll keep track of data quality, architecture, security, documentation, regulatory and operational-readiness requirements, escalate blockers and resource conflicts to the Data Portfolio Manager, and prepare the papers and recommendations that go to portfolio reviews and steering committees.

Working with Project Managers and stakeholders

• You're the main coordination point for Project Managers across these initiatives. That means a reliable cadence of reviews and planning sessions, clear expectations on priorities and reporting, and real support when an issue needs unblocking across teams, functions or business units.
• Part of the job is challenging people --- on status assessments, on forecasts, on plans that don't hold up --- while respecting that delivery accountability stays with them. It works best when the relationship is a good one, so building that trust matters.
• Outside the PM group, you'll work with data product managers, architects, data engineers, business units, finance, risk, compliance and external partners.

Reporting, benefits and performance

• Turn project updates into dashboards, reports and executive presentations that give the Data Portfolio Manager an honest view of program health --- milestones, budget, capacity, risks, dependencies, expected outcomes.
• Track the KPIs that matter: milestone achievement, delivery predictability, budget performance, capacity utilisation, risk exposure, data quality, stakeholder satisfaction. Validate what you're given rather than passing it straight through. Spot the trends and emerging risks early enough for someone to do something about them, and back your recommendations with evidence.
• Over time, we'd also expect you to improve how program and project management is done here.

Who are we looking for

We look for big thinkers. People who can drive positive change, step up and show what’s next – people with passion, can-do attitude and a hunger to learn and grow. In practice this means:

• A degree in Business Administration, IT, Engineering, Data Management or something related. A Master's is a plus, not a requirement.
• Real program management experience, ideally across several interconnected data or technology projects.
• Experience working closely with a Portfolio Manager or senior portfolio leadership.
• A track record of coordinating and challenging multiple Project Managers without stepping on their accountability.
• A clear head about the difference between portfolio, program, project and product management.
• Solid grounding in integrated planning, dependency management, risk management, benefits tracking, capacity planning and consolidated reporting.
• Comfort working with a wide stakeholder group --- PMs, product managers, architects, engineers, business units, finance, risk, compliance, senior leadership.
• Strong analytical instincts and the ability to recommend a fix, not just flag a problem.
• Good facilitation, communication and presentation skills.
• Fluent English, including executive-level reports, governance packs and decision papers.
• Organised, proactive, detail-oriented, and reliable on follow-through.
• Fine working in either a direct reporting line or a matrix.
• Able to run the program-level work independently within the direction set by the Data Portfolio Manager.
• A pragmatic approach to governance --- enough structure to be useful, not so much that it becomes bureaucracy.

Nice to have

• Working knowledge of data platforms, data products, data governance and data lifecycle management.
• Exposure to Big Data technologies and cloud platforms, especially Microsoft Azure.
• Power BI and Excel for reporting and analysis.
• Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Project or similar.
• Familiarity with Agile, SAFe, Scrum and Kanban as well as traditional delivery methods.
• Certifications such as PgMP, PMP, PRINCE2, MSP, SAFe
• Experience with budgets, vendors, contracts and external delivery partners.
• Background in payments, financial services or fintech.

Perks & Benefits

At Worldline you’ll get the chance to be at the heart of the global payments technology industry and shape how the world pays and gets paid. On top of that, you will also:

• Hybrid Working Policy
• Gift vouchers on the occasion of Christmas/Easter Holidays
• Private medical services
• 21 vacation days/year
• Referral bonuses for new hires recommended by you
• WFH & Flexible Working Hours
• Full access to the “Learning” platform