AI and Data Portfolio Director

Cushman & Wakefield

1d•$165,750 - $195,000

About The Position

The TDS Portfolio Director is part of the global TDS PMO organization and reports into the Head of the TDS PMO. The Portfolio Director is responsible for strategic planning, portfolio health, execution, and governance of all projects and initiatives within an assigned area. This role is also responsible for managing and mentoring a team of project professionals to deliver the technology programs and projects.

Requirements

Minimum of 7 years of related technology and progressively responsible experience leading in portfolio / program / project environment, preferable in Project Management Office (PMO) setting.
Blend of experience across business operations and technology, including support of enterprise technology change management.
Strong executive presence with the ability to engage, challenge, and influence senior stakeholders with clarity and confidence.
Excellent written and verbal communication.
Financial acumen.
Highly adept at project and change management.
Solution oriented problem solver.
Strong prioritization skills.
Analytical and data-driven.
Management and leadership skills.
Self-starter.
Ability to articulate ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Keen attention to detail.
Ability to perform under pressure.
Strategic mindset and ability to envision end state and the milestone activities to achieve.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a Data and/or AI project environment is a plus.

Responsibilities

Technology portfolio planning, estimating, and demand management.
Ensuring all projects within the portfolio are managed effectively through a full project lifecycle.
Ensuring all projects follow the defined governance processes and change management methodologies.
Strong focus on Portfolio Reporting and Analytics.
Portfolio governance and management: ensuring all projects follow the appropriate governance, methodologies, processes, and standards.
Planning, scheduling, and managing the resources and dependencies for the portfolio.
Reporting and analytics: providing regular reports on the portfolio, program, and project status, resource demand, and financials, using the standards set by the EPMO.
Collaboration and partnership: acting as the primary point of engagement for TDS executive sponsors (SMG leaders), ensuring they have clear, consistent visibility into portfolio health, risks, and tradeoffs.
Managing executive feedback and escalations with sound judgment, assessing signal vs. noise and driving appropriate action without over-rotation or delay.
Coaching and influencing executive stakeholders on effective engagement, decision-making, and ownership within their portfolios.
Risk and issue management: ensuring that operational risks and issues are considered and reported during the design, development, and implementation of projects.
Identifying and mitigating common or significant risks impacting the portfolio.
Identifying systemic risks and patterns across projects, not just isolated issues, and proactively surfacing implications and recommended actions.
Anticipating cross-project dependencies, conflicts, and opportunities for alignment or consolidation.
Mentoring and coaching: leading, coaching, and developing a team of Project Managers to operate as accountable owners, not coordinators.
Providing real-time coaching on stakeholder management, risk handling, and decision-making under pressure.
Fostering a team environment focused on continuous improvement, ownership, and delivery confidence.
Governance and decision making: participating in governance boards, steering committees and roadmap discussions to guide decision making on project sequencing, dependencies, and conflicts.
Providing oversight on feasibility studies, systems roadmaps, and business cases.
Portfolio-level insight and optimization: looking across the full portfolio to identify themes, trends, and opportunities to improve delivery outcomes, including resource alignment, sequencing, and cross-project collaboration.
Partnering with other Portfolio Directors to ensure consistency and visibility across the broader TDS portfolio, not just within an individual area.
Portfolio Management: Collaborate with leadership to define and prioritize projects in the portfolio.
Manage and execute planning, scheduling, resource requirements and dependencies for the portfolio.
Manage and report risks and issues to projects in the portfolio.
Provide decision-ready portfolio reporting, including status, risks, resource demand, and financials.
Manage interdependencies with other projects or programs both within and outside the portfolio.
Manage relationships with key owners across TDS and within individual functions, business units.
Manage relationships with a variety of stakeholders to influence and negotiate where applicable.
Manage relationships with strategic vendor partners.
Manage and Chair Portfolio meetings as required.
Remove or mitigate barriers to success.
Contribute to defining PMO governance and methodology and ensure adherence with project teams.
Participate in COE and roadmap discussions, suggest improvements.
Project Management (as applicable): May directly lead critical initiatives as needed, operating as a senior project leader when appropriate.