GDT Strategy, Portfolio & Performance Lead

GDT Strategy, Portfolio & Performance Lead

Location: Kingston / 100VE

Reporting into: Karla Hrabar

Work Level: WL2C

Purpose of the Role

The Strategy, Portfolio & Performance Lead will partner with senior business leaders across Europe to shape and drive the digital strategy, working closely and aligning with product domain leaders, to ensure that digital initiatives directly enable business priorities and deliver measurable value. This role will establish a coherent portfolio approach—aligning programmes and projects to strategic outcomes, defining what success looks like, and embedding consistent performance management. The role will serve as a strategic orchestrator, bringing clarity, prioritisation, and focus to the digital agenda while identifying opportunities for optimisation, continuous improvement and driving insights into actions.

Main Responsibilities

• Work closely with European business and functional leaders to develop the regional digital strategy roadmap by understanding and translating BU strategy and context into a comprehensive view of the requirements and opportunities
• Identify key capabilities and programmes which will realise impact of Europe and BUs, present a view of the GDT Portfolio by BG/BU to the BU CDIO and BU LT, with cost visibility, benefits realisation & deployment timelines
• Ensure digital strategy is tightly aligned to broader business strategy, growth priorities, and market needs
• Translate strategic objectives into actionable roadmaps, portfolio priorities, and clear value cases
• Collaborate with the BU and Domain Portfolio Lead to make decisions on project timings, structure and delivery. Support CDIO on Digital Transformation and Innovation
• Maintain portfolio performance, vision and strategy: formulate clear vision and strategy with the BU teams to drive the performance metrics of the digital capabilities against the BU priorities and goals
• Evaluate initiatives against strategic fit, value, feasibility, and resource requirements to enable informed prioritisation with the product teams
• Facilitate governance forums and decision‑making processes to drive alignment and resolve blockers
• Identify synergies, gaps, interdependencies, and opportunities for consolidation or acceleration
• Create strong joined up governance between BU and Products: define success metrics and performance frameworks for digital programmes and projects, linking outputs to business impact
• Co‑create and align measurement approach, ensuring consistent visibility of performance, risks, and dependencies
• Partner with product owners and CDIOs to track value realisation, drive accountability, and course‑correct where needed
• Track adoption & people dependent ROI of products deployed within the BU
• Ensure necessary prioritisation decisions are provided on backlog
• Use insights and data to identify opportunities to enhance delivery, remove barriers, and strengthen business outcomes
• Identify and elevate risks related to digital initiatives to relevant business stakeholders. Track outcomes from now, next and beyond plan with BU leadership teams
• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders, providing strategic guidance, insights, and challenge where required
• Align stakeholders around shared priorities and maintain engagement across markets, categories, and functions
• Enable a culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement in how digital work is prioritised and executed
• Develop clear, compelling, and creative presentations that translate complex strategy, portfolio insights, and performance outcomes into executive‑ready narratives
• Present confidently to senior stakeholders, ensuring clarity, influence, and engagement
• Proactively identify areas where digital capabilities, processes, or operating models could enhance business performance
• Recommend improvements to portfolio governance, strategic planning processes, and performance management frameworks
• Introduce best practices and emerging methodologies for portfolio management, strategy execution, and value tracking
• Continuous alignment and improvements: advocate for user‑centric design. Facilitate UAT and drive superior experience to deliver value realization

Experiences & Qualifications

• Critical strategy thinking – must have managed OKR, performance and worked collaboratively with product teams
• Strategic change management experience in large, complex organisations
• Strategy development
• Experience developing clear, compelling, and creative presentations that translate complex strategy, portfolio insights, and performance outcomes into executive‑ready narratives
• Experience in digital, technology‑enabled transformation, or innovation portfolio management
• Demonstrated ability to design and manage strategic planning cycles, portfolio governance frameworks, or performance dashboards
• Technical acumen – familiarity with digital technologies and technology trends
• Strong leadership, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Excellent communication, collaboration and interpersonal skills
• Global training and learning delivery experience
• Strong programme management and project management skills
• Experience driving digital steer committee for one BG/BU

Skills – (Skills List)

• Global product / programme leadership: strong product / programme management skills, with experience in leading complex transformations across multiple geographies
• Digital expertise: strong understanding of what good promotes and how to achieve it across data, analytics, AI and/or consumer tech
• Influencing: excellent communication, collaboration and interpersonal skills
• Strong presentation skills, presenting confidently to senior stakeholders, ensuring clarity, influence and engagement
• Strategic thinking: ability to develop and execute strategic plans that align with business objectives and drive transformation
• Problem‑solving: strong analytical and problem‑solving skills to map processes and identify opportunities for improvement
• Financial acumen: P&L understanding and experience managing budgets at a managerial level

Leadership Skills – Unilever Behaviours

• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed.
• PERSONAL MASTERY: sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own well‑being and resilience.
• TALENT CATALYST: invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realise their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best. Inspires powerful teamwork and collaboration, connecting people for better results.
• CONSUMER LOVE: brings the voice of the consumer into everything we do, always.
• BUSINESS ACUMEN: creates opportunities for profitable growth through the core and beyond.

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