AI and Innovation Portfolio Manager

Department: Business Services - IT Location: Nationwide Description The AI and Innovation Portfolio Manager will take clear ownership of the firm’s AI portfolio, providing the direction and governance needed to translate AI tooling opportunities into well-controlled, value-adding business outcomes. This is a hands-on portfolio leadership role. It requires someone who can manage complex, fast-paced demand and keep initiatives moving forward with clarity and purpose. Working collaboratively with legal professionals, Practice Management, Technology, People, Finance, Knowledge, and senior business stakeholders, the role will ensure AI initiatives are assessed consistently, prioritised intelligently, governed to a high standard and tracked through to measurable value. The role sits at the point where strategy becomes delivery: ensuring that investment, risk, ownership, adoption and benefits are all clear. *This role is ideally to be based in London or Bristol, but also open to fully remote applications.* Key Responsibilities * Own the AI portfolio view end to end, ensuring initiatives are captured, understood, prioritised, governed, and progressed with clear accountability. * Bring strong delivery grip to a complex cross-business portfolio, balancing competing priorities, capacity constraints, dependencies, risks and expected value across practice areas and business services teams. * Drive excellent portfolio governance. This includes intake, triage, prioritisation, stage gates, decision forums, dependency management, risk escalation, and the discipline needed to keep activity moving safely and at pace. * Support AI-enabled solutions from idea through to implementation, making sure ownership is clear, plans are realistic, benefits are credible, and adoption is successful. * Provide concise, executive-ready reporting on the roadmap, portfolio performance, delivery progress, financial position, benefits, risks, dependencies and the decisions required to maintain momentum. * Track financial metrics with discipline, including budgets, forecasts, committed spend, actuals, benefit realisation and return on investment, working closely with Finance and initiative owners. * Work confidently with senior and executive stakeholders to shape demand, test business cases, resolve escalations, agree priorities and maintain trust in the way the AI portfolio is being managed. * Working with the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), ensure AI initiatives align with the firm’s regulatory obligations, technology and data strategy, security standards, risk appetite, and responsible AI governance principles. * Produce and maintain portfolio artefacts, including business cases, delivery plans, benefits measures, reporting packs, decision logs and value tracking approaches. * Spot delivery issues early and take action. Where scope, sequencing, resourcing, governance, or stakeholder engagement needs to change, the role holder is expected to drive change rather than simply report the issue. * Maintain a clear view of portfolio resourcing and capability needs, highlighting constraints and supporting informed decisions on internal capacity, supplier input and specialist expertise. * Support with the sharing of timely and effective communication, to ensure cross-business stakeholders stay fully informed, aware of progress, and cognisant of future priorities. * Promote collaborative ways of working across AI delivery, embedding standards, lessons learned, templates and reporting routines that help teams succeed together. * With our Procurement Team, help to hold key AI vendors to account and ensure the best commercial agreements for any tooling purchased. Skills, Knowledge and Expertise * Experience managing complex cross-business technology programmes, transformation portfolios, or enterprise delivery pipelines with multiple stakeholders, moving parts, dependencies and delivery teams. * Practical involvement in AI implementation, automation, data, analytics, or emerging technology initiatives. * Experience in a legal, professional services, or otherwise regulated environment valuable. * A proven ability to build and run strong portfolio governance, including prioritisation, stage control, risk management, dependency management, benefits tracking and regular senior-level reporting. * Evidence of taking ownership in complex delivery environments: clarifying accountability, following through on decisions, escalating effectively and driving activity through to successful outcomes. * Confident working with senior and executive-level stakeholders, including preparing decision papers, presenting portfolio updates, challenging constructively and managing escalations. * Hands-on experience of portfolio financial tracking and reporting, including budgets, forecasts, committed spend, actuals, benefit realisation and return on investment analysis. * Good understanding of technology governance, data protection, information security, responsible AI, operational risk, and compliance considerations. * Experience using structured delivery methods, portfolio management tools, reporting dashboards and project controls. Personal Competencies * Takes real ownership. The successful candidate will drive the portfolio forward, follow through on decisions, and make sure progress is visible and sustained. * Creates structure and clarity in complex environments, turning broad AI demand into a portfolio that is prioritised, governed, understood and capable of being delivered. * Sets a high bar for governance, while keeping the approach practical enough to support delivery rather than slow it down. * Builds strong, trusted relationships with senior stakeholders. * Works collaboratively across the full breadth of the business, helping different groups align around shared outcomes. * Communicates clearly with executive audiences, producing concise, evidence-based reporting that highlights progress, risks, options, decisions and value. * Excellent at managing expectations, proactively communicating and explaining decision making succinctly and with candour. * Strong financial insight to support good decisions, ensuring investment, spend, benefits and return on investment are visible. * Challenges constructively and with purpose, helping teams focus on identifying the problems without jumping straight to the solution. * Manages ambiguity calmly; resolves issues pragmatically and maintains momentum. Additional Information As a Disability Confident Scheme employer, we’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need any reasonable adjustments at any stage (including the application, assessment or interview process), please contact recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com in confidence with the vacancy reference in the subject line, and we’ll be happy to help. We are happy to talk flexible working with our Flex Forward scheme. We would encourage you to talk to us about our approach to flexible working during the hiring process if you would like to explore this further. Note for Recruitment Agencies DAC Beachcroft manages all vacancies via our in-house recruitment teams, prioritising direct sourcing and referrals. When external support is required, roles are released to selected agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL). Speculative CVs sent to any DAC Beachcroft employee without prior instruction from our recruitment teams (LLP and CSG) will not be accepted, and no fees will be payable. For PSL queries, please contact: recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com or csgrecruitment@dacbeachcroft.com