Gill

Project Portfolio Manager

“I get energy from working with like minded people who have a genuine passion and interest in what they do.”

• What does a good day look like in your role?

  My role includes leading the project management team and on a good day I would get caught up in the energy and excitement of seeing a new project going live. There is great satisfaction in seeing months of hard work and cross-team collaboration paying off and I feel tremendous pride in my team whenever we get a project over the line. 

  A good day would also be collaborating with my colleagues in the business transformation team to assess an exciting new project idea raised by someone in the business. My role involves managing and prioritising the project pipeline and setting the 2-year roadmap for the project portfolio, so when a great new idea with tons of potential is submitted there is a buzz in assessing the positive impact it can have on the business and in figuring out when and how we can deliver it. 
   

• What does a challenging day look like in your role?

  A challenging day might involve working with my team to resolve a major issue that has arisen in a project. Managing risks and issues is a big part of the day-to-day life of a project manager and no-matter how carefully a project is planned there are almost always unexpected problems that need to be addressed. Fortunately, the project management team can turn to each other for guidance and advice to figure out how to resolve a thorny problem. 
   

• What do you get up to in a typical day/week?

  As we are hybrid working, I spend two days a week working from my home office and three days in the office. But wherever I am, a typical day involves collaborating with a lot of people across the business to keep moving things forward.

  For example, a typical day would involve spending one-to-one time with my project management team to discuss project updates, budgets and any escalations which might need support. I lead a governance group meeting to assess some newly submitted project ideas and discuss strategic priorities and dependencies for new additions to the 2-year project roadmap.  I join a meeting with stakeholders from a range of different departments across the business to collaborate over the creation of a new business case, ready to be submitted for sign off by the C-Suite. I have a call with a supplier about an in-flight project, perhaps to discuss commercials, performance or to discuss an issue escalated from a project. I lead a meeting with the whole technology delivery team to plan resourcing across the project portfolio and discuss any capacity constraints or roadmap changes which impact resourcing plans. I also spend some desk time replying to emails, preparing for upcoming meetings, sending out comms to keep wider teams informed of progress and chasing others for actions and decisions.  
   

• What's the best thing about working for AllSaints?

  Hands down it’s the people. I get energy from working with like-minded people who have a genuine passion and interest in what they do.
   

• What's the most surprising or unexpected thing about working for us?

  Finding out about our sustainability strategy and seeing the commitment already being demonstrated in our current product ranges. It’s really amazing and inspiring to see how we can make a positive impact in the retail space. 
   

• Why AllSaints?

  For the pride you feel in being part of a great fashion brand. For the beautiful clothes, the fun, passionate people, and the interesting work. 

• What's not in the job description but something you'd tell a friend if they were looking to join the brand?

  Free Clothes! All team members receive a generous annual wardrobe allowance which makes it very fun to go shopping, plus it’s also great for keeping you close to the heart of the brand if you don’t work directly with products in your role.

• Tell us about your journey with AllSaints so far.

  Since I joined AllSaints in 2020 I’ve had plenty of opportunities to build on my experiences and develop my skills.  I started as senior project manager and progressed to lead project manager 18 months later, taking line management responsibility for the project management team. I have since been promoted to portfolio manager, moving into a more strategic role responsible for setting and delivering the project roadmap for AllSaints.