Sr Director, Transformation Program Operations- Strategic Programs

American Water•Camden, NJ

About The Position

People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals. We are Beautifully Different . We strongly believe having diversity across our company makes us more successful and helps us provide essential services to our customers. We are stronger because we embrace different ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. American Water is the best choice for your next role! Click here for more information on our inclusion, diversity, and equity journey. About American Water American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886 and celebrating 140 years in 2026, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to approximately 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Water’s approximately 7,000 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders. For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn , Facebook , X and Instagram . This role serves as the senior leader accountable for Program Operations for a large, multi‑year enterprise technology and business process transformation program, with specific responsibility for leading the program management functions that enable successful delivery across business, technology, and functional domains. The role requires leadership across program governance, performance management, financial and value oversight, risk and compliance integration, organizational change, communications, and readiness. Acting as a strategic partner to executive sponsors and the Program Executive Steering Committee, this leader ensures that complex, interdependent projects are executed in a coordinated, disciplined, and value‑driven manner.

Requirements

Leadership: Enterprise‑level leader with demonstrated success in large‑scale, multi‑year transformations
Deep expertise in program and portfolio governance, operating models, and delivery enablement
Strong financial and business acumen; able to connect delivery execution to enterprise value
Proven ability to operate as a peer to senior executives in complex, matrixed environments
Comfortable leading through ambiguity, influence, and change
Recognized for sound judgment, decisiveness, and executive presence
Self-Management: Proven success in a business management role
Experience with executive-level advising and interdepartmental collaboration
Positive approach to doing what’s best for the organization
Can build engagement and alignment across functional areas as well as hold team members accountable
Strong partnership across the organization with key peers
Skills Strong capabilities related to:
Leadership
Decision-making
Organizing and directing multiple teams and departments
Planning and leading large strategic initiatives
Multi-tasking and managing fast-moving teams and environments
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and proven ability to work effectively at all levels in the organization
Attention to detail and strong organizational skills necessary to manage multiple phases of a program and project plan(s)
Strong strategic skills to develop long term visions and the ability to translate them into actionable roadmaps that are broadly accepted
Strong presentation skills engaging a variety of audiences from the frontlines to the senior executives
Ability to articulate vision of transformation efforts and a sense of mission
Willingness to take charge and provide direction
Results oriented, willingness to commit to a direction and drive actions to completion
Demonstrated ability to manage adversity and challenging situations
Ability to manage senior relationships across all the Business and Functional areas
Collaborative team player orientation towards work relationships, strong culture awareness
Effectiveness in building trust, respect, and cooperation among teams
Proven success in a project coordination role
Ability to work effectively within matrixed reporting relationships
Strong cross-functional leader
Can summarize and synthesize issues, risks, and potential solutions
Confident in presenting with clarity to senior executives
Ability to address complex issues and topics directly and with tact
Strong knowledge of end-to-end Program and Project Management
15+ years of progressive leadership experience in large, complex organizations
8+ years leading enterprise programs, portfolios, or transformation initiatives
Demonstrated experience establishing and scaling PMOs or transformation operating models
Bachelor’s preferably in Business Administration or related field and or equivalent years’ experience

Nice To Haves

Experience in regulated, asset‑intensive, or utility‑scale environments strongly preferred
PMP Certification is a plus
Masters or MBA is a plus

Responsibilities

Establishes and leads the Program Operations operating model , spanning the Project Management Office, project and program governance, change management, communications, and readiness
Defines and enforces enterprise delivery standards, decision rights, escalation paths, and performance expectations
Serves as a primary advisor to executive sponsors and the Executive Steering Committee, framing risks, trade‑offs, and recommendations to support timely, informed decision‑making
Ensure disciplined and consistent assessment, prioritization, and project roadmap planning for incremental projects considered for implementation
Owns integrated planning and execution oversight across all workstreams, including roadmap alignment, dependency management, capacity planning, and critical path visibility
Leads business and value governance, ensuring benefits realization, financial discipline, and outcome transparency
Ensures consistent, high‑quality executive reporting across schedule, cost, risk, value, and readiness
Builds, leads, and develops a high‑performing Program Operations leadership team
Partners closely with Portfolio Delivery and Technology & Process Enablement leaders to drive integrated outcomes
Leads program change management, communications, learning, and training strategies to ensure sustainable adoption of transformation outcomes
Ensures organizational readiness and workforce alignment across all phases of the program
Provides leadership and integration across controls, compliance, and audit readiness in partnership with functions
Ensures risks, issues, and control impacts are proactively identified, managed, and escalated