Director of Business Performance & Portfolio Management

Global University Systems (GUS) is one of the world's leading education groups, bringing together a diverse network of higher education institutions, academic partners and student recruitment organisations across multiple countries.

With more than 11,000 colleagues and 36 academic institutions worldwide, we combine global scale with an entrepreneurial mindset, creating opportunities to innovate, grow and make an impact.

As an ambitious international organisation, we continue to evolve, invest and expand. We offer the opportunity to work across a complex global portfolio, with genuine ownership and the ability to influence business performance at Group level.

The opportunity

We are looking for an exceptional Director of Business Performance & Portfolio Management to establish and lead a new Group-wide performance capability.

This is a high-impact senior leadership role with a clear mandate to drive stronger financial and operational performance, sharpen accountability and turn insight into action across our international portfolio.

Working closely with CEOs, CFOs and senior leadership teams, you will get beneath the numbers to understand what is driving business performance, identify where intervention is required and ensure clear recovery plans are owned and delivered.

This is much broader than a traditional reporting role. You will bring together business performance, portfolio management, commercial finance, performance improvement and value creation, creating a consistent approach to how performance is measured, challenged and improved across the Group.

What you'll be doing

As Director of Business Performance & Portfolio Management, you will:

• Establish and lead the Group-wide business performance and portfolio management capability, including its operating model, governance and ways of working.

• Develop a consistent performance framework covering KPIs, scorecards, financial performance, operational performance and executive performance reviews.

• Lead structured performance reviews with institutional and functional leadership teams.

• Analyse business performance to identify underlying commercial, financial and operational drivers.

• Provide independent, evidence-based challenge where businesses or institutions are underperforming.

• Develop and oversee performance improvement and recovery plans, ensuring clear ownership, milestones and measurable outcomes.

• Track commitments through to delivery and escalate where progress is insufficient.

• Use portfolio-level analysis and cross-institution benchmarking to identify performance gaps, risks and opportunities.

• Translate complex financial and operational information into clear, commercially focused recommendations.

• Provide senior leadership with concise insight into portfolio performance, business performance, risks and opportunities.

• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders while maintaining the independence required to provide constructive challenge.

• Build and lead a high-performing performance management capability.

What we're looking for

You will bring:

• Significant senior-level experience in a complex, multi-entity or international organisation.

• A strong track record of diagnosing and addressing business underperformance.

• Excellent commercial and financial acumen, connecting financial results with operational and strategic performance.

• Experience developing KPIs, performance frameworks, scorecards and executive review processes.

• Strong analytical capability and an ability to identify the drivers behind financial and operational performance.

• The credibility to influence and constructively challenge CEOs, CFOs and senior leadership teams.

• Experience developing recovery or performance improvement plans and driving actions through to measurable outcomes.

• Experience establishing a new performance, commercial or portfolio capability would be particularly valuable.

• Experience within private equity portfolio operations, value creation or another highly performance-focused environment would be advantageous.

What we offer:

• Hybrid working - most roles offer hybrid or flexible arrangements to support work-life balance.

• Contributory Pension Scheme - 5% personal contribution & 3% Company contribution, so you can build long-term financial security with added benefits of the company contributions.

• Private Medical Insurance (T&C's apply) - prioritising your wellbeing with speedy access to healthcare whenever you need support.

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays - time to rest, recharge, and balance life beyond work.

• Season Ticket Loan (T&C's apply) - spread the cost of your commute with an interest-free travel loan.

• Eye Care Vouchers - support for regular eye tests and essential eyewear. 

• Training & Development opportunities (T&C's apply) - access to short courses via FutureLearn and Group-wide professional development programmes.

• Staff Discount Scheme - via My Rewards Hub, from various retailers – Fashion, Grocery, Health & Beauty, Travel, Automotive, Furniture, Dining, Sports and Leisure, Electronics, etc

• Employee Assistance Programme - confidential support for your wellbeing, whenever you need it.

• Refer a Friend Scheme for staff members (T&C's apply) - earn rewards for helping us bring great talent into the team

If you feel this is the role you are looking for, please click below to apply for the role! 

We will screen all applicants and select candidates whose qualifications meet our requirements. We will carefully consider your application during the initial screening and will contact you if you are selected to continue for the next stage of the recruitment process. We wish you every success in your job search.

GUS is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, or religion or belief.

Our data privacy policy can be viewed here.