Executive Director, Project Portfolio - PMO

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The University of Miami is seeking an Executive Director of Portfolio Management (Academy) to join its Enterprise Project Management Office (ePMO), supporting the successful delivery of the University’s most impactful academic initiatives focused on Academic Operations and other administrative functions, including shared services such as HR, Finance, Supply Chain, and Facilities (this role does not manage IT systems, applications, or infrastructure). The Executive Director partners closely with academic and administrative leaders to provide portfolio governance, executive insight, and delivery excellence across complex, cross‑functional efforts. This position is based at the Coral Gables campus and is an in‑person role.

CORE JOB SUMMARYThe Executive Director, Project Portfolio - PMO - Central (A) provides oversight and direction for major university initiatives coordinated through the Enterprise Project Management Office (ePMO). The role helps to maintain a broad, forward view of the full project portfolio and ensures that projects are proactively managed, resourced appropriately, and executed efficiently across the institution, with a strong bias toward anticipating needs rather than reacting to issues. Partners closely with the Strategy & Transformation team and institutional leaders, this position provides forward-looking visibility into timelines, interdependencies, resource needs, and risks. The Executive Director maintains an effective reporting cadence, drives ownership across all workstreams, and ensures that initiatives stay on track, are fully completed, and transition smoothly into ongoing operations through clear ownership handoffs, operational readiness, and sustainability of results.

CORE JOB FUNCTIONS

• Oversees enterprise-scale President and C-suite initiatives and ensures alignment with goals and priorities. Collaborates with the Strategy & Transformation office and other departments to align timing, scope, and dependencies across initiatives.

• Leads the planning, prioritization, and execution of university-wide projects through a proactive, outcome-oriented management approach.

• Leads and oversees the project intake and chartering processes, ensures that proposed initiatives are appropriately submitted, reviewed, and prioritized, and defines objectives, roles, and success metrics before project launch.

• Maintains a broad, forward view of the full project portfolio, and anticipates conflicts, overlapping milestones, and coordination needs across departments.

• Develops and maintains a comprehensive view of timelines, milestones, and dependencies to support coordination and decision-making. Identifies and fills resource or process gaps before they affect project outcomes.

• Drives portfolio visibility through advanced timeline management, integrated boards, and dashboards that support leadership insight. Maintains a broad, forward view of the full project portfolio, and anticipates

• conflicts, overlapping milestones, enterprise capacity bottlenecks (people, funding, and technology), and coordination needs across departments in partnership with the Strategy & Transformation team.

• Uses tools such as Smartsheet or equivalent platforms to manage dashboards, task boards, and overall portfolio visibility. Monitors intersections between projects to anticipate conflicts, and coordinates resolution among teams.

• Establishes accountability across all workstreams through clear project charters, RAID logs, and milestone ownership. Oversees disciplined management of workstream plans, and ensures accurate tracking of scope, timeline, and deliverables.

• Champions early communication, and surfaces risks, obstacles, and dependencies in advance to prevent delays or rework. Promotes a proactive, forward-driven management style focused on foresight and continuity rather than reaction.

• Establishes and maintains a structured reporting cadence, including daily updates to operational partners, biweekly summaries to leadership, and board-level reporting for major initiatives.

• Provides daily updates and coordination support for operational leaders to maintain alignment and momentum. Provides biweekly portfolio updates, and summarizes accomplishments, next steps, risks, and resourcing needs for university leadership.

• Prepares and supports presentations for executive and board reviews, and summarizes progress on high-profile initiatives.

• Continuously refines project management practices, governance procedures, and reporting effectiveness for the ePMO. Mentors project managers to strengthen planning, ownership, and communication skills across the ePMO.

• Models' accountability, clarity, and disciplined follow-through, and ensures all projects deliver quality outcomes on schedule.

• Establishes and continuously assesses the effectiveness of the internal controls within the unit and compliance with University policies and procedures. Ensures employees are trained on controls within the function and on University policy and procedures.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

CORE QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in relevant field

Experience:

Minimum 7 years of relevant experience

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes:

• Strategic Alignment: Skilled in aligning departmental goals with enterprise-wide strategy and develops comprehensive strategic plans.

• Financial Management: Ensures fiscal responsibility, and optimization of financial performance.

• Resource Management: Ability to allocate resources and drive innovation and growth.

• Adaptability: Proven ability to adjust to changes and leads/inspires transformational change.

• Team Leadership: Ability to build and lead high-performing teams, manage complex projects, and ensure successful project delivery.

• Technology & Analytics: Understanding of technology, data analytics, and performance measurement to drive strategic decisions and identify opportunities.

• Communication: Ability to influence others, articulate strategic vision, and ensure clear and persuasive communication.

The University of Miami is recognized as one of the nation’s premier research institutions and academic health systems and is among the largest employers in South Florida.

With more than 20,000 faculty and staff, the University is committed to excellence and guided by a mission to positively impact the lives of students, patients, and communities locally and globally.

We are dedicated to fostering a culture where every individual feels valued and empowered to contribute meaningfully. United by shared values, the University community works together to build an environment defined by purpose, collaboration, and service.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law. Click here ( for additional information.

Job Status:

Full time

Employee Type:

Staff