Senior Manager: Project Management at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Deliver projects successfully within approved budget, timelines and meeting quality.
• Ensure alignment of projects and project outcomes to the business, IT strategies and objectives.
• Achieve desired outcomes through best practices in project management and to manage and grow relationship with business and solution providers.
• Manage the business change management enablement life-cycle. (NB. this responsibility will be shared with the Organizational Change Manager in larger projects with broader impact).

Job Description

The Project Manager is accountable for ­

• Managing relationships with the project stakeholders and customers ­
• Creating and maintaining a consistent, coherent project plan that can be used to guide project execution and project control ­
• Planning, defining the scope of the project and controlling changes ­ Formalising acceptance of the scope by stakeholders
• Planning, defining the schedule of the project and controlling changes ­
• Planning resources, estimating cost, allocating project budget and controlling changes to the budget ­
• Maintain quality planning, quality assurance and quality control for the project ­
• Identifying, documenting and assigning project roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships ­ Ensuring timely and appropriate generation and dissemination of project information ­ Identifying , analysing and managing project risks

Acquire & Implement ­

• Effectively conduct research into and make use of appropriate existing intellectual property as relevant to assigned project tasks ­ Serve as primary interface with
• Procurement and Vendor Managers, for acquisition of necessary technology and services; provide input as to expected SLAs for inclusion in contracts

Deliver & Support ­

• Deliver projects in keeping with cost, quality, schedule and agreed criteria. ­
• Identify, assess and manage project risks, which could result in time or cost overruns or failure to deliver products which are fit for purpose. ­
• Optimise total utilisation for all project resources. ­
• Ensure the participation and commitment of project stakeholders to project activities / reviews as required. ­
• Ensure timely dissemination of appropriate project information to stakeholders. ­
• Control changes to project scope, schedule and budget. ­
• Collect and disseminate performance information - status reporting, progress measurement and forecasting. ­
• Manage responses to risks and changes to risks over the course of the project. ­
• Generate, gather and disseminate information to formalize project completion. ­
• Ensure that projects are formally closed and, where appropriate, subsequently reviewed, and that lessons learned are captured and published. ­
• Surface and escalate issues which may become impediments to delivery of projects on time, on-budget, and in keeping with business and technical guidance documents. ­
• Work effectively with Solution Delivery Manager to build a PM and technical team which delivers project on time, on-budget, and in keeping with business and technical guidance documents. ­
• Complete and file all required reports - especially those required by the PMO. ­ Work with Line Managers to ensure that the skills of individuals (and of the team overall) are fit to the needs of the project. ­ Provide effective leadership to the project team ensuring that team members are motivated and develop their skills and experience. ­ Ensure completion and filing of all required reports - especially those required by the PMO. ­ Act as an escalation point to ensure that projects can proceed according to plan, and that potential impediments are addressed as early as possible.

Monitor & Evaluate ­

• Monitor costs, timescales and resources used, and take appropriate action where these deviate from agreed tolerances. ­
• Evaluate overall project performance on a regular basis to ensure that the project will satisfy relevant quality requirements. ­
• Monitor specific project results to ensure compliance with relevant quality standards and identify ways to eliminate unsatisfactory performance. ­
• Participate in post-implementation reviews of projects; document and institutionalise lessons learnt for continuous improvement. ­
• Provide feedback on performance of all team members. ­
• Conduct post-implementation reviews of projects; document and institutionalise lessons learnt for continuous improvement. ­
• Embed lessons learned into project management approach for the team(s) and 3 reflect to PMO leadership for general use. ­
• Provide feedback on performance of all team members, and work with relevant team leads to identify necessary development activities for individual(s), if necessary

Plan & Organise ­

• Define, communicate and gain agreement on the project scope. ­
• Estimate costs, schedule and resource requirements for the successful delivery of the project to an agreed scope. ­
• Assist the Business Analyst, as necessary, in the development of a Business Case for the project. ­
• Work with the Solution Architect, System Analyst, and Solution Delivery Manager to ensure that the project adheres to enterprise Architectural standards. ­
• Divide the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. ­
• Identify the specific activities that must be performed to produce the project deliverables. ­
• Identify and document dependencies between activities. ­ Analyse activity sequences, activity durations and resource requirements to prepare the project schedule. ­
• Allocate the overall cost to individual work items. ­
• Prepare a consistent and coherent project plan document. ­
• Identify which quality standards are relevant to the project and determine how to satisfy them. ­
• Identify, document and assign project roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships of both internal and external resources. ­
• Determine the information and communication requirements of the stakeholders. ­
• Identify and document the risks that are likely to affect the project. ­
• Evaluate risks and risk interactions to assess the range of possible project outcomes. ­
• Identify procurement requirements. ­ Build and manage project charters, schedules, quality plans, budgets, and communication and risk management plans for projects. ­
• Clearly specify the needs of individuals and of the team overall to meet the needs of the project. ­
• Identify and implement best practices/methodologies in areas of people, process, tools and organisation. ­
• Establish project management approach for the team of PMs under his/her control; maintain lead relationship with PMO ­
• Validate project charters, schedules, quality plans, budgets, and communication and risk management plans for projects.
• ­ Work with Solution Architect(s), System Analyst(s),and Solution Delivery Manager(s) to ensure that all team projects adhere to enterprise Architectural standards. ­
• Develop risk responses - steps to enhance opportunities and mitigate threats. ­
• Validate costs, schedule and resource requirements for the successful delivery of the projects to agreed scope(s) ­ Serve as the lead interface between project team(s) and business stakeholders.

Education and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems or related field, compulsory.
• Recognised project management qualification (PMP/ PRINCE2), compulsory.
• Minimum 7 years’ Project Management experience.
• Minimum 5 years’ Financial Services Industry experience.
• Minimum 7 years’ IT/ IT Consulting experience.
• Minimum 5 years’ Consulting/ Change Management experience, advantageous.
• Business Case Management experience, compulsory.
• Expertise in Benefits Management.
• Expertise in Change Management.
• Expertise in Project Management.
• xpertise in Stakeholder Management.
• Expertise and Knowledge of Banking and Financial Services business.

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)