IT Portfolio Planning Program Director

Fairview Health Services•Minneapolis, MN

About The Position

The Information Technology Portfolio Planning Program Director plays a critical role in ensuring accurate, standardized, and timely IT cost estimates for large-scale, complex initiatives while also managing demand and resource allocation processes. This role provides a centralized function for estimating and coordinating IT costs, managing demand prioritization, resource capacity planning, and ensuring optimal utilization across the portfolio. Working across multiple stakeholder groups, the position facilitates the development of comprehensive cost and resource estimates, oversees demand workflows, and ensures smooth transitions into execution teams.

Requirements

B.S./B.A. or Combination Education & Experience
7 years experience in IT coordination, portfolio/demand management, resource management or capital finance processes
Experience with enterprise-level cost estimation, stakeholder coordination, and resource planning
Familiarity in portfolio management processes
Experience developing processes, procedures and governance controls
Demonstrated analytical critical thinking skills for process development or problem resolution
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
Strong communication, interpersonal, and cross-functional collaboration skills
Adaptability and a proactive approach to managing competing priorities in a dynamic environment
Certification in portfolio, program, project management (e.g., PfMP, PMP, or equivalent) or Business Analysis (e.g., CBAP, PMI-PBA, ECBA, or equivalent)

Nice To Haves

M.A./M.S. in business administration, IT, project management, or related field
10 years experience in IT coordination, portfolio/demand management, resource planning, or capital finance processes
Experience with portfolio, project, intake tools (e.g., ServiceNow SPM, BMC Clarity, Smart Sheets or similar platforms)
Strong analytical skills with experience in creating dashboards and reports using tools like Power BI or similar platforms

Responsibilities

Translate enterprise and IT strategy into a multi-year portfolio roadmap and maintain an integrated view of all initiatives.
Lead planning cycles and recommend optimal initiative mix based on capacity, cost, risk, and value; track portfolio-level KPIs.
Own the end-to-end demand lifecycle, ensuring clear problem statements, consistent prioritization, and effective hand-off to delivery.
Shape demand by challenging timing, scope, and priority; proactively surface bottlenecks, risks, and conflicts for decision-making.
Serve as the primary owner of IT effort and cost estimation, leading ROM and detailed estimates across technology domains with documented assumptions and risks.
Establish and continuously improve standard estimation models and practices, facilitating SME input and validating accuracy against actuals to improve models over time.
Maintain a forward-looking view of internal and partner capacity, modeling the impact of new and in-flight work on teams and critical skills.
Run what-if scenarios to identify overloads or gaps and recommend mitigation options such as phasing, re-sequencing, or sourcing changes.
Define and maintain portfolio data models and dashboards to provide clear visibility into portfolio health, demand, capacity, value, and estimation performance.
Own and evolve portfolio planning and estimation capabilities in tools such as ServiceNow SPM, partnering with EA, CMDB, and ITAM to leverage standard patterns and lifecycle insights.
Lead portfolio planning discussions in governance forums, presenting transparent assumptions, risks, scenarios, and recommendations.
Act as a trusted advisor to IT, business, clinical, and finance leaders, aligning portfolio plans, estimates, and funding while proactively communicating systemic risks.
Continuously improve portfolio planning, demand, and estimation practices through outcome reviews, feedback loops, and data-driven insights.
Promote standardization, reuse, and portfolio thinking across teams, coaching leaders on disciplined intake, estimation, and prioritization.
Communicate respectfully, ensure a safe and secure environment, and comply with all organizational, regulatory, and learning requirements.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement, efficiency, and innovation while performing additional duties as assigned.