Day 1 Portfolio Manager

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Job Reference: HCC
624663
Salary Range: £65,895 - £73,902 per annum (Hybrid Working)
Work Location: Elizabeth II Court, Winchester
Hours per week: 37
Contract Type: Temporary until 31 March 2028
Closing Date: 12 August 2026

I
nterview Date: w/c 24 August and w/c 31 August 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Day 1 Portfolio Manager to join the Area-Wide Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) Programme team.

Are you looking for a challenging and diverse role working as part of a collaborative, high-profile programme, with an opportunity to make a real difference for residents and communities across Hampshire and the Solent?

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is a major government-led programme that is reshaping how local councils are structured and how public services are delivered. Across Hampshire and the Solent, 15 councils are working together to create new unitary authorities that will take responsibility for delivering local government services in the future.

The aim of LGR is to simplify local government structures, improve outcomes for residents, strengthen public services and create organisations that are financially sustainable for the future. By bringing services together within new unitary authorities, the programme seeks to improve efficiency, increase accountability and enable more integrated service delivery.

This is one of the largest and most complex transformation programmes ever undertaken in local government. It involves the redesign of services, governance arrangements, technology, finance, assets, people processes and organisational structures, whilst ensuring that critical services continue to operate safely and effectively throughout the transition.

The programme brings together colleagues from multiple councils and service areas to design and deliver the future operating arrangements needed for the new authorities. This includes planning for "Day 1" readiness, when the new organisations formally come into existence, as well as supporting longer-term transformation and service improvement.

Joining the LGR programme provides a unique opportunity to contribute to a once-in-a-generation change programme that will shape the future of local government across Hampshire and the Solent. Colleagues involved in the programme gain experience of complex transformation, large-scale programme delivery, organisational design, governance, stakeholder engagement and public sector reform, whilst helping to create the foundations of the new authorities.

Lead and coordinate all activity required to achieve Day 1 readiness across the LGR programme, ensuring that the new unitary authorities are legally, operationally and organisationally ready on Vesting Day. The role provides programme-wide leadership of readiness planning, critical path management, assurance activity and cross-cutting implementation dependencies, maintaining a single integrated view of Day 1 delivery across all themes, portfolios and future unitary authorities.

• Lead the development, maintenance and delivery of the integrated Day 1 readiness plan across all portfolios, themes and future unitary authorities.
• Maintain oversight of all critical Day 1 milestones, dependencies and transition activities.
• Coordinate cross-cutting implementation activity where responsibilities span multiple portfolios, programmes, councils or delivery teams.
• Establish and manage a robust readiness assessment framework, including criteria, evidence requirements, assurance activities and escalation processes.
• Lead readiness reviews and challenge sessions, ensuring emerging issues are identified early and corrective action is implemented.
• Oversee the collection, validation and reporting of readiness evidence, ensuring confidence in programme reporting and assurance conclusions.

• Significant experience leading complex programmes, major work streams or large-scale implementation activity.
• Strong understanding of programme planning, governance, dependency management and readiness assessment.
• Experience coordinating delivery across multiple organisations, stakeholders and…