Specialist, Project Manager

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Specialist, Project Manager

Summary:

Responsible for the coordination, oversight, and execution to agreed schedule of assigned projects within the Banking & Markets Capability Delivery Team. A Capability is the combination of processes, tools, skills & behaviors, and organization that delivers a specific desired outcome; and our team’s goal is to deliver new capabilities to create value for our clients.

We manage and prioritize a portfolio of key initiatives on behalf of stakeholders resulting in monitoring projects or programs against larger capital targets, managing the demand & supply for project resources, and addressing the sequencing of work as needed. This role produces necessary MIS and financial reporting required to support the Banking & Markets portfolio.

Major Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership of virtual team in all phases of the project: from initiation/feasibility, during execution, and through roll out and implementation. Establish effective working relationships with business, product, and IT partners to ensure efficient processes are followed
• Engage appropriate management, partners, and any other relevant parties necessary for successful completion of project as virtual team or ad hoc contributors during planning and implementation. Ensure dependencies are clearly understood, roles and responsibilities are defined and appropriately assigned to virtual team.
• Focus of role is on execution of strategic direction of business functional activities
• Carries out complex initiatives involving multiple disciplines and/or ambiguous issues
• Displays a balanced, cross-functional perspective, liaising with the business to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity
• Facilitate program or project execution through proper communication and standardized documentation:
  • Design and maintain a project plan for execution and manage project to clearly defined timeline
  • Prepare and/or delegate procedural documentation, flowcharts, etc.
  • Track all decisions, actions, risks, and issues; work with relevant partners to resolve and escalate as needed
  • Regularly communicate project status, progress and updates to virtual team and any other stakeholders, through defined standard processes and ad hoc, as needed
  • Ensure impact to changes in cost or time are understood by virtual team and management
  • Proactively escalate any risks or issues to virtual team and management
• Maintain accurate and timely budget forecast and actual spend; properly using our inhouse project tools to follow financial discipline.

Knowledge/Skills/Experience

Requires significant experience in project management and change initiatives, covering such areas as new product development, technical implementations, client service, and operational efficiencies. A proven track record of success managing projects in a fast-paced environment with challenging deadlines, multiple priorities, and limited resources. 

• Seasoned expert with extensive technical and business knowledge and functional expertise that has been developed over 7+ years and/or equivalent experience
• Financial industry experience strongly preferred, Capital Market product knowledge a plus
• Must have strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills to manage complex projects
• Requires excellent communication skills (both written and oral) to consult with project stakeholders and management
• Demonstrate ability to quickly establish credibility and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of PPM Clarity for Project Management.
• Has experience in creating project budgets, analyzing cost plans, forecasting, and resource allocation
• Agile certifications and/or experience in executing in Agile methodology a plus
• PMI Certification (PMP, PfMP, PMI-ACP) is highly recommended
• Excellent oral and written communication skills are required
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