Executive Director, Program & Project Management
About The Position
The Executive Director of Program & Project Management oversees and integrates change within a functional area, helping realize strategic benefits while promoting operational stability. This role provides leadership and operational direction for business programs and associated projects and change functions. The Executive Director works with stakeholders across the enterprise to plan, execute, and deliver strategic initiatives; leads cross-functional teams in developing and executing change strategies; and applies executive-level business judgment and management expertise. The position is based in USAA’s Plano, Texas office and requires working in the office four days per week. Relocation assistance is available. USAA describes its work environment as flexible and notes that remote or hybrid flexibility may be offered to active-duty military spouses, subject to policy and business needs. The role leads Program and Project Managers and direct and matrixed leaders responsible for integrated work plans supporting strategic programs. It helps drive change adoption and sustainment under USAA’s change methodology, oversees program metrics and risk controls, and ensures work follows applicable EPMO processes and standards.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree, or four years of relevant education and/or experience.
- 10 years of experience in program/project management leadership, process improvement, and/or consulting for large strategic efforts.
- Four years of people leadership experience building, managing, and/or developing high-performing teams.
- Executive-level understanding and experience with strategic-level change management.
- Extensive experience delivering member- or customer-facing capabilities in a complex, multichannel, multiproduct, integrated-system environment.
- Executive-level experience with systems design and development, from business requirements analysis through day-to-day management.
- Expert understanding of and experience applying project management principles.
- Expertise managing the full life cycle of strategic and operational programs.
- Project and program management and execution experience delivering complex work efforts using Waterfall and Agile methodologies.
- Comprehensive understanding of risk management policies and procedures, including experience identifying risks and key risk indicators and building processes and controls to address them.
- Comprehensive understanding of USAA’s change methodology or a comparable industry change methodology.
Nice To Haves
- Experience scaling a business or significant new capability within financial services, ideally in a start-up or build environment.
- Demonstrated ability to establish structure and execution rigor across complex programs, including workstreams, dependencies, milestones, metrics, and accountability.
- Proven ability to operate with urgency, anticipate issues, escalate quickly, and drive progress against timelines measured in days and weeks rather than quarters.
- Ability to lead through influence in a complex, matrixed environment, align cross-functional stakeholders, connect interdependent work, and drive decisions across organizational boundaries.
- US military experience through military service or as a military spouse/domestic partner.
Responsibilities
- Provide strategic leadership and management of direct and matrixed leaders responsible for integrated work plans that deliver program and project strategic visions.
- Lead teams of Program and Project Managers focused on key functional-area initiatives and integrate complex area-specific or enterprise-wide initiatives.
- Ensure appropriate change management routines and measures of success are in place.
- Participate in and lead components of ongoing operational planning, collaborating with senior leaders and stakeholders across business units as needed.
- Ensure the functional area participates in communities for governed enterprise positions, such as Change Management Advisors.
- Monitor and communicate financial-services industry developments, trends, and legal and regulatory changes, including their impact on enterprise programs and projects.
- Develop, track, and report key metrics, including deliverables, financials, duration, and benefits; communicate findings to senior leaders, sponsors, and stakeholders to influence methodologies and approaches.
- Follow required EPMO processes, procedures, controls, standards, tools, and templates.
- Drive adoption and sustainment of organizational changes in compliance with USAA’s Change Management methodology.
- Ensure business risks are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
- 401(k) and pension.
- Life insurance.
- Parental benefits.
- Adoption assistance.
- Paid time off and paid holidays.
- 16 paid volunteer hours.
- Wellness programs.
- Career path planning and continuing education.
- Relocation assistance.
- Employees may be eligible for pay incentives based on overall corporate and individual performance and at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors.
- Long Term Incentive Plan cash payment for executive-level roles, subject to time- and performance-based conditions.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Executive
