Principal, Delivery Excellence & PMO

Ares Operations•New York, NY

About The Position

Principal, Delivery Excellence and PMO will establish and lead Ares' Technology Project Management Office (PMO), defining the governance, delivery operating model, Agile practices, and execution standards for technology initiatives. This role will build the PMO from the ground up, leading Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and potentially a centralized Quality Assurance function. The individual will partner with Product, Engineering, Architecture, and Business leaders to implement consistent delivery processes, Agile methodologies, Jira governance, stakeholder communications, and portfolio governance while coaching teams to improve delivery maturity and execution excellence. Supervises: Project Managers & Scrum Masters

Requirements

15+ years leading enterprise technology delivery, PMO, or Agile transformation.
Proven experience building a PMO or Delivery Management Office from the ground up.
Deep understanding of Agile methodologies, Jira administration, and portfolio governance.
Experience leading Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and cross-functional delivery teams.
Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills.
Strategic thinker with strong execution capabilities.
Excellent leadership, coaching, facilitation, and influencing skills.
Ability to build organizational capability while remaining hands-on.
Strong understanding of Agile operating models and software delivery lifecycle.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced global environment.
Passion for delivery excellence, governance, and continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree preferred.
PMP, PMI-ACP, Scrum, SAFe, or related Agile certifications preferred.
Financial Services or Asset Management experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Establish the PMO vision, operating model, governance framework, standards, and delivery methodologies.
Build scalable project governance, portfolio management, and reporting processes.
Define delivery KPIs, metrics, and executive dashboards.
Lead the adoption of Agile methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, and scaled Agile practices.
Coach teams on Agile ceremonies including Sprint Planning, Backlog Refinement, Reviews, Retrospectives, Scrum of Scrums, and PI Planning.
Define clear roles and responsibilities across Product Managers, Product Owners, Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and Engineering teams.
Establish enterprise Jira configuration standards, workflows, boards, dashboards, and reporting.
Standardize backlog management, estimation, sprint metrics, release tracking, and portfolio visibility.
Drive continuous improvements to delivery tooling and processes.
Oversee portfolio planning, prioritization, resource management, and cross-team dependencies.
Develop executive communications, status reporting, risk management, and steering committee materials.
Partner with Business and Technology leaders to align delivery with strategic priorities.
Recruit, mentor, and develop Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and delivery professionals.
Evaluate and establish a centralized QA capability if appropriate.
Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, servant leadership, and continuous improvement.