Job Description
We have an amazing opportunity to join our Business Development and Origination Transformation team as a Programme Manager – Smoothed Funds
Job Type: Permanent
Location: London
Hybrid role. All roles are advertised as open to part-time and job-share using the statement below.
Flexible working: All of our roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about Phoenix Flex here.
Closing Date: 24th October 2025
Salary and benefits: Up to £105,000 plus discretionary bonus, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more
The role
We are seeking a highly experienced and technically proficient Programme Manager to lead the design, planning and delivery of strategic initiatives within our Smoothed Managed Funds portfolio. This is a specialist role requiring deep expertise in investment solutions tailored to retirement journeys, particularly in drawdown phases. You will be instrumental in shaping and delivering complex programmes that span multiple business units and external partners, ensuring alignment with Phoenix’s long-term investment strategy.. The successful candidate must have a deep understanding of the Smoothed and other investment solutions for retirement journeys in drawdown, 3rd party delivery partners, customer journey and the specific business benefits being targeted. Have worked closely with the Smoothed product teams and delivery partners across the group and externally. Have technical and product knowledge to be able to liaise directly with internal and external partners on new and potential opportunities and be able to quickly build a business case to decide if new opportunities are profitable.
Key Responsibilities For The Role Include
- Apply specialist knowledge of smoothed fund mechanics, customer journey design, and retirement investment strategies to shape programme outcomes
- Collaborate closely with product teams and third-party delivery partners to assess new opportunities and build robust business cases
- To be actively involved in the shaping of product deliverables, customer journeys and benefits impacts to optimally support the business
- Design an appropriate project/programme governance structure and source appropriate resources to ensure projects are adequately resourced; especially where resources are specialised and/or limited and therefore challenging to secure
- Identify and actively manage senior stakeholders to ensure project sponsor, steering group (including Executive) are kept informed of project progress
- Responsibility for significant project or programme budgets of up to £50million
- Implement and operate effective and robust governance and control environment in line with the Phoenix change management framework
- Lead on internal business unit initiatives on behalf of the Head of BD&O Transformation as required
- Produce and actively maintain good quality project/programme documentation in line with the project objectives to ensure successful delivery
- Use advanced tools and techniques to an expert level to maximise the benefits these tools can provide to project delivery. Be prepared to take personal responsibility for making difficult decisions often in ambiguous situations
- Work with Business Sponsors, relevant stakeholders and the project/programme team to scope, define and plan the project, and reach agreement on whether they should progress to delivery
- Input to the annual planning round, detailing costs, benefits and priorities for new initiatives in the Smoothed and other investment solutions product range
- Drive long term behavioural change across the business in effective planning, adherence to time, cost, quality targets
- Effectively managing programme and project teams with limited resources within a cost pressured environment
What are we looking for?
- Capable of providing management oversight and support to a sub-set of sub-portfolio projects on behalf of the Head of BD&O Transformation
- We’re seeking a highly capable Programme Manager with a strong background in delivering large-scale, complex change initiatives—particularly within investment solutions and retirement products. In addition to proven programme leadership, we’re especially keen to hear from candidates who bring:
- Deep understanding of Smoothed Managed Funds and their role in retirement journeys, including how they support customer outcomes in drawdown phases.
- Experience working with or within investment product teams, ideally having contributed to the development, launch, or transformation of Smoothed or similar investment solutions.
- Knowledge of fund governance, pricing structures, and risk management principles specific to Smoothed Funds.
- Ability to translate technical product features into business benefits, and to shape customer journeys that reflect the unique characteristics of Smoothed investment solutions.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with a track record of working across internal teams and external delivery partners to bring investment propositions to market.
- Commercial acumen, with the ability to assess new opportunities quickly and build compelling business cases for investment product enhancements or new propositions.
- Leadership experience in regulated environments, with a focus on compliance, customer-centricity, and long-term value creation.
- We’re looking for someone who can not only manage complex programmes but also act as a strategic partner to our Smoothed product teams—helping to shape the future of our investment solutions portfolio.
- Line management of Specialist and Associate project managers and business analysts plus matrix management of many more
- Provide strong leadership by proactively coaching, mentoring, supporting, and developing teams to ensure a strong focus on the business objectives
- Represent Phoenix, internally and externally, and promote its values through appropriate behaviours, including the identification and mitigation of risk
We Hire the Whole You
We welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience differs from what’s listed but you believe you can bring value, we’d love to hear from you. Adjustments to the recruitment process are available to help you perform at your best.
Apply early – we’re reviewing applications as they come in.
- Guide for Candidates: thephoenixgroup.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
- Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.thephoenixgroup.com/careers/talk-to-us
