Sr Manager, Project Management

Job Description:

We’re actively seeking a talented and experienced Sr. Manager, Project Management to join our team, and contribute to the transformation of our Technology Project Management Office (PLT PMO) in Newport Beach, CA.

As a Sr. Manager, Project Management in PLT PMO, which is part of our Strategy Realization Office (SRO), you will play a critical role in driving the overall strategy for our PMO transformation while leading a team of project managers, and overseeing a portfolio of projects necessary to build and evolve the capabilities required to support our business strategy. You will collaborate with senior leaders across the organization to drive PLT PMO’s strategy and provide centralized management of project portfolios, focusing on achieving business outcomes that support the business strategy. Additionally, you will be accountable for managing the portfolio management lifecycle through effective governance, ensuring that projects and programs are prioritized, monitored, and executed in alignment with strategic objectives, goals, and business value.

You will work closely with Pacific Life PMO counterparts in other divisions to learn best practices and support the development of PLT PMO. This position reports to the PLT PMO leader and will play an essential role in translating the team’s strategy into actionable plans. You should be comfortable with ambiguity and high level of complexity associated with transformation, while defining and implementing project management best practices. You must be willing to intervene where necessary and bring an innovative mindset to solving critical business problems. In this role, you will also provide people leadership to a group of PMs within PLT PMO, guiding them in their professional growth and ensuring their development aligns with organizational objectives.

The individual in this role will be responsible for fostering a culture of continuous learning and development by mentoring and coaching team members and ensuring that the workforce has the skills and knowledge needed to meet current and future business requirements. The leader will also play a pivotal role in building and maintaining robust relationships with internal and external stakeholders, focusing on strengthening connections across the Technology area. This involves collaborating with other departments, managing vendor and partner relationships, and ensuring effective communication throughout the organization.

This role requires being on-site at our Newport Beach office in a hybrid model.

How you will make an impact:

• Provide leadership to a team of project managers, fostering their professional advancement and ensuring that their development is congruent with the goals of the organization.
• Provide expert guidance through the entire project lifecycle, including planning, initiation, resource allocation, execution, monitoring, completion, and benefits realization.
• Ensure projects meet critical milestones on time and within budget, facilitating timely communication between teams and senior leadership, while providing comprehensive project status reports.
• Ensure project managers develop and maintain a risk management plan to identify, quantify, and mitigate risks to project success within the portfolio.
• Collaborate with leaders in PLT PMO to define and implement strategies to transform the organization.
• Monitor project health and adherence to best practices in project management; establish robust project governance processes.
• Actively engage in SRO and Enterprise Portfolio Management processes by tracking resources and ensuring accurate evaluation of value propositions and cost-benefit analysis data for prioritization.
• Support upfront solutions planning for incoming projects to shape business cases, resource models, and PMO staffing as necessary.
• Deliver training and coaching to non-PMO personnel within PL Tech to empower them to manage their own projects where appropriate.
• Inspect and provide consultation on distressed projects.
• Regularly interact with vendors involved in implementation projects to maintain alignment on cost, schedule, and quality, identifying risks as early as possible.
• Engage with senior leaders and sponsors to define project priorities, implementation opportunities, and challenges, ensuring risks and opportunities are appropriately addressed.
• Develop an appropriately sized and scalable project management team, and leverage third-party resources as needed.

The experience you will bring:

• 10+ years of project, program, and change management experience, with comprehensive knowledge of related methodologies, techniques, processes, and approaches.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience in a PMO.
• Demonstrated ability to m