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Entain

Global sports betting and online gaming

Portfolio Lead

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
No salary listed
Senior
Leeds, UK
HybridHybrid role with 2+ days in the office.
Project & Program ManagementProgram Management

About the job

Requirements
  • At least 7 years of experience in delivery or agile roles, including at least 3 years operating across multiple teams simultaneously in a technology environment.
  • Expertise in flow-based delivery approaches, including Kanban, lean, and continuous delivery; experience should not be limited to Scrum.
  • Experience enabling multiple teams or pods simultaneously at scale.
  • Strong understanding of AI tooling and its application to software delivery, including coding assistants, automation, and intelligent analytics.
  • Experience in capacity planning, demand forecasting, and resource optimisation across multiple teams.
  • Ability to use data to solve complex problems and interpret and communicate complex data sets clearly.
  • Previous experience in organisational transformation and change management.
  • Good knowledge of Objectives and Key Results strategy.
Responsibilities
  • Own delivery performance across a sub-domain of 4–6 Engineering, Quality, and Product pods, leading the flow of value from idea to production and ensuring delivery pace, predictability, and outcome alignment.
  • Lead and communicate delivery health, risks, and performance to leadership.
  • Ensure pods operate as self-organising units that deliver value outcomes.
  • Coach pod leads through facilitation and conflict resolution.
  • Ensure cross-pod agreement on priorities, dependencies, and shared goals, and facilitate communication and knowledge sharing between pods.
  • Use root cause analysis, systems thinking, and structured techniques to analyse problems and guide resolutions.
  • Serve as an escalation point for cross-pod blockers and systemic impediments, and identify patterns that indicate organisational or process issues.
  • Champion AI agent adoption across pods, including coding agents, test generation, story creation, board health, and deployment automation.
  • Identify opportunities for AI to reduce toil, accelerate delivery, and improve decision-making; apply AI to workflow insights, risk prediction, and reporting automation; track and demonstrate its impact on delivery performance.
  • Monitor and improve delivery flow using lead time, cycle time, work in progress, throughput, Kanban, and lean principles.
  • Ensure work-in-progress limits are respected, surface ageing items through board walks, and identify bottlenecks, ageing work, and sources of delay across pods.
  • Improve delivery through regular assessment and experimentation, and help teams break work into deliverable, value-driven increments.
  • Support and evolve an agile operating model for a pod-based environment focused on pace rather than ceremony; adapt Kanban, flow-based, and lean approaches to each pod while promoting consistent practice without being prescriptive.
  • Promote outcome-driven delivery, autonomy, and accountability.
  • Define and maintain delivery metrics, including cycle time, flow efficiency, initiative lead time, product development lifecycle compression, dependency reduction, rework rate, team satisfaction, and AI effectiveness.
  • Build dashboards such as cumulative flow diagrams, throughput charts, and work-in-progress ageing views to provide leadership visibility and support informed decisions.
  • Analyse performance data to identify trends, patterns, and improvement areas; use data to facilitate conversations and coach pods rather than merely track output.
  • Partner with Engineering and Product leadership at sub-domain level, represent delivery health and risks in leadership forums, build trusted relationships that enable fast decisions, and communicate performance to technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Understand the sub-domain's commercial context, connect delivery decisions to revenue, cost, and customer impact, and support prioritisation trade-offs with a business lens.
  • Forecast capacity across pods based on team composition, skills mix, and upcoming demand; identify resourcing gaps and support hiring and allocation decisions.
  • Balance workloads across pods to prevent burnout and underutilisation, and support realistic planning by ensuring pods understand available capacity.
  • Manage risks through regular assessment and execution of controls; ensure cross-pod dependencies are visible, tracked, and managed.
  • Track dependency cost, including time blocked and items affected, and lead mitigations such as contract-first development and feature flags.
  • Support issue escalations and ensure intervention through the dependency escalation protocol.
  • Provide hands-on coaching at pod level and build capability in workflow management, flow thinking, estimation, planning, and data-led decision-making.
  • Help teams understand and improve their performance, and strengthen a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
  • Align delivery to outcomes and value, help teams understand the purpose of their work and its contribution to value, challenge work that is not linked to outcomes, and support measurement against Objectives and Key Results and value indicators.
  • Contribute actively to the Centre of Excellence by sharing pod best practices, delivery insights, and improvement opportunities; support adoption of standards, playbooks, and tools; and help evolve delivery practices based on experience.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience in a regulated industry such as gaming or fintech.

