Cambridge
Academy
In London

Introduction

Infrastructure Directors are responsible for long-term asset investment decisions, capital planning, and portfolio governance that must balance safety, performance, resilience, stakeholder expectations, and financial constraints. This advanced program equips leaders with strategic tools to prioritize investments, govern capital portfolios, and strengthen decision-making across planning, delivery, and lifecycle management.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

·        Develop infrastructure strategy aligned to organizational goals and service outcomes

·        Build robust capital planning processes and investment governance

·        Apply portfolio prioritization methods and business case discipline

·        Strengthen funding models, financial oversight, and benefits realization

·        Enhance risk management, resilience planning, and stakeholder alignment

·        Establish governance routines, reporting, and decision frameworks for capital portfolios

Target Audience

This course is designed for:

·        Directors and senior managers of infrastructure, capital projects, and engineering

·        Portfolio, program, and project governance leaders (PMO, capital planning offices)

·        Asset management, facilities, utilities, and operations leaders

·        Finance, procurement, and contract governance leaders supporting capital programs

·        Public sector and regulated industry infrastructure leaders (transport, energy, water, property)

Course Outlines

Day 1: Infrastructure Strategy & Investment Principles

·        Infrastructure as a strategic enabler: service levels, growth, and resilience

·        Strategic alignment: translating organizational objectives into asset outcomes

·        Capital vs. operational trade-offs and whole-life value thinking

·        Defining investment principles and decision criteria (value, risk, equity, sustainability)

·        Activity: Strategy-to-investment mapping (outcomes, drivers, constraints)

Day 2: Capital Planning & Long-Range Investment Programming

·        Capital planning cycles: long-range plans, annual programs, and rolling horizons

·        Demand forecasting and capacity planning fundamentals

·        Developing capital pipelines: concept, feasibility, and readiness gates

·        Cost estimating basics and contingency logic for early-stage planning

·        Workshop: Build a 3–5 year capital plan structure and governance calendar

Day 3: Portfolio Prioritization, Business Cases & Benefits Realization

·        Prioritization models: multi-criteria scoring, risk-based ranking, and scenario options

·        Business case discipline: options analysis, NPV/whole-life cost, non-financial benefits

·        Portfolio balancing: maintenance vs. growth, risk reduction vs. service improvement

·        Benefits realization: defining benefits, tracking, and post-implementation reviews

·        Practical activity: Portfolio prioritization simulation (score, rank, and defend choices)

Day 4: Portfolio Governance, Controls & Risk Oversight

·        Governance structures: steering committees, delegations, and decision rights

·        Stage-gate governance: approvals, change control, and assurance checks

·        Portfolio controls: schedule, cost, scope, and performance reporting

·        Risk management across the portfolio: strategic, delivery, and operational risks

·        Case study: Governance response to cost escalation and schedule slippage

Day 5: Stakeholder Management, Funding Strategy & Portfolio Communication

·        Funding models: budgets, grants, user charges, PPP considerations, and constraints

·        Stakeholder alignment: regulators, communities, executive leadership, and operators

·        Transparent reporting: portfolio dashboards, narrative updates, and board packs

·        Embedding sustainability and resilience: climate risk, resilience standards, and adaptation pla

ns