This individual is responsible for the successful management and delivery of the cross-functional project portfolio spanning the company for approved projects. The leader of the organization will be responsible for implementation of a strong project management methodology, development of a strong project management work force, overseeing the project portfolio coordination to ensure tight coordination of all projects and supporting special projects as required.
The person in this position is responsible for providing leadership to both their organization and the broader company organization in project management methodology; sound systems development practices and smooth operational implementation processes. The successful candidate will possess a combination of strong business savvy, coupled with a broad level of technology experience with in-depth experience in the successful planning, execution and implementation of cross-functional projects.
Candidates must possess excellent communication and collaboration skills, as well as negotiation skills, to aid them in the processes of building relationships and alliances with customers, peers, staff, and vendors. Finally, incumbents in this position are responsible for managing the customer relationship, as well as employees’ knowledge and understanding of customer business needs.
The Director of the Project Management Office will be responsible for managing the successful development and implementation of the HLIKK project portfolio, with an emphasis on projects with a large IT component, through the establishment of consistent methodologies and the development of a strong project management organization.
Working in conjunction with the service operations and business technology resource planning functions, the Director Project Management will be accountable for ensuring clear project scope is ultimately defined, supporting attainment of SIPG approval, overall resource allocation for projects, and the successful delivery of projects in line with approved budgets.
In addition, this role is responsible for coordination of activities across the project portfolio and working closely with the broader HIG enterprise to identify and leverage tools, processes and practices to support the successful delivery of projects in support of the functional operations.
The incumbent will be responsible for defining critical project and portfolio management processes; ensuring “smart” adherence to processes based on size, scope and complexity of projects; development of a strong project management internal work-force supplemented by a project management sourcing strategy.
Major Responsibilities:
People Management
Manage a team of Project Managers comprised of internal staff and external resources, with a focus on developing a strong internal skill-set balanced with a project management sourcing strategy leveraging external vendors and the broader HIG project management capabilities.
Directly manages the project manager staff ensuring they follow a standard methodology and utilize best practices and processes for all PMO projects.
Provide ongoing coaching and mentoring to the project manager staff. Creates development plans that are aligned with the HLI and HLIKK project manager job family and individual project manager needs.
Guides the development of the project manager staff in the PMO to ensure they develop a strong depth and breadth of business knowledge and HLIKK technology platforms.
Assist project managers in coaching business staff, contractors, or other staff that may be matrixed into the PMO and projects for project management work.
Manages overall PMO project management staff performance.
Project Portfolio Management
Work closely with various functional operations to define projects from a business need and create momentum and acceptance for the project; create an environment and a process by which the project will be successfully delivered
Lead the program management for cross-functional project initiatives.
Manage the competing needs of multiple stakeholders and coordination of activities across the full portfolio to minimize conflicts.
Assess and manage project and program variances and risks; evaluate impacts to overall program commitments
Maintain accountability for the communications/interactions needed to ensure that the technology aligns with the business strategy and that the program will deliver the expected value
Ensure program is delivered according to overall plan
Continuously monitors and assess cross-project interdependencies, identifies potential issues and proposed remediation for senior management decisioning.
Methodology, Process Best Practice, Communication
Develop and implement a consistent set of project and portfolio management processes / practices to ensure the successful delivery of large, complex projects.
Develop and establish project processes and controls for scope, budget, risk, and issues for all project activities ensuring all aspects of the project are delivered according to the overall project or program plan.
Participate in development of the Cost Benefit Analysis, with accountability for managing the cost component for projects managed under the project management office.
Share program information with executive management at appropriate level of detail and timeliness for the intended audience
Establish, promote and follow local IT standards, policies, procedures, and best practices in alignment with The company standards.
Drive strong use of processes (e.g. SDLC, Training, Financial Management, Service Level Development, etc.)
Communicate appropriately and influence leadership to execute against the short and long term objectives necessary to achieve IT and business strategic goals
Ensures that project management best practice standards and processes are developed to ensure proper implementation of best practices within projects across the division. Ensures that standards and metric measures are developed and enforced.
Partner with other leaders across the company, IWM and the HIG in the development of best practices, processes, procedures, tools and templates.
Serve as the PMO central point of contact to ensure consistency when interfacing with other corporate IT groups who are also focused on “practice excellence” and tool selection.
Identify and promote consistency across projects via standard tools, templates, processes, estimating methods, etc.
Ensures that effective communication and educational materials are developed to support utilization of best practices across the PMO.
Manage staffing needs of the company for project manager to ensure that skilled capacity can meet demand of planned, approved and in-process projects. Engage vendors to augment staff as required.
Develop an efficient capacity planning model for resources; ensure that staffing models meet project demand and skill requirements.
Vendor Selection and Relationship Management
Designs and implements an effective staffing model and establishes long-term strategic vendor relationships that leverage and align with service requirements of the organization.
Maintains a strong understanding of major global vendor relationships and internal project management centers of excellence and strives to aggressively leverage them to reduce cost and improve overall project delivery effectiveness
Project Consulting
Establishes metrics to determine the effectiveness of best practice discipline with an aim towards continuous improvements.
Working with service and technology leaders ensures the proper level of best practice consulting support is provided to each supported program / project.
Leads special projects as required