Back to search results

Director of Digital Products and Portfolio

University of Reading - Digital Technology Services

Location: Reading, Hybrid
Salary: £75,000 to £95,000 per annum
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Placed On: 11th August 2025
Closes: 29th August 2025
Job Ref: SRF50984
 

The closing date for applications is 23.59 on 29th August 2025

Drive the University’s business transformation through the delivery of an ambitious digital strategy and the development of its digital products

The University of Reading is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking leader to join our Digital Directorate as Director of Digital Products and Portfolio. This is a strategic leadership role at the heart of our digital transformation, responsible for shaping and delivering the University’s digital product lifecycle and portfolio of strategic initiatives.

You will lead the transition to a product-centric operating model, ensuring our digital services evolve to meet the changing needs of students, staff, and the wider academic community. This is an exciting opportunity to drive innovation, influence institutional strategy, and make a lasting impact on the University’s digital future.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the strategic development and lifecycle management of digital products and services.
  • Lead and develop the design and delivery of the University’s next tranche of digital strategy portfolio initiatives.
  • Champion the transition to a product-centric model, establishing cross-functional fusion teams.
  • Collaborate with senior stakeholders across the University to align digital initiatives with institutional goals.
  • Ensure effective governance, risk management, and compliance across all digital products.
  • Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and benefits realisation across the digital portfolio.
  • Manage a team of ~60 FTE across digital products and portfolio, including product leads, project and programme managers, business analysts and PMO management.
  • Oversee digital portfolio and product budgets and vendor relationships, ensuring value and performance.
  • Deputise for the CDIO and contribute to University-wide leadership and governance.

About You

We are looking for a strategic, collaborative, and inclusive leader who brings:

Essential:

  • Significant experience in a senior digital or IT leadership role within a large, complex organisation.
  • Proven expertise and track record of delivery in digital product and portfolio management and best practices.
  • Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
  • Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing large-scale transformation programmes.
  • A deep understanding of enterprise architecture, digital governance, and regulatory compliance.

Desirable:

  • Professional qualifications such as Agile, DevOps, Prince2, ITIL, or MSP.
  • Experience in the higher education or public sector.
  • Familiarity with public procurement and HR processes.

What We Offer

  • A competitive salary
  • A collaborative and inclusive working environment.
  • Opportunities for professional development and leadership growth.
  • 33 days annual leave (including University closure days)
  • Competitive benefits package
  • The chance to make a lasting impact on the University’s digital future.
  • We encourage work in a flexible, hybrid model to find the balance of focused home-working with the collaboration and relationship-building an on-campus experience can bring (The role requires minimum 2 days a week on site on campus)

Please see the JDPS for further details.

Interview date: 11th September 2025

For more information, please contact:
Contact Name: Stuart Brown
Contact Job Title: Chief Digital and Information Officer
Contact Email address: stuart.brown@reading.ac.uk

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. We are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

We value your feedback on the quality of our adverts. If you have a comment to make about the overall quality of this advert, or its categorisation then please send us your feedback
Advert information

Type / Role:

Subject Area(s):

Location(s):

Job tools
 

PhD Alert Created

Job Alert Created

Your PhD alert has been successfully created for this search.

Your job alert has been successfully created for this search.

Ok Ok

PhD Alert Created

Job Alert Created

Your PhD alert has been successfully created for this search.

Your job alert has been successfully created for this search.

Manage your job alerts Manage your job alerts

Account Verification Missing

In order to create multiple job alerts, you must first verify your email address to complete your account creation

Request verification email Request verification email

jobs.ac.uk Account Required

In order to create multiple alerts, you must create a jobs.ac.uk jobseeker account

Create Account Create Account

Alert Creation Failed

Unfortunately, your account is currently blocked. Please login to unblock your account.

Email Address Blocked

We received a delivery failure message when attempting to send you an email and therefore your email address has been blocked. You will not receive job alerts until your email address is unblocked. To do so, please choose from one of the two options below.

Max Alerts Reached

A maximum of 5 Job Alerts can be created against your account. Please remove an existing alert in order to create this new Job Alert

Manage your job alerts Manage your job alerts

Creation Failed

Unfortunately, your alert was not created at this time. Please try again.

Ok Ok

Create PhD Alert

Create Job Alert

When you create this PhD alert we will email you a selection of PhDs matching your criteria.When you create this job alert we will email you a selection of jobs matching your criteria. Our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply to this service. Any personal data you provide in setting up this alert is processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice

Create PhD Alert

Create Job Alert

When you create this PhD alert we will email you a selection of PhDs matching your criteria.When you create this job alert we will email you a selection of jobs matching your criteria. Our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply to this service. Any personal data you provide in setting up this alert is processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice

 
 
More jobs from University of Reading

Show all jobs for this employer …

More jobs like this
Join in and follow us

Browser Upgrade Recommended

jobs.ac.uk has been optimised for the latest browsers.

For the best user experience, we recommend viewing jobs.ac.uk on one of the following:

Google Chrome Firefox Microsoft Edge