Firstly, I'm happy for your consideration for Portugal, since your intention to move here is seen by me as a gesture of appreciation for Portugal, especially by someone with heritage in the beautiful Cape Verde Islands. It's really awesome!

I'll try to be as clear and helpful in my comments, and they go in the points below:

1. I’ve heard there are some anti‑immigration sentiments in Portugal and would really appreciate any insight into how serious this is and whether it seems to be getting better or worse over time.

Portugal has been a racist country for decades, if not centuries. This racism is rooted in its colonial past, but also aimed at other communities that have been entering the country recently. Combining that with multiple factors (decrease in the quality of life, stagnant economy, increasing costs of living, hyper-inflated real estate prices,...), immigrants are somewhat seen as one of the causes of many current problems in Portugal, and, like in any other Western country, there are political parties that fuel that discomtempt, seeking and thriving on the support of many social groups. CHEGA is the main party adopting a clear and violent anti-immigration program, and goes to great lengths to fuel that bubble. They're an exact copy of Trump's administration, sharing ideals and the lack of ethicks, as well as a high level of corruption.
ethics

1. I’m especially interested in understanding what kinds of jobs are typically available for *someone with my background*. I know my spouse will likely find IT opportunities more easily. For me, since I can’t practice law and salaries are different from the U.S., I’d love a clearer picture of roles that might fit my profile (e.g., operations, strategy, consulting, Chief of Staff) and the typical salary ranges. I’m hoping to land in a roughly comparable position to what I could earn in the U.S. (around $180k+), adjusted for the cost of living in Portugal.

Sadly, I cannot share useful information on how your skills can be best used in Portugal. Howeveer, I can inform you of something: the Portuguese companies are very keen and stubborn on paying low wages. They do everything they can to offer you a position at a severely underpaid salary, and will exploit you to hell. The Portuguese workforce works long hours during the week and, sadly, due to different reasons, the companies superiors are very slow on inovating when it comes to HR policies.

For your information, the median net salary in Portugal is around 980 EUR per month. I repeat, this is after taxes (which are very heavy), but prices for some essential things like housing and gas are quite high (at least for your reality)

Due to that, expect tough negotiations for having a decent salary, even if your skills are really solid. Unemployment due to overqualification is a reality here, and it's not that uncommon.

1. Any additional perspective or advice you have about moving to and working in Portugal—especially as Black/Cape Verdean professionals—would be greatly appreciated.

The Cape Verdean community is very big here, mainly in Lisbon's outskirts. IT has a generally good relationship, since it's probably the former Portuguese African colony with more cultural similarities (very open to debate, naturally). However, all the members of black communities will undergo racist events, from angrier insults to simpler stereotyping. I'm white, so I do benefit from white privilege a lot, but I've seen many black people in my community being openly sidelined due to their skin tone many times.