Sr Program Manager

Sr Program Manager

Software Guidance & Assistance, Inc., (SGA), is searching for a Sr Program Manager for a contract assignment with one of our premier Human Resources clients in Dunwoody, GA.

Responsibilities

The Staff Program Manager is focused on driving the execution of cross-functional programs in alignment with strategic business priorities and goals. This role enables execution and implementation across multiple teams, facilitating decision-making, stakeholder engagement, change management, and risk management. This role is responsible for leading large programs that span multiple business units, with multiple workstreams and/or projects. They will handle resourcing, milestone plans, complex interdependencies, communication across a broad audience with varying needs, and enable organizational/business readiness, all in conjunction with an agile development construct. Program Managers are focused on the delivery of projects and achieving intended business outcomes through the use of product and technology, business processes, and change management. Leadership skills and the ability to apply critical understanding of the problem and solution at hand, rather than technical skills, are key. In addition, this role will support strategic planning, portfolio management, prioritization, executive reporting, dependency management, and cross-functional alignment activities to enable successful execution of business objectives and transformation initiatives.

Leadership

• Executive communications and delivering messaging with the right level of detail and context to drive productive dialogues
• Manage multiple competing priorities and drive toward a path forward in collaboration with key stakeholders
• Ability to synthesize information
• Leadership through relationship building and influence
• Operates as a trusted adviser to project and program partners, sponsors, and stakeholders
• Defines success criteria in partnership with stakeholders and directs the team in alignment with those goals

Critical Thinking

• Applies critical thinking to understand interdependencies between technology, operations, and business needs
• Demonstrates a functional acuity to support how solutions will address intended outcomes while anticipating risks and issues with mitigation strategies and effective roadblock removal
• Evaluates business tradeoffs and facilitates informed decision-making across stakeholder groups

Stakeholder Management

• Develops governance structure to keep key stakeholders aware and involved in key projects
• Ensures that key business stakeholders are involved and their requirements accounted for in the solution and delivery timeline
• Communicates with stakeholders about progress and issues that are relevant to them
• Facilitates executive and leadership-level discussions to support alignment, prioritization, and decision-making

General Program Management

• Independently handles a variety of portfolio projects ranging in complexity that span one or multiple lines of business
• Manages the day-to-day program activities and resources; chairs the program management team meetings
• Willing to jump in and support the team on deliverables when needed

Scope / Schedule

• Handles scope and changes
• Prepares and maintains a detailed plan for all phases that is shared and visible to relevant partners
• Monitors, tracks, and controls outcomes to resolve issues, conflicts, dependencies, and critical path deliverables
• Manages cross-program dependencies and proactively identifies execution risks and resource constraints

Resources

• Prepares detailed resource estimates aligning with the planned activities
• Negotiates with resource managers to procure adequate resources to achieve objectives in planned timeframes
• Delegates tasks and responsibilities to appropriate resources

Reporting and Communication

• Reports on success criteria results, metrics, test, and deployment management activities
• Provides status on milestones, deliverables, dependencies, risks, and issues
• Effective communication both written and verbal to summarize the situation and provide relevant information for progress, blockers, and key decisions required
• Creates executive-level presentations, status reporting, dashboards, and strategic recommendations for leadership audiences
• Other projects and responsibilities may be added at the manager's discretion.

Required Skills

• Bachelor's Degree desired; or demonstrated relevant experience.
• With a Bachelor's degree, 8+ years of experience in Program Management
• Managing teams directly or through projects
• Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and workstreams
• Ability to complete routine work with little to no supervision and instruction, and general instruction over new projects or assignments
• Demonstrates ability to work on problems of diverse scope where analysis of data requires evaluation of identifiable factors
• Demonstrates good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions
• Ability to communicate with employees at all levels of the organization, especially with senior internal and external personnel in own area of expertise
• Work typically impacts direct peers, supervisors, executives, and cross-functional partners
• Capable of applying a full understanding of program management to resolve a wide range of issues in creative ways
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills
• Demonstrated ability to influence outcomes across a matrixed organization without direct authority
• Demonstrated experience managing complex dependencies, competing priorities, and stakeholder expectations
• A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace
• Ability to adapt to a fast-paced continually changing business and work environment while managing multiple priorities
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite

Preferred Skills

• PMP desired
• Experience supporting strategic planning, portfolio management, enterprise transformation, or organizational change initiatives preferred