Senior Project Manager Jobs

Purpose of the Job

The Senior Project Manager reports directly to the Director, PMO, Corporate Functions Portfolio. The role of the Sr. PM is to Initiate, Plan, Execute, Monitor, Control and Close projects in accordance with Enterprise Change Management as well as Project Management methodology. This includes baselined scope, schedule, budgets, resource needs and other parameters set by the executive sponsor and delegate throughout the project life cycle.

This position is responsible for managing a portfolio of projects that are strategic in importance, high complexity and may be of a long duration. Projects are AIRB focused and may include process transformations, platform upgrades and regulatory initiatives.

Main Activities:

• Manage multiple material projects of high to strategic: risk, length and complexity throughout the full project life cycle

· Act as a Trusted Advisor that provides leadership oversight and proactive advice on how best to steer project teams and deliver project goals while operating with full transparency as it pertains to issues and risks – which includes knowing when to communicate to the right people at the right time

• Lead and support multi-functional on-site, off-site and virtual project teams to help them overcome barriers and perform at their best, particularly through times of ambiguity and/or changes
• Complete project evaluations, velocity metrics and assessment of results to the key benefits and performance indicators
• Advisor to the PMO in the creation, maintenance and enhancement of Project Management Methodology / Standards and Practices in an ever evolving environment where applicable.
• Lead detailed planning at all levels to understand the work, responsibilities and dependencies to set the right expectations, ultimately enabling on-time delivery
• Facilitate meetings, document minutes and follow up on risks, action items, issues and decisions (RAID)
• Engage stakeholders and manage governance forums to ensure timely, transparent & effective decision making
• Effectively manage financials/budget and navigate financial processes to ensure approval of funding and disciplined cost management

Knowledge and Skill Requirements:

• High degree of proficiency and experience in Project Management concepts (Waterfall, Iterative, Incremental and Agile methodologies)
• At least 6-10 years’ experience managing multiple projects simultaneously with different priority levels through the entire life cycle
• At least 5 years’ experience in the regulated financial services or Insurance industry (including internal and external compliance requirements, financial reporting, and service administration)
• Experience with running projects with Risk Management and Finance (Regulatory and Senior Management Reporting), AIRB reports and compliance and an understanding of Credit Risk Model would be highly beneficial
• Post-secondary education (diploma/degree) preferably in computer science, business, finance, or comparable discipline

· People Management/Leadership and coaching/mentorship experience is a major asset

• PMP certification is strongly preferred

· Agile, Scrum Master, Business Process Improvement, ITIL or Change Management Certification is a major asset

• Effective Risk Management & Issue Resolution and ability to leverage PMO Standards & EQBs risk management resources and tools to ensure project risks are proactively understood and quickly resolving risks that have become issues
• Ability to take charge and work independently
• Strong time management, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Highly developed verbal and written communication skills with the ability to respond in a clear, concise and professional manner to all project stakeholders including senior executives.
• Exposure to both a large and small corporate culture is preferred
• Proven delivery track record in both business and Technology projects, especially in digital given our challenger bank orientation
• Vendor Management experience
• Knowledge of SharePoint, Jira, Confluence, MS Office tools, business systems, technology infrastructure, software development, data warehousing, data centres and related concepts/terminology

Job Complexities / Thinking Challenges

• Having an entrepreneurial style and mindset with a strong messaging ability with vendors and stakeholders
• Demonstrated professionalism, tact, and maturity in handling highly sensitive and confidential Projects with discretion
• Resource constraints may require the Sr. PM to take an active role in development of deliverables owned by the stakeholder representatives therefore, the incumbent will have to quickly become familiar with systems, regulatory requirements, policies and departmental processes
• The position requires an individual who can conceptualize and plan a high – strategic complex project of long duration from beginning to end and define the detailed work that will be undertaken to achieve the objective
• Ability to act as an adviser/indirect people manager and manage the capacity of various team members and offer them coaching, when required
• Strong influencing and negotiating experience including proactive stakeholder management
• Resolve conflict; deliver tough messages with grace; execute with limited information and ambiguity and be comfortable with changing priorities
• Strong organizational skills to bring structure to ambiguous requirements, and strong conceptualization skills in order to envision how a process, service or product will impact other areas of the company
• Stay optimistic and self-motivated despite challenges; be a strong advocate of open communication and focus on customer experience
• Be customer focused and ensure that the (paying) customer is engaged as a key stakeholder in projects that have customer impact and that the value they expect, through feedback, is delivered and monitored

Accountability

• Reports directly to theDirector, PMO,
• Ensure completion of project "health-checks" (risk assessments); ensure continuous engagement throughout project lifecycle to ensure risk areas are managed & improved accordinglyManage utilization of internal and external resources
• Directly manage all aspects of the project lifecycle and work with business and technology partners to oversee all assigned project work
• Manage projects that touch business critical systems and applications
• Developing, validating and managing, project budgets to ensure projects are on budget. Project budgets will run into the $MM
• Project duration on majority of projects/initiatives is long and around 9+ months in length on average and sometimes extending beyond multiple years/phases
• Plan and direct projects with a level of high – strategic complexity,risk, and of long duration l
• Take an active leadership role in providing informal career path, coaching, mentoring and advice to other project managers and/or team members when it comes to best practices & standards
• The incumbent will manage dependencies on a project level
• Be accountable and committed by taking responsibility for discerning the strategic goals of the work and delivering the desired business outcomes

Key Internal and External Contacts

• The incumbent will communicate and work closely with all levels within the organization specifically with senior executives and management.
• Accountable to project Steering Committees that comprise of Business Unit Leads
• Key Stakeholders (e.g Audit, Risk, Data Governance, Info Security, Legal, Compliance, Finance & Marketing.)
• The incumbent is responsible for maintaining the day-to-day relationships and communications with internal and external stakeholders necessary for success of the project

Physical Demands / Working Conditions

• The ability to work from home if required
• Minimal local travel may be required to vendor or offsite work group locations
• Ability and willingness to work under pressure for sustained periods of time on multiple projects
• The workload is sometimes demanding with tight timeframes to produce results
• Standard open concept office environment with no physical demands
• Occasional work outside of normal office hours including weekends as required to meet project deadlines