Director of Projects
Job Description
The Director of Projects is a senior leadership position responsible for overseeing and managing the organization’s portfolio. This role involves leading a team of project managers, setting project management standards, ensuring successful project delivery, and driving continuous improvement. In addition, the Director of Projects collaborates with cross-functional teams, establishes project governance, monitors performance metrics, and manages stakeholder relationships to achieve project objectives and organizational goals.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Develop and execute the organization’s project portfolio strategy, aligning it with overall business objectives.
- Define project selection criteria, prioritize projects, and allocate resources based on strategic importance and available capacity.
- Conduct project assessments, risk evaluations, and feasibility studies to inform project selection and prioritization decisions.
- Monitor and track the progress of projects within the portfolio, ensuring adherence to timelines, budgets, and quality standards.
- Provide leadership and guidance to a team of project managers, setting project management standards, methodologies, and best practices.
- Oversee project planning, execution, and control activities, ensuring project objectives are achieved within scope, budget, and schedule.
- Foster a culture of project management excellence, promoting collaboration, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.
- Establish and maintain project governance frameworks, including project charters, roles and responsibilities, and decision-making processes.
- Collaborate with senior leadership and key stakeholders to understand project requirements, objectives, and success criteria.
- Manage stakeholder relationships, expectations, and communications throughout the project lifecycle.
- Conduct regular project status meetings and stakeholder updates to ensure alignment and transparency.
- Proactively address stakeholder concerns, conflicts, and risks to maintain positive relationships and project support.
- Optimize resource allocation across projects, ensuring the availability of necessary skills, expertise, and capacity.
- Collaborate with functional managers to assign project resources and balance workloads.
- Monitor resource utilization, identify bottlenecks, and recommend adjustments to maximize efficiency and project delivery.
- Identify and assess project risks, develop risk mitigation strategies, and monitor risk mitigation plans.
- Implement proactive measures to minimize project risks and effectively respond to unforeseen issues or challenges.
- Facilitate issue resolution and escalation processes, ensuring timely resolution of project-related problems.
- Promote lessons learned and knowledge sharing across projects to enhance future risk management practices.
- Establish and monitor project performance metrics, such as schedule adherence, budget variance, quality, and customer satisfaction.
- Implement project tracking and reporting mechanisms to provide stakeholders with accurate and timely project status updates.
- Analyze project performance data, identify trends, and recommend corrective actions or process improvements as necessary.
- Prepare and present regular project reports to senior management, highlighting achievements, challenges, and recommended actions.
- Drive a culture of continuous improvement in project management practices, methodologies, and tools.
- Lead initiatives to standardize and optimize project management processes, templates, and documentation.
- Promote adopting project management best practices and lessons learned across the organization.
- Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and project management advancements.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).
- Extensive experience (typically 10+ years) in project management, with a track record of successfully managing complex projects.
- Proven experience in leading and managing a team of project managers and multidisciplinary project teams.
- Strong leadership and team management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate project teams.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with stakeholders at all levels.
- In-depth knowledge of project management methodologies, tools, and best practices.
- Solid understanding of project governance, risk management, and change management principles.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess complex situations and make informed decisions.
- Ability to navigate ambiguity, adapt to changing environments, and prioritize multiple projects and deadlines.
- Familiarity with project management software and tools.
- Professional certifications in project management (e.g., PMP, Prince2) are highly desirable.
- Exempt Status
- Exempt