Senior Director, Portfolio Management

About this role

Responsibilities

• Own 1–2 Anchor Accounts as P&L (50% of your time)
• Deliver revenue on plan and manage services gross margin to target.
• Drive profitable growth through disciplined scoping and change control.
• Lead quarterly strategic reviews with executive sponsors and serve as the senior escalation point for scope, risk, and relationship decisions.
• Identify and pursue expansion opportunities through new use cases, modules, and scale.
• Operationalize Cognite's "Agile Partner" positioning by demonstrating speed, accessibility, and decisiveness so customers feel they have a partner inside Cognite—not a vendor.
• Coach and Develop Several Project Managers (50% of your time)
• Lead weekly 1:1s with each PM, providing feedback, development planning, and escalation support.
• Assess readiness against current and target roles, creating stretch assignments and development plans.
• Monitor engagement, retention risk, and readiness for promotion.
• Sponsor PM progression (PM → Senior PM → Principal PM) in partnership with the VP of Delivery.
• Ensure PMs own their account QBRs and customer relationships while you own PM coaching and strategic escalation.
• Do not run PMs' customer meetings; instead, receive weekly status updates and step in when escalation is required.
• Own Portfolio Health Across All Accounts
• Maintain a real-time view of customer health, delivery risk, and value across your portfolio of owned and PM-managed accounts.
• Run weekly portfolio check-ins with your PMs.
• Assess: Are we green? What risks are emerging? Where is support required?
• Escalate red flags to the VP of Delivery with options and recommendations.
• Connect portfolio health into weekly operations meetings and monthly leadership reporting.
• Partner Cross-Functionally to Grow the Business
• Partner with Account Executives on account strategy and expansion opportunities across both your own accounts and the PM portfolio.
• Act as the primary delivery voice into Product and Engineering, bringing structured customer feedback into roadmap prioritization.
• Build strong partnerships with Finance around P&L ownership, revenue recognition, and margin analysis.
• Metrics You'll Own
• PM Team Health & Development
• High engagement across the PM team.
• Zero involuntary attrition.
• At least one PM ready for next-level promotion by the target date.
• Anchor Account P&L
• Revenue delivered to plan.
• Services gross margin at or above target.
• Customer NPS at or above target.
• Adoption outcomes (% of commitments realized) at or above target.
• Portfolio Stability
• Eight-account portfolio with zero unplanned exits.
• Delivery completed on time and within budget.
• Customer satisfaction maintained or improved.
• The Impact You'll Bring
• Talent Multiplier
• You develop Project Managers into future leaders, accelerating bench strength across the organization.
• Portfolio as a Business
• You run one to two strategic accounts with disciplined P&L ownership and thoughtful commercial decision-making.
• Value & Expansion Engine
• You turn delivery excellence into customer adoption, measurable value, and expansion revenue.
• The Agile Partner
• Customers experience you and your team as fast, accessible, decisive, and rigorous—without unnecessary friction.
• Required Qualifications
• 10+ years in enterprise software delivery (SaaS, Managed Services, or Professional Services), with P&L or portfolio ownership.
• 3+ years managing five or more direct reports with a proven track record of developing talent, improving performance, and driving retention.
• 5+ years owning customer relationships at Director or Executive level.
• Demonstrated success expanding existing customer accounts and driving adoption-led revenue.
• Strong commercial mindset with experience managing revenue, margin, utilization, and costs.
• Strong understanding of Agile delivery methodologies and modern project management tooling.
• Ability to move seamlessly between board-level strategy and operational execution.
• Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with industrial software, IoT, or data platforms.
• Background in Professional Services or SaaS delivery.
• Experience working across EMEA or managing customers across multiple time zones.
• Key Competencies
• People Leader & Coach – Develops PMs through coaching, accountability, and empowerment without micromanagement.
• Commercially Disciplined – Uses financial metrics and margin analysis to guide decision-making.
• Customer Obsessed – Translates delivery excellence into measurable business outcomes.
• Strong Executive Presence – Influences senior stakeholders with compelling, data-driven narratives.
• Cross-Functional Operator – Aligns Delivery, Sales, Product, Engineering, and Finance around shared customer outcomes.
• Comfortable with Ambiguity – Demonstrates sound judgment, resilience, and decisiveness in fast-changing environments.
• Learn more about us
• Impact 2025
• Cognite's Industrial AI: Moonshot
• We’re globally recognized domain experts with an international presence that spans Phoenix, Houston, Oslo Tokyo, Bengaluru, and Abu Dhabi.
• Equal Opportunity
• Cognite is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment at work and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive the same level of consideration for employment.