PM13M4 Director of Portfolio & Project Management

CAS uses intuitive technology, unparalleled scientific content and unmatched human expertise to help companies create groundbreaking innovations that benefit the world. As the scientific information solutions division of the American Chemical Society, CAS manages the largest curated reservoir of scientific knowledge, and for 117 years, has helped innovators mine, assess and apply that information to keep businesses thriving. The CAS team is global, diverse, endlessly curious and strives to make scientific insights accessible to innovators worldwide.

CAS is currently seeking a Software Engineer. This position will be located in our headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

The Director, PMO role has leadership responsibility to develop a comprehensive, global PMO governance practice within CAS. The PMO Director will implement and manage the end-to-end portfolio governance and portfolio management practices and processes, in alignment with the strategic goals and objectives of CAS senior leadership team. In addition to day-to-day management of people and projects, the Director will be expected to think strategically and participate in long-term planning efforts to improve delivery models, monitoring tools, support metrics and overall products(s) quality.

This role provides the professional and strategic leadership for the organization and coordinates both internal and external resources to maximize project and program success. Oversees the coordination and completion of all aspects of assigned projects which often require considerable resources and high levels of functional integration. Responsible to lead projects to a successful conclusion by facilitating scope, managing customer expectations, monitoring day-to-day execution and ensuring the project is on schedule and within budget. Creates and maintains standard project management deliverables leveraging appropriate methods and practices to manage and control the project. The role also assists in the development and training of PMO standards and infrastructure at CAS.

Job Accountabilities

• Develops vision and overall strategy for the CAS Program Management Office (PMO) governance function on a global basis to effectively manage cross functional matrixed teams and deliver on a transformational scope.
• Implements end-to-end portfolio governance and portfolio management practices and processes, in alignment with the strategic goals and objective of CAS's senior leadership team.
• Accountable for organization-wide education of PMO policies, processes, and procedures and consistent application across the entire program and project portfolio; engages regularly with all levels of CAS management and staff. Ensure standard, consistent processes and feedback loops exist.
• Supervise and lead the program and project staff to oversee the impacts and interdependencies between programs and working to ensure initiative meet the goals and objectives of the executive leadership team.
• Establishes program performance criteria, scoring systems, and measures; implements tools and methods for tracking performance; and leads portfolio performance reviews.
• Partner with Human Resources/OCM with our change management efforts tie into the Rhythm of the Business (ROB) and existing mechanisms wherever possible to drive changes into core business processes.
• Work with our HR team to develop plans to address not just the process changes, but the cultural changes needed for our success.
• Develop and maintain strong business relationships, individually, and across teams.
• Lead risk and issue management for the PMO.
• Ensures appropriate project hand-off and closure occurs, including holding the final retrospective/lessons learned sessions, and leveraging learnings to improve cross-matrix team project practices.
• Provide value-added program management guidance to support successful program delivery by ensuring up to date information in the knowledge center for best practices, processes, templates lessons learned, historical project repository.
• Serves as the Project Manager on at least 1 - 2 key projects and manages projects, develops and distributes quality project-related documentation to all interested parties, including project plan and schedule, project charter, communications plan, requirements document, design document, deployment plan, test plan, maintenance transition plan, and notification of project end.
• Determine the scope, budget, and resources for assigned projects based on historical information, input from other staff, and high level technical understanding of project tasks.
• Hold project meetings internally and externally to ensure proper level of project-related communication, including project kickoff meeting to establish/confirm roles, regularly scheduled project team meetings to track progress, stakeholder meetings to provide status, post-implementation meeting with customers to ensure that project criteria have been fully met, and lessons learned meeting to gather feedback for use in future projects.
• Ensure measures are taken in projects to increase quality and mitigate risk, including risk analyses, impact assessment, needs assessment, requirements signoff, code reviews, test planning and execution, fallback plans, and deployment plans.
• Measures and reports project performance, project milestones, and other project information to project stakeholders and senior management on a regular basis, including escalating issues that require management attention
• Provides leadership, motivation and establishes a teamwork environment for the project team; and advises, influences, and coaches team members in the development and achievement of project goals.
• Proactively promotes the PMO services to organization where applicable.
• Provides constructive feedback to leadership to help optimize and streamline PMO procedures and processes.
• Assists in the definition and implementation of a project governance strategy and project Measures of Success (MOS).
• May coordinate and conduct training sessions to ensure project team members are prepared for process, policy and system deployments or changes.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and Master's/Advanced Degree preferred in business, management, information systems, computer science or a related field
• Project Management Professional certification (PMP) preferred.
• At least 12 + years' of related experience, with heavy emphasis on leading portfolio management and governance including experience in software delivery and infrastructure platforms.
• Demonstrated capability to manage projects/programs with multi-million dollar budgets leading these projects to successful implementation and life cycle.
• Strong knowledge of program, process, and change management techniques; structured approaches to problem solving, decision making, and business strategy.
• Exceptional influence without authority and excellent collaboration skills.
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite (particularly Word and Excel). Knowledge of project management software preferred.
• Leadership: Significant experience in a PMO leadership key function; ability to engage with senior leaders to represent the organization and defend governance practices to maintain alignment with CAS and organization objectives and priorities. Strong leadership competencies for hiring, managing, coaching and developing staff.
• Communication: Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills. Ability to guide and facilitate leadership to effective decision making and present status information to management and executive teams.
• Program and Project Governance: Deep subject matter expertise in management of a complex portfolio encompassing both formalized programs, projects and out-of-cycle request.
• Data Analysis/Interpretation: Ability to convert general data and findings into applied, specific information and suggestions that add value to business planning and program evaluation.
• Program Project Management: Ability to manage projects to ensure successful deliver (on time, within budget, meeting agreed upon success criteria) to establish clear goals and accountabilities. Also includes the ability to develop project plans, allocate resources, identify potential issues/risks and develop contingency plans.
• Key Performance Measures: Significant experience in developing comprehensive performance measures and metrics by which to assess program performance, looking at company and organization objectives and strategies, cost/spend data, quality, schedule, resources return on investment, and other measurement variables. Leads performance review engagements.
• Program Lifecycle Disciplines: Strong knowledge of the integrated systems lifecycle development utilizing different - and sometimes - multiple development models (e.g., agile, waterfall, hybrid, etc.)
• Organizational Agility: Must have the ability to work successfully across a complex, highly-matrix environment.

CAS offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package, including a generous vacation plan, medical, dental, vision insurance plans, and employee savings and retirement plans. Candidates for this position must be authorized to work in the United States and not require work authorization sponsorship by our company for this position now or in the future. EEO/Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran