Director, Special Projects

About the position

The Director, Projects is a key role in supporting the clean energy transition in New York State. This position is responsible for planning, leading, and managing a broad range of projects and initiatives for the Communications & External Affairs team. The Director will serve as a key liaison between the SVP of Communications & External Affairs, the team, departments, and external stakeholders, ensuring seamless communication, collaboration, and execution of strategic initiatives. The ideal candidate will possess high emotional intelligence (EQ) and strong relationship-building skills, coupled with exceptional organizational and leadership skills. This role will also serve as a Special Projects advisor to the SVP.

Responsibilities

• Provide project leadership and support to the Business Unit and strengthen management team relationships
• Act as a thought partner to the executive leadership and participate in executive level decision making
• Align Business Unit management and team on priority initiatives
• Directly assist Business Unit Leader with the identification, management and execution of emerging priority initiatives and special projects
• Prioritize and form key messages from stream of executive ideas and conversations
• Partner in the development and management of the Business Unit Leader's messaging and presentations
• Develop plans for communicating key messages throughout the organization
• Develop briefing documents and organize preparation materials and sessions prior to meetings/events
• Provide insight to the Business Unit Leader about what the team and the division needs from them
• Execute project initiatives, provide internal customer support, and drive functional excellence and process improvement
• Drive milestone completion, organize and prioritize critical issues and required information for Leadership to facilitate efficient decision making
• Recommend new approaches, policies and procedures to effect continual improvements in business objectives and productivity
• Interface with key personnel in business units and identify and elevate issues that need resolution
• Facilitate meetings with external stakeholders including customers for developing strategic partnerships
• Manage staff or contingent staff/contractors

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Advanced degree preferred
• Demonstrated application of Lean and/or Six Sigma tools to improve processes is required; certification is desirable
• Minimum 7 years of professional level experience preferred
• Minimum 3 years combination of supervisory, project management, and project implementation, or similar experience
• Certification in a Project Management discipline, such as Project Management Professional (PMP) is desirable

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with executive management and board-level presentations and decision-making processes, preferred

Benefits

• Competitive salary range of $134,540-$175,000 based on experience
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Reasonable accommodations during the hiring process for disabilities and other concerns