Project Manager at PPS

Purpose of the Job: 

The Project Manager drives Project Lifecycle compliance - planning, organising, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. This role has the authority, accountability and responsibility for managing a project to achieve specific objectives.  

The incumbent will be required to plan, budget, oversee and document all aspects of the specific initiative being worked on. The Project manager will work closely with upper management to make sure that the scope and direction of each project is on schedule, as well as other departments for support. 

Main duties and responsibilities:  

• Acting as the Project Lead /Scrum Master for various initiatives using Project Management and Agile best practice and skills as required
• Implementing and supporting all business owners based on agreed initiatives
• Preparing and maintaining detailed project plans, Kanban boards, status reports, risks and issues logs
• Ensuring that the agreed project deadlines are met through planning, problem-solving and agreed prioritisation
• Liaising directly with project sponsors, product managers and business owners to understand the requirements and facilitating the implementation of new developments as scoped
• Managing project costs according to the allocated budget raise change requests to get approval for increased scope and costs
• Managing the project delivery process to meet its goals, objectives and stakeholder expectations  
• Setting up a governance structure with the project/agile team and relevant stakeholders as documented in the project management governance framework
• Making decisions and solve problems involving varied levels of complexity, ambiguity and risk
• Reporting project/agile team accomplishments and deliverables to management on a monthly basis
• Proactively identifying operational opportunities to increase service quality or efficiency
• Building and enhancing positive working relationships with business partners
• Building organisation-wide understanding and sharing knowledge 

Formal Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Science, Commerce or related discipline with an Information Technology focus, or equivalent
• A minimum of 5 years’ project management and/or Scrum Master/Agile Coach experience with analytical, technical or consulting expertise requiring the management and delivery of multiple projects and/or applying agile principles whilst working with a software development team
• Business consulting experience in Financial Services and or Insurance industry
• Large scale IT Program Management/Large Solution experience preferred 

Experience and Knowledge:  

• Extensive knowledge in agile methodology and frameworks as applied in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) e.g. Agile (Scrum, SAFe, Kanban) PMBOK, Prince 2
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written and presentation)
• Good skills to coach the team on how to follow agile methodologies practically
• Able to manage multiple initiatives/EPICs, budgets, meet deadlines and adapt quickly to changing priorities.
• Able to work in a self-directed, fast-paced environment
• Proven track record in establishment of a new networks and collaborative relationships 

Strategic Orientation: 

• Knowledge and understanding of the PPS vision, strategy and member value proposition 
• Acts with confidence and works independently most of the time 

Communication: 

• Articulate and communicates in a logical way and structures information to meet the needs and understanding of intended audiences 
• Expresses opinions, information and key points of view clearly and assertively
• Confident in conceptualising, building and presenting concepts and plans.
• Anticipates and responds appropriately to the needs, reactions and feedback of an audience Exceptional networker 

Commercial Acumen: 

• Demonstrates awareness of market trends and opportunities and keeps up to date with competitor developments impacting area of responsibility
• Has a proven ability to maximise impact of stakeholder and Professional Associations events  

Computer Literacy: 

• MS Office tools (e.g. MS Project, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Visio, etc.)
• Adept in the use of the latest Adobe Design suite.
• Adept in the use of Agile toolkits (e.g. JIRA, Trello, etc.) 

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills:  

• Able to coach lead and influence
• Sense of urgency and be a self-starter
• Excellent at problem-solving 
• Conflict resolution skills
• Excellent relationship building skills
• Strong time management skills
• Attention to detail and high levels of accuracy
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written and presentation)
• Able to work under pressure