Strategic Project Office Director / Business Analyst

S. Reynolds & Associates, Inc. is under contract with a major Financial Services company - who with their affiliated companies, can quickly customize, creatively market and efficiently mange innovative financial protection programs, from credit insurance and payment protection to service contracts and warranties – seeking a Project Office Director – Business Analyst for their Corporate offices located in Jacksonville, FL.

Description

The role of the Project Office is to establish, implement, develop, and control best practices for project management throughout the organization and directly assist business leaders with strategic initiatives that grow the business. The Project Office will provide skills and resources that assist with the discovery and implementation of new services and distribution channels. This includes defining and documenting scope, creating policies and processes of project lifecycles. The Project Office Manager will also create formal methodologies for defining project key performance metrics and allocating resources. The Project Office will also be instrumental in the working directly with business leaders on strategic initiatives throughout the organization to help them determine feasibility and scope.


Responsibilities

Strategy & Planning
• Define how the scope, goals, and deliverables of IT projects should support business goals, in collaboration with senior management.
• Define project success criteria and disseminate them to involved parties throughout project lifecycle.
• Effectively communicate and manage project expectations to project managers, owners, sponsors, team members, and other stakeholders in a clear and concise fashion.
• Establish project timelines and milestones/deliverables using the appropriate tools.
• Determine frequency and content of status reports from project managers, analyze results, and troubleshoot problem areas/mitigate project risks.
• Develops new business opportunities which include new service offerings, new channel strategies, mergers and acquisitions.
• Assist with the determination of the best course of action given the business environment and circumstances.
• Able to do business modeling and analysis.
• Assist with fact based research to support and substantiate desired actions and dispel myths.
• Create presentations and reports that easily convey project analysis, scope and action plans.
• Responsible for managing potentially large, complex engagements that involve direct interaction with senior client executives, third parties, government organizations and multiple products services and solutions.
• Able to manage a variety of engagements from assisting customers with business requirements to developing internal organizational charts and strategic planning.
• The strategic Project Office Manager will be accountable for the establishment of consistent project management policies, guidelines, procedures and governance, as well as planning and execution in order to meet the overall program goals and objectives.
• The Strategic Project Office Manager will establish project timelines and milestones/deliverables using the appropriate tools.

Acquisition & Deployment
• Effectively manage project teams’ time and allocate resources to ensure deliverables are completed.
• Where required, negotiate with department managers for the acquisition of required personnel from within the company.
• Assess and approve/disapprove need for additional staff or consultants and make the appropriate recruitments if necessary during project’s lifecycle.


Operational Management
• Direct and manage development of all IT projects within the PMO portfolio from beginning to end.
• Develop best practices, techniques, and tools for project planning, execution, project management, ongoing milestone/deliverable tracking, communication, and key performance metrics.
• Communicate project management standards and techniques to the appropriate training staff.
• Review budget proposals, and recommend subsequent budget changes where necessary.
• Track and monitor all project milestones and deliverables.
• identify and manage project dependencies and critical path.
• Accept and assess status reports, change requests, and requirements documentation to ensure smooth project progression.
• Conduct project post mortems and create a recommendations report in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.
• Coach, mentor, motivate, and supervise new project team leads, team members, and contractors, and influence them to take positive action and accountability for their assigned work.
• Identify and resolve issues and conflicts within and between various project teams.


Position Requirements

Formal Education & Certification
• University degree in the field of computer science or business administration. Master’s degree in one these fields preferred.
• PMP Certification Preferred

Knowledge & Experience
• 5 years direct work experience in an IT project management capacity, including all aspects of process development and execution.
• 5 years direct experience in software development and supervision.
• Strong familiarity with project management software, such as MS Project.
• Strong familiarity with financial software or systems, such as GL, AP, PR, etc.
• Experience in developing and deploying project best practices, policies, procedures, and processes.
• Demonstrated experience in personnel management.
• Proven success in developing action plans, executing analysis, translating data into recommendations, and moving to action to achieve bottom line results.

Personal Attributes
• Ability to facilitate relations between business groups and technology departments.
• Solid leadership skills.
• Experience at working both independently and in a team-oriented, collaborative environment is essential.
• Can conform to shifting priorities, demands, and timelines through analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to read communication styles of project team leads, team members, and contractors who come from a broad spectrum of disciplines.
• Persuasive, encouraging, and motivating.
• Ability to defuse tension among and between project teams, should it arise.
• Advanced interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
• Adept at conducting research into project-related issues and products.
• Must be able to learn, understand, and apply new technologies.
• Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment is crucial.
• Tenacious.
• Excellent technical, analytical, written, verbal, presentation and interpersonal skills.

Work Conditions
• Overtime may be required to meet deadlines.
• Sitting for extended periods of time.
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and other devices and objects.
• Physically able to participate in training sessions, presentations, and meetings.
• Some travel may be required for the purpose of meeting with clients, stakeholders, or off-site personnel management.
• Must be comfortable working in a fast paced team-oriented environment.

Please submit your resume to: sjoakman@gmail.com