About the company

E

Entain

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Website

Entain is a global sports betting and online gaming company with brands such as bwin, Coral, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker and Sportingbet. It operates online and retail betting and gaming and makes money from sports betting, online casino games, and B2B technology services, powered by its proprietary platform. It differentiates itself through a large multi-brand portfolio, scale in both digital and physical channels, a focus on regulated markets, and its BetMGM joint venture in North America, along with a strong ARC responsible-gaming program. Its goal is to grow its presence in regulated markets worldwide while maintaining responsible gaming practices and using technology to offer a broad, compliant gaming experience.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

2004

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • On October 1, 2026, BlackRush positioned Entain for New Zealand's 2027 casino licenses.
  • Entain said Brazil's ban leaves FY26 online growth at the top end excluding Brazil.
  • BetMGM's September 2026 NFL upgrades strengthen U.S. cross-sell and retention heading into season.

What critics are saying

  • Brazil's September 25, 2026 ban shuts fixed-odds betting, erasing 5% of online revenue.
  • September 2026 UK tax changes force 400 customer-care cuts and threaten more shop closures.
  • Entain's share slump and FTSE 250 exit increase takeover vulnerability if BetMGM stumbles.

What makes Entain unique

  • Entain's regulated-markets model and proprietary platform differentiate Ladbrokes, Coral, bwin, and Sportingbet.
  • BetMGM gives Entain North American scale through MGM Resorts' 50/50 partnership.
  • TAB NZ partnership gives Entain exclusive New Zealand sports betting access until 2048.

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Benefits

  • Flexible Work Hours

Company News

StrategINK
Oct 15th, 2026
Pradeep Kumar Bonda joins DataLink as Vice President - People & Culture.

Pradeep Kumar Bonda joins DataLink as Vice President - People & Culture. October 15, 2026 Pradeep Kumar Bonda has joined DataLink as Vice President - People & Culture, bringing nearly two decades of experience in human resources leadership, people strategy, organisational transformation and employee engagement. His appointment marks his move to DataLink after holding senior HR positions across technology, healthcare and business services. Before joining DataLink, Bonda served as Head of HR - India at Entain. In that role, he was responsible for translating global people strategies into local initiatives, strengthening leadership capabilities, improving employee engagement and retention, and supporting HR transformation. He also worked on incorporating data analytics and artificial intelligence into HR decision-making. Earlier, Bonda worked at Carelon Global Solutions as Senior Manager - HR Business Partner. His responsibilities included supporting business leaders, succession planning, talent development and aligning HR practices with organisational priorities. He also spent several years at Altruista Health, progressing from Senior Human Resources Manager to Director - People Success. During his tenure, he led initiatives focused on organisational effectiveness, employee engagement and talent retention. He worked with cross-functional leadership teams on change management and helped strengthen the role of HR as a strategic business partner. Earlier in his career, Bonda worked with Semantic Space Technologies Limited, now Prolifics, in inside sales. He also served as HR & Inside Sales Executive at BIR Solutions, where his responsibilities included recruitment, training and development, payroll, performance management, employee grievances and administration. Bonda holds an MBA in Human Resources and Marketing from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management. He has also completed a Business Transformation and Strategy programme at XLRI Jamshedpur. At DataLink, he brings experience in strategic HR business partnering, people analytics, leadership development, succession planning and organisational culture. His background spans multiple industries and includes work on aligning workforce strategies with business objectives. - Advertisement -

This Is Oxfordshire
Oct 15th, 2026
Gambling tax hikes will cause closures and job cuts, say Entain and Rank.

Gambling tax hikes will cause closures and job cuts, say Entain and Rank. 15th October By PA News Agency Coral and Ladbrokes owner Entain has warned the Government against gambling tax increases (Entain/PA) Further tax hikes will threaten jobs and venues, two UK gambling firms have warned the Government before the autumn Budget. Ladbrokes owner Entain and Grosvenor casino parent firm Rank Group have both urged the Government to rethink reported proposals to increase taxes on the sector. Entain, which also owns Coral, said the UK has become an "increasingly challenging tax environment". Stella David, chief executive of the company, said: "Both online and retail are important parts of its business and valued contributors to tax revenues and local communities. "We strongly urge the UK Government to carefully consider any further gambling tax increases which would threaten the viability of many shops, jobs and livelihoods." The Government is reportedly considering an increase in the rate of machine games duty, which is the tax on fruit machines, roulette machines and other slot machines, at the Budget later this month. It comes after remote gaming duty, the tax on online casino and slots, was increased from 21% to 40% in April this year, following changes announced at last year's autumn budget. On Thursday, Entain revealed that net gaming revenues increased by 4% across the group in the third quarter of 2026, compared with a year earlier. It was boosted by stronger-than-expected trading in the UK and Ireland, despite the "challenging" tax backdrop. This helped the company offset the impact of tumbling sales in its Brazilian business, which saw a ban on online gambling come into force late last month. Meanwhile, Rank Group, which runs Grosvenor casinos and Mecca bingo halls, also warned that duty increases would lead to venue closures. Richard Harris, chief executive of Rank, said: "Speculation regarding the upcoming Budget continues to weigh heavily on investor sentiment, but its message has been clear: any increase to machine games duty will increase costs, reduce venue viability, lead to venue closures and job losses, reduce tax receipts and halt investment. "HM Treasury recognised these economic arguments last year and, with the right conditions, we believe our casinos and bingo clubs can play an important role in the Government's growth agenda." It came as Rank reported that like-for-like net gaming revenues rose by 5% to £216.1 million for the quarter to September 30. The rise was linked to 6% growth from its digital business, including a boost from its online Mecca bingo business. It also reported a 6% rise in net gaming revenues from Grosvenor casino venues, with a 1% increase in visits and a 5% increase in spend per visit. However, the group also shut three of its casinos, in Swansea, Reading Central and Sunderland, during the quarter.

Next.io
Oct 15th, 2026
Q3 2026: UK online surge pushes Entain net gaming revenue up 2%.

Q3 2026: UK online surge pushes Entain net gaming revenue up 2%. Online NGR was up 3% year-on-year but 8% higher when excluding Brazil Double-digit online growth in the UK helped push group net gaming revenue (NGR) at Entain up 2% during the third quarter, though the recent shutdown in Brazil resulted in a decline in its international business. Reporting in a trading update, Entain did not publish full financial figures, with these due at a later stage when the Q3 data is published in full. However, the group did offer insight into its various business segments. Group online NGR was 3% higher, helped by an 8% rise in gaming revenue but partly offset by a 3% drop in sports NGR and the impact of the situation in Brazil. In late September, President Lula signed an order banning online sports betting and casino gaming in the country. Incidentally, Entain said that excluding Brazil, total online NGR was 8% higher year-on-year. As for retail performance, total NGR for the segment was 2% lower, with both retail gaming and sports betting NGR down 1%. The sports wagering dip came despite a 5% rise in wagers during Q3. "I'm pleased with our Q3 performance," said CEO Stella David. "It reflects the strength of our execution and reinforces the resilience of our globally scaled business as well as its ability to consistently deliver high-quality growth." Entain surpasses expectations in the UK and Ireland. Breaking down the performance further, Entain noted a better-than-expected performance in the UK and Ireland, with total NGR for the region up 8% in Q3. This was driven by a 14% rise in online NGR, with gaming NGR up 17% and sports NGR 3%. There was also marginal growth in retail, with NGR edging up 1% following a 1% rise in both gaming and sports betting NGR. Entain said the growth reflected its "strategic execution and investment" in the region, against the background of an "increasingly challenging" tax environment. Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) increased from 21% to 40% at the start of April, while a new rate of General Betting Duty (GBD) will be introduced at 25% next year. On this, David once again urged the UK government to think carefully over further tax rises on gambling, warning this could lead to further job losses in the sector. Entain recently said as many as 400 customer care jobs could be lost across its business to mitigate the impact of higher UK tax rates. "Both online and retail are important parts of our business and valued contributors to tax revenues and local communities," David said. "We strongly urge the UK government to carefully consider any further gambling tax increases which would threaten the viability of many shops, jobs and livelihoods." 'Disciplined' approach in Brazil. Turning to its international business, NGR was 4% lower overall. Online NGR dropped 3% amid a 5% fall in gaming NGR and 2% decline in sports betting NGR. There were greater declines in retail, with NGR for the international business down 12% in Q3. Entain did not publish NGR for retail gaming activities, but did reveal a 7% decline in sports NGR despite a 13% rise in retail wagers. Reflecting on the international business as a whole, Entain referenced the situation in Brazil, with NGR in the country down 36%. However, it also highlighted "disciplined marketing and player engagement" prior to the ban coming into effect last month. Elsewhere, Australia online NGR was flat at 1%, in line with expectations, while New Zealand, Spain and Canada continued to perform strongly, delivering double-digit online NGR growth. Italy NGR dipped 6%, where strong volume growth was offset by customer friendly football results. In addition, Entain made reference to its discontinued operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Entain agreed to sell a 20% stake in its CEE joint venture to existing partner EMMA Capital in June. For CEE discontinued operations, NGR was flat year-on-year, with online up 4% and retail down 22%. The group said this reflected double-digit online growth in Poland, though this was offset by an adverse sports margin in Croatia. Entain reiterates full-year guidance. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Entain reiterated guidance provided after the ban in Brazil came into effect a few weeks ago. This works on the assumption the ban will be upheld for the remainder of 2026. On this, FY26 online NGR is set to increase by between 4% and 6% on a constant currency basis. Excluding Brazil, FY26 Online NGR growth is expected to be at the top end of 5% to 7% range. Underlying EBITDA for the business is set to be at the lower end of the £910m to £960m range, while online underlying EBITDA margin is on track to be between 21% and 22%. As for BetMGM, which published its Q3 results earlier this week, net revenue for the joint venture with MGM Resorts International is still expected to hit between $2.9bn and $3.1bn, and adjusted EBITDA from $300m to $350m. "The underlying momentum we are seeing across our diverse portfolio supports our confidence in reiterating FY26 guidance," David said. "I am confident our disciplined focus on growth and optimisation will deliver strong future cash-generation, and that Entain remains well positioned to be a long-term industry winner."

