Director, ERP Portfolio Management

Chicago Public Schools•Chicago, IL

10d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of ERP Portfolio Management will lead the CPS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Modernization Program and processes, partnering closely with IT and business leadership from departments including Finance, Budget, Procurement, and Human Resources/Talent to ensure the successful delivery of our 4-Year ERP Modernization Program in alignment with CPS business initiatives and priorities. This position will oversee all project management and processes of the Program rollout while delivering a greenfield ERP implementation on budget, on schedule, on quality, and within scope. The Director of ERP Portfolio Management will report to the Chief Information Technology Officer (CIO) and will build and lead a team of direct reporting professionals. This is a full-time exempt position that will be paid for time worked on a salary basis.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field from an accredited college or university is required
Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional project and program management experience in roles with increasing complexity
Minimum of five (5) years of experience working with ERP technical applications and/or information systems (or equivalent), including managing information technology projects, Oracle Cloud or SAP S/4 HANA Cloud
Minimum of three (3) years of experience in a supervisory/management position responsible for leading teams of direct reports in the ITS or technology field
Experience managing enterprise-wide projects including a focus in Education industries, supporting Finance, Budget, Procurement, and Human Resources functions
Experience leading projects and programs, both within and outside IT, that involved external providers
Experience working on project and portfolio management resource planning, reporting, prioritization, and budgeting, and using related project and portfolio management tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Clarizen, Jira, Azure DevOps, GanttPro, etc.)
Experience leading multi-functional activities with accountability for portfolio, budgetary and resource allocation
Extensive knowledge and expertise in all areas of project management, including processes, systems development methods, organizational change management concepts, and business process improvement methods
Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align/manage activities toward goal fulfillment
Ability to articulate a vision, set high standards, and effectively guide teams and stakeholders in the realization of expectations set
Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to create and facilitate effective presentations and communicate technical concepts to non-technical partners
Demonstrated business acumen; knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management and organizational development
Strong leadership and team building skills, e.g. ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
Ability to build effective, collaborative relationships with a variety of stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals
Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps
Capable of following Company policies and practices while representing CPS in an ethical and professional manner in all interactions with employees, governmental agencies, vendors, contractors, suppliers, students, and the Chicago community

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred
Experience in ERP Implementation Methodology (Oracle, SAP, Workday) Agile Project Management Methodology (Scrum, SAFe) is preferred
Minimum of ten (10) years of the above experience, including five (5) years in a supervisory/management position is strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Drive the planning, overall assessment, implementation, and execution of a highly-complex value-capture portfolio of ERP projects
Recruit, onboard, and provide direction, guidance, and strong leadership to the ERP portfolio management team to ensure robust learning and career development consistent with the CPS values and mission; foster collaboration and effective integration of efforts with division-wide initiatives
Deliver excellent reporting and clear/concise communication to key stakeholders within and across the organization to ensure successful project completion
Ensure that project results contribute positive business value and meet agreed-on scope, cost, schedule, and quality objectives all while providing effective project and program delivery
Establish and maintain a standard project management approach to drive project initiation, planning, and execution, tailored to deliver innovative new technologies with timeliness, readiness and reliability
Collaborate with the ITS department and functional leaders to ensure appropriate leveling and allocation of resources to projects and to resolve competing project needs
Partner and collaborate with business stakeholders to define success metrics and criteria, project size and complexity, cost, urgency, risk, and stakeholder value
Ensure that investments and initiatives in project management services are aligned with business strategy and priorities able to meet success parameters and ROI targets stated in the business case
Incorporate industry best practices, define metrics and key performance indicators, and clarify ownership for delivery at all levels of the organization, driving for focused delivery based on commitments
Monitor value metrics to make informed decisions that maximize returns across enterprise projects and programs
Develop an overall communication strategy and a reporting process for updating the organization and relevant business stakeholders on project and pipeline progress, decisions and impacts
Monitor the delivery of business objectives and client experience for ERP portfolio management services
Conduct regular program and project reviews, proactive risk management, and think critically to ensure predictability, quality, and communication; conduct post-project reviews
Create and implement a systematic approach to improving project planning accuracy and project cycle time
Drive the implementation of a resource management and reporting process to facilitate prioritization, management trade-offs, and efficient project intake based on changing functional needs, resource capacity constraints, risks, and interdependencies meeting deadlines
Identify critical skills and competencies necessary for success in ERP roles and related positions; assess cross-functional project team capability and skill gaps (where present), and initiate activities to close those gaps; define specific improvement actions and recommend training to improve collaborative development and project results
Effectively motivate team members and colleagues while pursuing opportunities for continuous improvement in department processes to drive a nimble and fast-paced business environment
Other duties as assigned