James Duckworth

With over a decade of experience in portfolio, programme, and project delivery environments, I specialise in turning complex, fragmented change environments into structured, transparent, and deliverable portfolios. My approach blends governance design with people first engagement. Ensuring processes are valued because they make delivery easier, not harder.

I’ve worked across charity and private sectors, including leading PMO functions in fast paced environments, supporting large scale transformation portfolios, and embedding practical governance in areas with low delivery maturity.

Core to my style is building trusted relationships across all levels, from project teams to executive leadership, and translating ambiguity into clarity. I’ve been recognised for:

- Reviving stalled initiatives through co-creation and early stakeholder engagement.
- Designing governance frameworks and reporting tools adopted enterprise wide.
- Mentoring and developing junior colleagues to build sustainable capability.
- Driving engagement and morale during times of organisational uncertainty.

I believe that change succeeds when it’s delivered *with* people, not *to* them, and I’m at my best when bridging the gap between strategy and delivery, bringing order to complexity, and helping teams feel confident in owning their change.

PMO Analyst | RSPCA - December 2022 – Present 

Key Achievements:

• Contributed as a subject matter expert during the Change Portfolio Office redesign. Reviewing discovery outputs, sharing documents/artefacts and context, and participating in early reporting and assurance discussions to guide proposals to reflect organisational reality.
• Developed project start-up process guidance, approval flows and lifecycle templates that were shared with the management consultancy (Manifesto) during the redesign phase. 
• Created PoaPs, RAID reporting flows, and monthly risk slide decks that enabled more outcome driven cross-programme sessions.
• Provided delivery support to various departments without embedded project professionals, including Partnerships & Philanthropy (P&P), Education and Inspectorate/Operations. Helped simplify expectations and reduce ambiguity for teams historically left to navigate change unsupported. Positive feedback and formal recognition from these areas reflects the trust built and the clarity this work brought.
• Built trusted relationships with previously isolated functions, contributing to improved cross portfolio insight and support, evidenced through consistent stakeholder engagement and formal recognition from stakeholders via our recognition system Actus.
• Led development of the feasibility phase for the Body Worn Video (BWV) initiative, progressing a longstanding operational priority that had struggled to gain traction due to complexity and competing demands. Coordinated input from Legal, IT, Health & Safety, Engagement & Income Generation, Inspectorate, Business Intelligence and frontline teams to explore infrastructure, upload logistics, GDPR compliance, and evidential handling risks. Building awareness and desire through inclusion. The case, built from scratch and shaped through cross-sector research and SME engagement, was described by sponsors as the most advanced and structured version to date. Receiving formal recognition from the Head of SOU and Chief Inspectorate Officer for the document output quality, as well as my approach to stakeholder engagement/management.
• Mentored colleagues formally and informally, including through the official RSPCA mentoring programme. Supported Project Support Officers and junior team members across planning, documentation, engagement and capability building. Manager feedback from past appraisals highlights my leadership of the development of the PMO Support Officer role and contribution to wider team cohesion.
• Facilitated and led the directorate “All Hands” forum for 7 months, creating a more engaging space for updates and recognition. Praised for tone, humour and interactivity, especially during periods of uncertainty (PMO restructure and senior leadership changes).
• Formally recognised via Actus for the RSPCA values of Expertise, Commitment and Inspiration, with additional reflection on Compassion and Integrity noted in appraisals and colleague feedback

Project Manager (Interim/Part Time) | Mitie - September 2021 – December 2022 (1 Year, 3 Months)

Key Achievements:

Took on interim delivery responsibility alongside PMO Lead role to manage critical IT change projects.

• Led the scheduling automation initiative, overseeing scope, planning, testing, and delivery across operational and technical teams. Delivered on time and supported full rollout.
• Managed a SharePoint migration and restructure, improving information governance, access controls, and versioning across multiple departments.
• Supported delivery of security tooling upgrades, coordinating RAID, delivery tracking, and supplier engagement.

This period provided more direct delivery experience, demonstrating my adaptability. It also strengthened my understanding and ability to relate governance leadership with hands-on project delivery.

PMO Lead | Mitie - July 2018 – December 2022  (4 Years, 5 Months)

Key Achievements:

• Promoted into a senior PMO leadership role to transform a fragmented IT portfolio office into a mature, value focused delivery support function. Operated as the primary interface for PMO with the Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) and similar senior stakeholders, aligning governance, assurance, reporting, and resourcing with strategic delivery objectives.
• Managed and developed a small team of PMO Analysts and Coordinators, supporting their day to day delivery, career progression and upskilling. Led with a calm, structured approach, earning trust while maintaining strong delivery standards across a complex, multi programme environment.
• Built and embedded an enterprise wide PMO framework, including governance, tooling, lifecycle reporting, and delivery controls. Initially within IT, then scaled across other portfolios.
• Designed and delivered a flexible stage gate model, flexible to the environment's needs, incorporating RACI, quality checks, and clear sign off criteria. This model improved lifecycle approval turnaround and saw adoption across all IT projects.
• Led development of a fully bespoke Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tool using SharePoint, Power Automate, PowerApps, and Power BI. Provided live views on project health, compliance, RAID, and resource use. Became the standard project tooling suite across Mitie.
• Led portfolio reporting and assurance, producing board level dashboards and insight reports that directly informed funding decisions and risk mitigation strategies.
• Supported a strategic benefits realisation framework for a £50m savings programme. Designed, implemented and embedded tools, dashboards and checkpoints. Partnered with Finance and programme leads to improve traceability, accountability and reporting to CFO and Board.
• Rolled out a centralised resourcing model, enabling visibility of demand vs. capacity, improving utilisation, and enabling skill gap identification.
• Set up a governance backed pipeline process, transforming the PMO into an early partner in change rather than a post initiation function. Enabled portfolio planning months ahead of delivery.
• Established a cross portfolio learning and development framework, with guidance libraries, ‘how to’ tutorials, and process standardisation for new PMs and sponsors.
• Supported major transformation initiatives, including service outsourcing projects (and subsequent “TUPE” management), advising on PMO structures, knowledge transfer, and delivery assurance.
• Acted as a strategic PMO partner, working directly with the CTIO and transformation sponsors to prioritise initiatives, address systemic blockers, and improve change maturity across the function.

PMO Analyst | British Gas/Centrica - July 2015 – July 2018 (3 Years)

Key Achievements:

• Delivered PMO support across a £40m+ Energy Services portfolio, covering regulatory, digital and operational change. Worked closely with programme and senior leadership teams to ensure consistent governance, reporting and assurance.
• Maintained and governed RAID logs, milestone tracking, change controls and financial data across multiple projects and programmes.
• Produced monthly exec-level reporting packs, including inputs for Star Chamber board sessions and change control panels.
• Standardised change request processes, increasing visibility of impacts on budget, scope and timelines.
• Developed new risk and issue tracking methods that improved early escalation and stakeholder transparency.
• Worked across waterfall and hybrid project environments, adapting governance support and reporting tools accordingly.
• Supported PMs, finance leads and business analysts to deliver integrated planning and reporting flows.
• Known for reliability, structured thinking and translating delivery challenges into clear governance insight.

Tools/Platforms

Extensive experience working across a range of tools to support governance, reporting, planning and assurance.

• APM Full Member (MAPM) - Renewed: 2025 
• Certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner - Achieved: 2024
• Level 4 Diploma for IT Professionals – System and Principles - Achieved: 2017
• Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award - Achieved: 2017
• Level 3 Applied Science - Achieved: 2014