Director, IT Project Management Office

CooperCompanies•Town of Victor, NY

4d•$154,903 - $238,312•Onsite

About The Position

The Director leads CooperVision’s centralized IT Program and Project Management organization, supporting major technology domains and business-function systems, including Commercial, Finance and HR, Operations, ERP, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, and other enterprise technology initiatives. Program and Project Managers maintain dotted-line relationships with functional and technology leaders for domain alignment while working within a centralized PM Center of Excellence (PM CoE) that sets common delivery expectations, methodologies, processes, data standards, and performance management practices. In partnership with IT Business Relationship Management, Portfolio Management, technology leadership, and business stakeholders, the Director turns approved initiatives into governed, effectively managed programs and projects. The role provides leadership visibility into delivery health, financial performance, resource capacity, dependencies, risks, issues, and outcomes, and partners with Portfolio Management to support reliable cross-portfolio reporting, investment governance, prioritization, and leadership decisions. This is a full-time, onsite position five days per week in Victor, New York. It is not eligible for relocation assistance or employer-sponsored work authorization now or in the future. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States permanently without future sponsorship.

Requirements

10 or more years of progressive experience in project management, program management, PMO, technology delivery, or related disciplines.
5 or more years of leadership experience managing Project Managers, Program Managers, or comparable delivery professionals.
Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional technology programs in a large or matrixed organization.
Strong knowledge of project and program management methodologies, governance, financial management, resource planning, risk management, and executive reporting.
Demonstrated ability to establish standards while adapting delivery approaches to different project types and business needs.
Experience working with senior business and technology executives.
Strong leadership, influencing, communication, and organizational change capabilities.
Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Project Management, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
Permanent and ongoing authorization to work in the United States without current or future employer-sponsored work authorization.

Nice To Haves

Experience establishing, leading, or transforming a Project Management Office or Project Management Center of Excellence.
Experience with Planview or comparable enterprise portfolio and project management platforms.
Experience in environments using multiple delivery methodologies, including predictive, Agile, hybrid, and product-oriented approaches.
PMP, PgMP, Agile, or other relevant professional certifications.
Experience within complex global or multi-business-unit organizations.

Responsibilities

Own and continually mature the IT project and program management framework and delivery governance model.
Establish and maintain common IT project and program methodologies, standards, processes, controls, templates, and delivery expectations, with requirements appropriately scaled to initiative size, complexity, risk, investment, and strategic importance.
Set standards for project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, change control, transition, closure, project quality, and adherence assessment.
Drive continuous improvement of IT delivery management through lessons learned, delivery performance analysis, and adoption of leading practices.
Provide leadership oversight across the IT project portfolio, particularly for complex, strategic, cross-functional, and at-risk initiatives.
Maintain visibility into delivery health; identify off-track or increasingly risky projects; ensure recovery actions; and facilitate reviews of strategic, complex, high-risk, or challenged programs.
Ensure significant schedule, scope, financial, resource, dependency, and delivery risks are managed and escalated appropriately; identify systemic issues and promote transparent, fact-based reporting.
Provide leadership with consolidated execution performance information and significant delivery concerns requiring intervention or decisions.
Lead and develop the centralized IT Program and Project Management organization, including coaching, development, performance management, role expectations, competencies, career paths, and performance standards.
Align Program Managers to functional and technology domains while retaining centralized PM CoE accountability; partner with domain leaders to align managers with priorities and stakeholder expectations.
Balance PM resources across initiatives based on complexity, demand, capacity, skills, and business priorities; develop organizational capability and assess the appropriate use of employees, external resources, and delivery partners.
Establish project financial planning, tracking, forecasting, and variance management disciplines with Portfolio Management, IT Finance, and project leadership; ensure timely, accurate financial information and appropriate corrective actions or escalations.
Provide visibility into delivery resource demand, capacity constraints, and impacts; establish resource forecasting practices; identify resource conflicts; and support capacity and prioritization discussions with reliable information.
Own the delivery risk and issue management framework, including standards for identification, assessment, documentation, mitigation, escalation, and reporting; monitor trends and ensure appropriate governance visibility and executive escalation.
Facilitate intervention and recovery planning for critically challenged programs where appropriate, and partner with Portfolio Management to reflect significant risks and issues accurately in portfolio reporting.
Establish practices to document expected project benefits and outcomes without transferring business benefit realization accountability to IT; partner with sponsors, BRMs, and Portfolio Management on measurable success criteria and metrics.
Ensure benefits and outcomes are included in project initiation, planning, reporting, baseline measurement, and closure; support post-implementation reporting when metrics and data are available.
Partner with Portfolio Management to ensure project and program information is complete, timely, accurate, and consistent, including data maintained in Planview and other applicable tools.
Ensure teams meet portfolio reporting cycles and data standards; improve executive reporting, portfolio visibility, and decision-making information; address recurring project data quality and governance issues.
Provide delivery expertise in portfolio planning, sequencing, prioritization, and scenario discussions.
Represent project and program delivery in IT leadership forums and governance bodies; build partnerships across BRM, Portfolio Management, IT leadership, Finance, and business functions.
Establish accountability between the centralized PM CoE and functional dotted-line leadership; influence stakeholders to resolve impediments and improve execution.
Champion disciplined delivery and an environment of objective, transparent communication without unnecessary administrative burden or process complexity.