Business Solutions Delivery Manager
National Life Group
Business Solutions Project Delivery Manager
Please note that we do not offer visa sponsorship for this position.
Role Summary
The Business Solutions Project Delivery Manager is a member of the Business Architecture team responsible for the successful delivery and integration of new products, services, systems or processes for projects of small to medium scope.
This role works closely with cross-functional teams including IT, PMO and business units to translate organizational strategy into actionable plans. In close collaboration with stakeholders and internal partners the Delivery Manager will support the definition of the purpose statement, guiding principles, success metrics and business capabilities that serve as inputs to the project scope and solution design.
This role may participate in soliciting a request for proposal and related vendor due diligence needed to select a supplier partner. Whether the preferred solution is a buy or a build the Delivery Manager is responsible to ensure that chosen solution aligns to the customer value proposition underpinning the business goals.
Once the solution has been identified the Delivery Manager plays a key role in establishing the detailed project plan that informs both timeline and budget. This may require inputs from multiple supplier partners and/or various project teams to create a comprehensive plan. This role will work closely with PMO to capture business requirements and resources needed to develop, test and implement the solution.
In summary, the Delivery Manager will engage with stakeholder groups and supplier partners to ensure that business goals are understood, the project plan reflects what must happen to achieve the goals and execution of the plan meets quality standards, delivered on time and within budget.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Plays a primary role representing business interests throughout the full delivery lifecycle from concept and planning through execution and final delivery.
Stakeholder Management:
- Participate in defining the purpose statement, guiding principles and success metrics for the project.
- Engage stakeholders to define business capabilities needed to achieve business goals distinguishing those that are a must have from those that are nice to have.
- Support the convergence of divergent thinking ensuring alignment to business goals.
- Apply the guiding principles and success criteria to guide and influence decisions.
- Establish a regular cadence for communication and status updates.
- Leverage Business Process Analysts to evaluate existing processes and collaborate with business unit to identify opportunities to optimize efficiency and effectiveness.
- Support change management activities as required.
Project Planning:
- Participate in defining business focused selection criteria in support of request for proposal (”RFP”) and vendor due diligence efforts and work with business unit to formulate questions for each criteria.
- Collaborate with PMO and IT to break down business capabilities into components and outcomes that will inform the business requirement document.
- Ensure that project scope aligns to the business goals.
- Participate with internal and external partners to co-design elegant solutions.
- Support the creation of detailed project plans, milestones, timelines and capacity plans.
Project Execution:
- Lead day-to-day project activities as key decision maker, providing continual guidance to the development and testing teams.
- Maintain a high standard of quality in project delivery by ensuring that deliverables meet business requirements and technical specifications.
- Provide sign off that deliverables meet the acceptance criteria.
- Participate in the identification and assessment of project risk. Develop mitigation plans and proactively address potential challenges to maintain project momentum.
- Collaborate with PMO to build monitoring and oversight into the governance structure tracking progress against deliverables, reviewing performance metrics and identifying potential issues.
Post Delivery Support:
- Work with IT to ensure a structured handover process for ongoing support including knowledge transfer and incident management.
- Maintain stewardship of the systems supporting optimization and general maintenance activities.
- Shepherd the exploration of continuous improvement opportunities, regulatory change, new service offerings etc.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, computer science, information systems or other related fields
- Minimum five (5) years of experience in product management and/or technology integration with a proven track record of delivering medium to large scale transformations in complex, cross-functional organizations
- Strong interpersonal skills with a focus on rapport building, active listening and appreciative inquiry building trusted relationships with stakeholders and partners
- Willingness to dig deep and develop working knowledge of business operating model, processes and enabling technology
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and trends, diagnose problems and recommend action plans to resolve issues
- Experience writing business requirements
- Highly skilled in communicating information concisely and effectively to internal/external partners and stakeholders
- Demonstrated ability to perform a retrospective analysis, learn and apply the knowledge to improve business performance
- Demonstrated ability to recognize risk and develop mitigation strategies
- Proven track record of making timely decisions based on facts, circumstances and needs of the business
- Display rigor, persistence and positivity in a highly collaborative atmosphere
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in business, finance, computer science, information systems or other related fields
- Life & annuity industry knowledge
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
- Professional SCRUM Product Owner (PSPO) certification
- Six Sigma certification