Program Management Leader

Cushman & Wakefield • Raleigh, NC

10d • $127,500 - $150,000

About The Position

The Program Management Leader works closely with client operational and project management leaders to provide supplemental governance, organization, and operational control for the client’s corporate real estate (CRE) leaders. The position reports directly to the Account Director, with dotted-line accountability to the P&P Platform, and applies Cushman & Wakefield project management delivery practices.

The role provides CRE Center of Excellence operational governance and oversight, global capital plan governance and oversight, and scheduling support for selected critical projects. It develops and implements lifecycle controls in collaboration with other CRE functions; monitors provider performance, process compliance, and data integrity; oversees controls specialists and technical resources; facilitates capital planning and re-forecasting; and independently assesses schedules for a selected portfolio of active and upcoming capital projects. The position may participate in project meetings and travel to project sites as needed, subject to mutual approval by the client and Account Director.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Five or more years of related experience.
• Advanced project management skills and expertise in the project management business.
• Expertise in client relations, client management, and consulting.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organization and analytical skills.
• Proficient working knowledge of accounting and financial reporting, budgeting, scheduling, and processes relating to corporate real estate, design, and construction.
• Software skills in Microsoft Office applications, MS Project, Smartsheet, and PowerBI.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or certification.
• Two or more years of personal management experience.

Responsibilities

• Partner with client CRE functions and stakeholders to identify points of interaction and develop and implement program-level controls and governance across the full project lifecycle.
• Leverage existing transaction, lease administration, occupancy strategy, project management, and facilities management processes.
• Establish a means for the client or PMO to monitor critical activities throughout the lifecycle of leased locations.
• Monitor service provider performance against agreed KPIs and SLAs, identify trends, abnormalities, and performance gaps, escalate issues to the client, and ensure performance data is captured consistently across regions.
• Oversee controls specialists and technical resources responsible for reports and dashboards, governance materials, compliance, and data quality.
• Maintain governance of operational playbooks, process maps, and templates, including a centralized global template repository.
• Engage third-party project managers to assess and ensure compliance with the client’s Project Management Delivery Playbook.
• Track and report process noncompliance and recommend remediation.
• Conduct data validation and quality checks on inputs from third-party project managers; report data integrity status and recommend solutions for data gaps or inconsistencies.
• Develop and facilitate an end-to-end global capital planning process to capture, prioritize, and track portfolio financial requirements.
• Facilitate project pipeline intake and prioritization as directed by the client.
• Support scenario analyses and data consolidation to keep the capital plan aligned with evolving portfolio needs.
• Verify capital plan submissions for completeness and accuracy.
• Analyze monthly performance data against the capital plan and highlight variances in scope, schedule, and cost.
• Support quarterly re-forecasting and commercial reviews with insights into trends for rolling and multi-year capital planning.
• Drive identification and surfacing of capital plan exceptions.
• Provide independent schedule analysis, risk assessment, and ongoing schedule management support for approximately seven selected projects.
• Analyze project schedules provided by general contractors, the client’s third-party project team, or other stakeholders.
• Host discussions with project teams, general contractors, and relevant parties to validate schedule assumptions, logic, and inputs.
• Provide written assessments of the validity and accuracy of each project schedule.
• Provide aggregated leadership reports on scheduling trends and risks, with recommended best-practice enhancements for third-party project management scheduling strategies.
• Identify process-compliance gaps and provide quality assurance on project management service delivery.
• Participate as needed in project-specific meetings to stay informed about project status and ensure local teams comply with project delivery expectations.
• Travel to project sites as needed, subject to mutual approval by the client and Account Director.
• Manage internal and external relationships in support of the program, including engagement of internal supporting resources.

Benefits

• Eligible employees may enroll in benefit programs generally including health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life insurance, and disability insurance.
• Paid and unpaid time away from work.
• Competitive pay.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior