Technology Strategy & Planning Manager

Location: Sheffield (3 days a week)

Start: ASAP

Rate: £500-£620 per day Inside IR35

Essential Consulting are working with a large financial services organisation who are looking for experienced Strategy & Planning professional to join a senior technology portfolio function. This is a high-visibility role focused on turning strategic priorities and often ambiguous senior-level requirements into clear, commercially sound plans and recommendations.

This is not a traditional PMO role. We are looking for someone who is proactive, analytical and comfortable taking ownership, rather than someone focused primarily on process, governance administration or reporting.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and support strategic planning across major technology initiatives.
• Develop robust business cases and investment cases for projects and programmes.
• Translate strategic requirements into clear plans, recommendations and executive-level outputs.
• Respond to ad-hoc strategic requests from senior leadership, quickly structuring ambiguous problems and determining the appropriate approach.
• Provide commercial and financial insight to support investment and prioritisation decisions.
• Identify gaps, risks and opportunities and proactively drive them through to resolution.

What Were Looking For

You will have strong Strategy & Planning experience within banking or financial services, ideally within a technology environment. You should have experience developing business/investment cases, strong commercial and financial awareness, and the ability to operate credibly with senior stakeholders.

Most importantly, you will be a proactive self-starter who can operate effectively in a fast-paced environment. You'll be confident taking high-level strategic objectives, quickly identifying what is required and translating them into clear, well-structured plans and recommendations.

Banking or financial services experience is essential for this role.