Information Technology Portfolio Manager

JOB PURPOSE:

Responsible for development and management of IT Enterprise-wide development / management of projects and structuring them into dependency based programs for successful execution, while managing Project Managers responsible for projects execution and delivery on RAKEZ and Vendor's side.

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

• Proven working experience in enterprise application project management; preferably for following applications:
• SAP
• Salesforce
• Mobile Application
• Infrastructure implementations
• Proven working experience with IT Programs and managing dependencies of related projects.
• Excellent verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Certifications and/or hands-on experience in product management is preferred
• Hands-on experience in Waterfall, Agile and Hybrid software development environments is preferred.
• Hands on experience in managing Salesforce/SAP integration projects with external applications is preferred
• Proven working experience in planning and managing project / program budget and (internal and external) resources.
• Experience in managing internal and third-party Project Managers
• Proven experience in structuring, managing and reporting on IT CAPEX budgets.
• Experience in managing multiple internal parties and external vendors.
• Experience in planning and managing PM and Development resources capacity.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Team Management

• Responsibility for the performance and development of employees in the team:
• Manage and direct day-to-day activities of direct reports to ensure timely delivery of activities.
• Provide ongoing career development, support and coaching for direct reports.
• Provide feedback to team and identify need-based training requirements for direct reports.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

Portfolio Management

• Overall IT Projects Management governance management in RAKEZ
• Projects intake and validation for IT
• Projects execution planning and prioritization with business
• Portfolio management and projects classification
• IT Development MSA Management
• Resources and Capacity planning for Portfolio execution

Project and Program Management

• Programs development and alignment of internal stakeholders
• Programs management and supervision of underlying projects execution
• Development of Project Plans and aligning them into execution programs based on scope / logic dependencies.
• Monitor and report the status of all ongoing IT Programs and Projects in the organisation.
• Manage the delivery of organisation wide IT projects and ensure delivery is within scope and budget.
• Manage the RAKEZ Project Management Framework, ensuring its deployment across all RAKEZ projects.
• Monitor and ensure projects/initiatives are in compliance with policies and standards.
• Program / Project RAID logs monitoring and management.
• Project escalations management (first level of escalation).
• Manage initiatives by monitoring progress towards meeting goals and achieving benchmarks, analyse data and ensure follow-through on the part of key players in order to sustain momentum needed to drive these initiatives.
• Propose projects and corrective actions on existing internal and external projects to the IT Portfolio Manager in order to ensure the objectives and vision of the company are met.
• Collect data from the departments as well as external parties in order to identify the potential problems in carrying out the agreed upon strategic projects and initiatives and report the same to IT Director and Portfolio Manager.
• Update the PPM reporting system properly on all initiatives and strategic projects.
• Develop and maintain projects / programs documentation.
• Assume responsibility for projects allocated CAPEX budgets execution and monthly utilization status reporting on managed projects / programs.

Project Team Management

• Assist in setting annual performance targets and conduct project related annual review for each project team member to help them develop in their career and meet goals that benefit the company.
• Assign day-to day project admin to team; ensuring right capabilities and work load allocated.
• Assist functional project teams in project implementation, change management and realised benefits analysis in order to have efficient teams implementing projects professionally.
• Coordinate and conduct post-implementation reviews of projects with project coordinators to determine their effectiveness.

Relationship Management

• Manage all contracts and other project related commitments efficiently to increase operational efficiency, cost performance and accuracy.
• Develop strong vendor relationships to ensure high quality of deliverables for continuous cost improvement or value creation initiatives.

Analysis and Reporting

• Assist in managing the process of periodic management reporting on project status (i.e. schedule, costs, activities, opportunities and risks); ensuring full visibility of progress by Management and the Executive Committee.
• Assist in conducting Risk Assessment analysis for RAKEZ projects and ensure any risks and issues are resolved promptly and effectively & Resolutions for major projects.

IT CAPEX Budgets management

• Supporting business stakeholders in CAPEX budget process
• CAPEX budgets preparation for Board approval stewardship
• Managing allocation of IT Projects / Programs / Streams against CAPEX budgets
• Support for tendering process to ensure awarded projects are within budgets.
• CAPEX budgets utilization management and tracking.
• Ensuring that projects are delivered on allocated CAPEX budget.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, & SKILLS:

Educational Qualifications:

• Master degree in Business Management or Bachelor's degree in IT, Project Management, Business Administration or an equivalent degree.
• Project Management Certifications & Accreditation (PMP)

Years of Experience:

• Over 10 years of experience in previous roles with strategy, project management and execution and transformation responsibility.

Other requirements:

• Fluent in English (Arabic is preferred).
• Long term strategic perspective.
• Detail-oriented, efficient and organized.
• Responds well in fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Good communication and influencing skills.
• Strong leadership, negotiation and conflict management skills