Sr. Project Manager

Job Information

The Sr. Project Manager independently manages all phases of the project management life cycle for multiple, concurrent, projects across functional departments, while working closely with RSL’s technology organization, leveraging an appropriate traditional or agile approach to drive outcomes and foster new ideas. Projects can range in content including (but not limited to) market expansion, services redesign, organizational realignment, compliance, cost saving initiatives, new product implementation, new process and technology creation and rollout. This will include development and maintenance of integrated work plans, monitoring progress against goals, development and maintenance of cross-functional, matrixed relationships with business and IT, timely escalation of barriers to success along with identification of potential solutions, and providing concise and timely reporting tailored to appropriate stakeholder audiences.

• Designs, communicates, and implements an operational plan for completing the assigned project(s); monitors progress and performance against the project plan; takes action to resolve operational problems and minimize delays
• Prepares designs and work specifications; develops project schedules, budgets and forecasts; and selecting materials, equipment, project staff, and requests for external contractors
• Drives complex, operational excellence initiatives and development of high quality deliverables within committed time and budget, including proactive problem solving related to any identified risks
• Ensures integrity of original business case, including communication and management of key stakeholders
• Delivers results for project initiatives within established timeframes and quality measures
• Develops and implements communication and reporting mechanisms to manage issues, risks and timely delivery of initiative results. Translates project goals/objectives into a defined future state and project success measures that can be understood by project stakeholders, project team and others
• Ensures business needs and objectives are effectively captured in functional and non-functional business requirements for a system and/or process/workflow
• Proactively identifies barriers and resolves issues, determining contingency plans (executing as needed), while mitigating risk. Escalates issues to appropriate audiences for awareness and/or additional support.

• Develops and manages project budgets to ensure accurate and timely expense reporting, and to anticipate and proactively address budget variances
• Organizes and directs the activities of the project team. Prioritizes tasks to meet deliverables and commitments on time. Ensures that project member’s time and experience is well utilized. Recommends alternatives/options to minimize any schedule delay

• Identify resources needed, negotiates with people managers as required to lead project teams, ensuring clarity of project roles and responsibilities, so that all project plans are completed within defined timeframes, meeting objectives and strategic goals
• Utilizes expert project management skills and the corporate standard system development methodology (or other industry methodology) to manage assigned projects
• Champions organization’s operational excellence and project management methodologies and tools
• Drives continuous improvement of the PMO and supporting procedures to strengthen project execution and risk management

• Manages change control process to ensure conscious scope, schedule, and cost decision-making, and to ensure timely maintenance and communication of changes to business requirements, technical specifications, test plans, project plans, budgets, resource plans and other project artifacts.
• Promotes the benefits of change and act as a catalyst for change within the organization, as well as adapts to change imposed by others.
• Mentors Project Managers and trains team members or other internal partners as needed

Required Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and/or Related Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business or IT or related field
• 5 years’ experience managing business and/or technology projects required
• Demonstrated project management skills and success, including cross-organizational initiatives, including familiarity with project management approaches, tools and phases of the project lifecycle
• Proven track record in implementing change
• Strong verbal and written communication/presentation skills, including the ability to translate project and analytic work into packaged deliverables
• Ability to function in a fast-paced environment and prioritize multiple tasks under tight deadlines
• Proven ability to develop strong, collaborative working relationships and establish a high level of credibility across functions, lines of business and organizational levels, skilled at resolving conflict and negotiating effectively and tactfully
• Strong business acumen, with proven ability to leverage knowledge base to quickly come up to speed in new business areas and new types of projects
• Ability to manage priorities and workflow and an expert knowledge/understanding of project management methodology
• Expert ability to identify, create and apply different communication mediums based on a content and audience at all levels to achieve intended goal
• Strong collaborative skills, positive attitude, high energy, and results orientation
• Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to balance the need to gather detail with the need to solve the problem
• Ability to successfully lead project teams, motivating and developing colleagues without direct reporting relationships
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate effectively with business and IT partners on business requirements and timeframes on initiatives.
• Solid ability to work effectively in a dynamic, rapidly changing business and technical environment.
• Ability to train and mentor others to help build project management skills
• Advanced PC skill, including Sharepoint administration, MS Word, Powerpoint, Visio, and Excel
• Ability to create and uses technical project management tools
• Project Management qualification (PMI-PMP, PMI-CAPM) and knowledge of Agile would be desirable but not essential

Reliance Standard Insurance Company is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for positions without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal state or local laws.