Strategic Portfolio Manager

About the role

Located in Midtown, part of the Business Transformation and Strategy organization.

The Strategic Portfolio Manager reporting to the Executive Director of Business Transformation and Strategic Planning is responsible for overseeing and advancing a portfolio of strategic academic initiatives aligned with the institution's mission, long-term strategic plan, and operational priorities. This role serves as a key partner to academic leadership, facilitating the planning, governance, prioritization, and execution of transformational initiatives across academic affairs, faculty affairs, student success, accreditation, research, patient access and care, and institutional effectiveness. The position drives portfolio management disciplines, ensures strategic investments deliver measurable outcomes, and establishes governance structures that enable transparent decision-making, resource optimization, and organizational alignment.

Responsibilities

• Manage a comprehensive portfolio of institutional strategic initiatives and transformation programs.
• Develop portfolio roadmaps aligned with institutional strategic priorities.
• Establish and maintain portfolio governance frameworks, methodologies, and reporting standards.
• Lead prioritization exercises to ensure alignment of initiatives with strategic objectives and available resources.
• Monitor portfolio performance, dependencies, risks, and resource allocation.
• Facilitate executive-level portfolio reviews and strategic planning sessions.
• Partner with academic leadership to translate strategic goals into measurable initiatives and implementation plans.
• Support development and execution of multi-year academic strategic plans.
• Identify opportunities to improve academic effectiveness, operational efficiency, and academic innovation.
• Ensure initiatives support institutional mission, accreditation standards, and student success outcomes.
• Track strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) and institutional performance measures.
• Lead change management activities associated with academic transformation initiatives.
• Develop stakeholder engagement strategies to drive adoption and sustainable outcomes.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration among academic and administrative units.
• Identify barriers to execution and proactively implement mitigation strategies.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and data-informed decision-making.
• Prepare executive dashboards, briefing materials, and strategic updates for senior leadership.
• Coordinate governance committees, steering groups, and strategic review meetings.
• Develop recommendations for executive leadership regarding portfolio investments and priorities.
• Maintain transparency of initiative status, risks, resource constraints, and benefits realization.
• Establish performance measurement frameworks for strategic initiatives.
• Analyze institutional, academic, and operational data to support decision-making.
• Monitor achievement of strategic milestones and organizational outcomes.
• Support academic investment planning and resource allocation processes.
• Collaborate with finance, academic affairs, and operational leaders on business cases and investment proposals.
• Track initiative budgets, projected benefits, and return on investment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Higher Education Administration, Public Administration, Organizational Leadership or related field
• 7+ years of experience in strategic planning, portfolio management, business transformation, program management, or institutional effectiveness
• Experience working within higher education or academic environments
• Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives
• Experience developing executive-level presentations, dashboards, and governance reporting
• Experience developing business cases, strategic recommendations, and executive proposals

Skills

• Skilled in translating strategic goals into actionable roadmaps, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Strong facilitation and consensus-building skills in complex academic environments.
• Ability to navigate organizational change and ambiguity while maintaining focus on strategic outcomes.
• Strong analytical and critical