Lead Project Manager, Program

Equitable • Waterloo, ON

2d • CA$97,000 - CA$145,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

At Equitable, we believe great things happen when we work together. We’re a Canadian mutual company driven by purpose - putting people first and helping Canadians protect today and prepare for tomorrow. If you’re passionate about making a difference and growing your career in an inclusive and collaborative environment, we’d love to hear from you. Our culture is built on care, passion and curiosity. We put people above all else, strive to be our best and welcome new ideas to deliver positive outcomes.
The Program Manager will manage work within our Client Care Centre Modernization strategic value streams governed by the Simplification Office to help provide a holistic and integrated enterprise view across the Client Care Centres at Equitable.
This person will also lead and/or manage key sub-projects/initiatives within the value streams, including but not limited to new systems introduction, proof of concept activities, system implementation, organizational readiness, process changes across multiple functional areas. This person will be a key resource in ensuring that the company’s implementation of these initiatives is aligned with the strategic goals and outcome; ensure programs completed and delivered to enable future-state digital capabilities at Equitable.
Join one of the region’s top employers and be part of something that truly makes a difference.

Requirements

• Project Management Professional (or PRINCE 2 certification)
• Post-secondary technical or business diploma and/or equivalent working experience
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in program/project management
• Teamwork and cooperation
• Customer insight
• Ability to work with ambiguity
• Change leadership
• Ability to resolve a situation of conflict
• Patience when dealing with difficult individuals
• Strategic influencing and innovation
• Attention to detail
• Communication with people from a variety of professional backgrounds
• Agile mindset.

Responsibilities

• Leads and facilitates program/project planning and estimation of programs and large project initiatives
• Leads cross-functional teams in planning and implementation of mission critical business initiatives
• Manages interdependencies between all value streams and prioritizes initiatives based on business drivers and outcomes
• Identifies risks and builds mitigation plans at program level
• Builds and monitors change management and adoption plans in collaboration with business owners
• Tracks milestones and deliverables and provides management metrics and reporting
• Identifies and leads resolution of risks and issues related to program/project milestones/goals, including escalation to management as required
• Conducts program/project phase reviews and obtains all necessary sign offs
• Monitors strategic business outcomes in collaboration with sponsors and business owners
• Provides informal consulting and training of program/project management methodologies to other staff members to ensure participation and awareness
• Manages knowledge transfer from project team to support teams and ensures solutions are stable and supportable
• Works closely with management to understand expectations and develop program/project strategy and plans to meet or exceed those expectations
• Builds strong working relationships with decision makers, functional managers and cross-functional team members
• Maintains relationships with external partners and technology suppliers
• Routinely provides stakeholders with status updates on issues and project direction
• Frequently translates complex, technical details into simple-to-understand business terms and concepts
• Demonstrates strong written, diagrammatic and presentation communication skills
• Facilitates communications with team members and stakeholders across functional areas
• Provides superior client experience
• Oversees management of program/project budgets
• Oversees or participates in a tendering process, including the analysis of final options
• Manages financials at program level and reports cost burn and variances
• Exercises strong judgment in discerning between priority and non-priority issues
• Makes decisions independently using logical assumptions and factual information
• Makes prioritization decisions on high impact / high priority issues on behalf of other team members
• Influences direction for program/project teams
• Provides indirect mentoring of team on program/project processes
• Assists team through changes
• Contributes to the creation of and/or adherence to standard policies and procedures, including the Delivery Framework, Change & Release Management, Incident & Problem Management, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning.

Benefits

• Regular learning sessions and development opportunities
• Allowance provided in place of vacation pay and benefits
• Healthy work-life balance with employee wellness always top of mind, complemented by a “dress for your day” approach

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree