Senior Associate, Project Manager (Strategic Business Initiatives)

New York Life•Chattanooga, TN

15h•$90,000 - $135,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Group Benefit Solutions (GBS) is seeking a highly skilled Project Manager to lead and manage strategic initiatives within our PMO. In this role, the Project Manager will work closely with executive and business stakeholders across all areas of operations (e.g.: distribution, claims, product, marketing, etc.) to support the planning and execution of projects and programs within our portfolio. The PM will play a key role in fostering a collaborative team environment while driving accountability. Our team provides project management support for both new implementations (end-to-end) as well as change management activities within a hybrid waterfall/agile model; experience with both methodologies is preferred.

Requirements

Strong relationship building/management skills, influencing and negotiation skills, strong written and verbal communications, presentation skills, and a passion for project management.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 tools (Outlook, Excel, Word, Teams, Project, Vision, SharePoint, and OneDrive).
Bachelor’s degree (in a business-related field)
5+ years of relevant experience managing mid-to-large scale projects (3-6+ months in duration)
Demonstrated ability to prioritize workload, confirm / communicate decisions, work on multiple simultaneous assignments, and meet deadlines
Innovative thinker who is self-driven to complete projects and tasks on time while proactively looking for opportunities to continuously improve processes and share learnings
Ability to manage ambiguity and work independently with minimal guidance

Nice To Haves

Experience with both waterfall/agile methodologies is preferred.
Group insurance and/or financial services industry experience preferred
Change management experience strongly preferred
Strong executive presence and experience with presenting to an audience of cross-functional stakeholders within the company
Experience managing business and IT relationships in a matrixed environment preferred
PMP or Agile/Scrum master certification strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Partner with business owners/IT/support teams to define scope of new initiatives or determine impact of changes (upgrades/enhancements).
Adhere to project delivery governance model, own development, and maintenance of project documents (charters, minutes, plans, status reports) on shareable platform.
Analyze project progress to identify risks/issues, develop mitigation plans, and appropriately escalate concern and potential solutions to stakeholders.
Schedule and facilitate status meetings, drive accountability for deliverables.
Where applicable, drive methodology definition and adoption of Agile delivery approaches.
Oversee task execution and dependencies keeping the big picture in mind during meetings and discussions, particularly if there are scope and/or resource adjustments.
Develop communication materials to present project objectives and drive the decision-making process among various stakeholders/sponsors/executives within the company.
Manage the details of a project to ensure that all action items are accomplished timely and accurately within NYL standards while looking for opportunities to continuously improve project management processes and test new approaches.
Lead by example with high energy, transparency, and influencing skills.