InterGame Ltd
Oct 13th, 2026
'MGD rise endangers thousands of jobs': BGC.

'MGD rise endangers thousands of jobs': BGC. Betting shops provide vital employment for young people, argues the BGC. October 13, 2026 Regulatory The UK's Betting and Gaming Council has warned that thousands of jobs will be put at risk if Machine Games Duty (MGD) is raised to 40 per cent. The BGC stressed that the government should protect the 36,000 people currently employed in betting shops across the nation. 80 per cent of those jobs are based outside London and provide "vital employment" in market towns, former industrial communities and seaside towns, including across the North of England. More than half of such employees are under 35 and almost one in five betting shop employees (19 per cent) is under 25. Therefore, the BGC claimed, for many young people, betting shops provide a first step into employment, offering valuable skills in customer service, cash handling and responsibility, alongside clear opportunities to progress into management. Betting shops provide vital employment. "The Chancellor should be under no illusion," said Grainne Hurst, chief executive of the BGC. "Another tax rise would put thousands of those livelihoods on the line. Independent EY modelling shows that raising Machine Games Duty to 40 per cent could cost up to 16,000 jobs, put almost 1,500 betting shops and 34 casinos at risk, and leave the Treasury £124m worse off. "That would mean fewer jobs, more empty units on struggling high streets and less money for public services. Nobody wins. "Last year, the Treasury said it wanted to support fun, social, in-person gambling because land-based betting provides greater levels of employment. Those were the right words then, and they must mean something now. "At a time when ministers want to get more young people into work and revive Britain's high streets, taxing these businesses out of existence would be completely self-defeating. "Our message to the Chancellor is simple: rule out any increase in Machine Games Duty, assess the damage already caused by higher taxes and halt the planned rise in General Betting Duty. This Budget must back Britain's betting shops, not cost our towns thousands more jobs." Ladborkes and Coral owner Entain has joined with BGC in creating the What's At Stake campaign opposing the MGD rise. The Autumn Budget is due on October 28.

InterGame Ltd
Oct 7th, 2026
Entain's international racing manager Hutton departs after 20 years.

Entain's international racing manager Hutton departs after 20 years. Ben Hutton has joined Pythia Sports as its head of trading. October 07, 2026 Entain's international racing manager Ben Hutton, who has been with the group for 20 years, has revealed his departure for Pythia Sports. Hutton joined the Gala Coral Group in August 2005 as the head of its international racing product. He has been with the company throughout its transition into Ladbrokes Coral, GVC Group and now Entain. Hutton has led the group's international racing operations throughout his two-decade stint. He now moves to the supplier sector with Pythia Sports as its head of trading. New chapter for Entain veteran. "After 20 years, this week is my last one working for the wonderful Entain," Hutton said on LinkedIn. "This company, and specifically the international racing product, has been my life and baby for a very long time, so it's going to be very weird for that to no longer be the case." "I'm very excited to be joining Pythia Sports next week as head of trading, merging my bookmaker experience with the supplier side of the industry," Hutton added. He labelled it a "very different challenge after 20 years on one side of the fence, and one I'm really looking forward to." Hutton moves on from Entain amid warnings from the company - and the UK's Betting and Gaming Council - that UK horse racing could be affected by a mooted rise in Machine Games Duty.