Senior Manager, Portfolio Governance

Lumen is the trusted network for the AI-powered world, connecting people, data, and applications through our expansive fiber network and connected ecosystem. We enable secure, high-performance connectivity across cloud, edge, and AI workloads for enterprises, governments, and communities.

At Lumen, you’ll work on infrastructure customers rely on today and build for what’s next, where performance, security, and resilience matter.

This is a high accountability environment where bold ideas drive real innovation for our customers, partners, and industry. The work is challenging, expectations are clear, and trust is built into how we operate. If you’re ready to take ownership, deliver meaningful impact, and help shape the future of AI-ready connectivity, join us today.

Lumen is transforming how technology investments are planned, prioritized, governed, and delivered through a Product Operating Model organized around enterprise value streams. As the Senior Manager, Portfolio Governance, you will build and operationalize the governance framework that guides work from intake through value realization. This is a highly visible role within a newly formed and growing team, responsible for establishing and maintaining governance standards, operating cadences, decision frameworks, tool governance, and portfolio management practices across our Security, Technology, Engineering, Product, and Network (STEPN) organization.

Working closely with Product, Finance, Lean Portfolio Management, and other cross-functional stakeholders, you will create the structure and discipline that enables consistent, transparent, and value-driven portfolio decisions. This role offers the opportunity to shape how the organization operates while building a scalable governance function for the future. This role owns the governance framework that enables portfolio decisions, including decision standards, stage-gate criteria, governance forums, decision rights, and decision records.

The role does not make portfolio investment decisions .

This is a remote opportunity open to candidates located anywhere in the U.S.

• Establish and maintain governance frameworks, standards, operating procedures, and decision-making processes that support the portfolio lifecycle from intake through value realization.
• Lead governance forums, stage-gate reviews, decision tracking, executive communications, and portfolio operating cadences to ensure work is decision-ready and consistently managed.
• Drive documentation, maintenance, and governance oversight across multiple portfolios within STEPN, ensuring transparency, consistency, and auditability.
• Partner closely with Finance, Product, Lean Portfolio Management, and technology stakeholders to align governance processes, reporting, and portfolio decision-making.
• Maintain governance tooling and data standards across platforms such as Jira and Clarity, ensuring reporting integrity, process adherence, and effective change control.
• Develop executive-ready presentations, governance readouts, agendas, decision records, and status communications for senior leadership .
• Monitor governance effectiveness through metrics, compliance tracking, decision cycle times, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Enable adoption through training, coaching, documentation, and stakeholder engagement to ensure governance processes are practical, scalable, and consistently applied.

• 7+ years of experience in portfolio governance, portfolio operations, PMO leadership, program management, business operations, process governance, or a related discipline.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Technology, Operations, Project Management, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Experience designing and implementing governance frameworks, operational standards, stage gates, intake processes, decision rights, or portfolio management practices at enterprise scale .
• Experience operating within Agile, SAFe , or Lean Portfolio Management environments.
• Hands-on experience with portfolio and work management tools such as Jira, Clarity, Jira Product Discovery, or similar enterprise platforms .
• Strong project and portfolio management skills, including facilitation, meeting leadership, executive communications, reporting, presentations, and stakeholder management.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive adoption of standards without direct authority.
• Experience working in complex, matrixed…