Project Manager

Foresters Financial•Toronto, ON

13d•CA$81,000 - CA$130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Manager will provide and apply high quality project management methodologies and techniques to manage a wide range of projects. Using high-level understanding of business and IT processes and strategy, the Project Manager will be involved in projects to enhance current operations and/or to develop new business solutions deploying technology within Foresters Financial or with 3rd party vendors/partners.

Requirements

Minimum 3-5 years of experience in a Project Management role with proven track record of successfully delivering various business and IT project sizes and types
Strong IT Infrastructure and or Application Development project experience
Experience implementing Life Insurance projects, products and IT systems and awareness of Life Insurance industry knowledge and systems features including New Business and In-Force administration would be an asset
Strong understanding of IT environments / technologies
Experience with both Waterfall and Agile development methodologies
Experience in managing multiple projects at one time
Must be well versed in project management methodology and have proven ability to lead projects to appropriately guide project requirements, identify technology issues and risks and direct investigation and analysis of technical alternatives
Ability to assess priority and severity of issues by understanding business objectives, technical costs and user needs as well as being able to weigh alternatives for resolution
Able to work in a team environment
Proven ability to influence, lead and obtain agreement from cross-functional team
Understand and manage to the critical path of the project
Excellent ability to multitask, to respond to constantly changing needs and schedules and to organize and prioritize workload
Proven ability to manage finance issues, budgeting and cost-benefit analysis
Excellent planning and organization skills
Ability to provide solutions while managing tight deadlines and motivating in a fast-paced environment while maintaining a keen attention to detail
Strong interpersonal skills to interact with all levels of staff from CEO, SVP’s and VP’s to managers and other staff
Sound judgment and decision-making skills to act effectively in resolving issues as they arise
Excellent communication skills including strong presentation / communication / facilitation skills (verbal and written)
Excellent relationship management, interpersonal, conflict and negotiation skills
Substantial experience and expertise with the use of Project Planning software, such as Microsoft Project, Visio, Azure DevOps/JIRA, and Office 365
Strong systems implementation skills including requirements/process analysis, conceptual and detailed design, configuration, testing, training, change management, and support

Nice To Haves

PMP certified, Agile/SCRUM certified, or formal project management education is an asset
University degree, an MBA would be an asset
Experience implementing Life Insurance projects, products and IT systems and awareness of Life Insurance industry knowledge and systems features including New Business and In-Force administration would be an asset

Responsibilities

Plan, manage and successfully oversee the implementation of multiple projects in parallel
Manage project teams and stakeholders to ensure project completion is on time, on budget and within scope. This includes the development and management of detailed plans, work breakdown structures, schedule, and budget
Conduct post-project reviews to certify project success criteria have been met
Identify and assess risks, severity and impacts. Determine and implement risk strategies and communicate risks to client and stakeholders as appropriate
Closely monitor project financials, follow-up on issues and provide regular status updates to management and stakeholders
Monitor implementation efforts and transition issues to ensure that business risks are identified, and solutions are recommended
Lead and manage project teams to effectively utilize strengths of team members
Manage stakeholder expectations, including understanding their points of views and needs while keeping Foresters strategic goals in mind and fostering a win/win relationship
Leverage knowledge of business through understanding, and applying rapidly changing technology and business process delivery trends
Influence and negotiate to gain support and achieve consensus
Provide day-to-day leadership and focus on the proper execution of actions necessary for delivery of projects on time and on budget