Interim Executive, Healthcare Technology Portfolio Reset

Make the portfolio deliverable

The starting point is a credible account of current commitments. Projects must be assessed for remaining cost, dependencies, business ownership and the capacity required from operational teams. Reported progress should be tested against usable outputs and readiness, particularly where delivery plans depend on the same scarce specialists or local users.

Stop, sequence or strengthen

The executive will bring explicit choices to the sponsor group. Some programmes may warrant additional support; others may need narrower scope, later delivery or closure. Recommendations must consider sunk commitments without allowing past expenditure to determine future investment. The consequences of stopping work, including contractual and operational obligations, need to be visible.

For continuing programmes, the role will establish realistic milestones and acceptance criteria. Integration, testing, training and data preparation should be included in the plan rather than treated as tasks that local operations will absorb later. The executive will coordinate funding and resource decisions with finance and business leaders.

Risk reporting must identify decisions that management can still influence. The appointee will challenge repeated amber status, unresolved dependencies and benefits without accountable owners. They may redirect delivery resources within delegation, while major changes in funding, strategic scope or accepted exposure require formal sponsor approval.

The experience required

Candidates need executive experience leading enterprise technology portfolios or complex integration programmes, with meaningful exposure to healthcare systems. They should demonstrate the ability to make difficult prioritisation recommendations and implement them without losing the confidence of delivery and operational teams. Financial fluency and an understanding of organisational change are essential.

The role calls for clear communication with boards and senior executives, particularly when earlier commitments are no longer credible. Candidates should be able to explain how they distinguished a recoverable programme from one whose underlying assumptions had failed.

The assignment should leave a smaller or better-sequenced set of commitments that the organisation can actually deliver, supported by accountable sponsors and reliable evidence. Handover will include funded priorities, accepted residual risks and a repeatable decision cycle. Success is sustained portfolio discipline and operationally usable outcomes, rather than a temporary improvement in the appearance of the status report.