DISCLAIMER: Only candidates with permanent Civil Service status in the Computer Systems Manager title, those reachable on the Computer Systems Manager list, or those serving in a comparable civil service title can be considered for this position.
THE AGENCY
The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the future of New York City, working to create thriving and dynamic neighborhoods with access to housing and jobs, resilient infrastructure, and a vibrant public realm. The Department engages communities to develop inclusive plans, expands housing access and economic opportunity, and plans for long-term sustainability.
DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of hundreds of land use applications. The Department also advises on citywide strategic and capital planning, analyzes data, conducts policy analysis, and creates open data and civic engagement tools.
The Department of City Planning offers staff meaningful opportunities to help shape the future of New York City and address some of its most pressing challenges. The Department values public service, collaboration, and creativity, and supports professional development. Learn more about DCP at www.nyc.gov/planning.
THE DIVISION
Information Technology Division’s (ITD) vision is to become a dynamic and vibrant technology delivery organization of the New York City government that leads business transformations and technology innovations to enable citizen-centric smart urban planning, while promoting a culture of collaboration, talent development, and equity. ITD is responsible for developing technology solutions to support agency needs and citywide asks, including City Charter mandates, grant funding requirements, and citywide geospatial services, and maintaining systems infrastructure and endpoint assets, to optimize operational efficiency, promote innovation, and collaborate with other city agencies to enhance service accessibility to citizens. The division provides necessary computing infrastructure and productivity-enhancing technology tools in a hybrid mode (on premise and in the cloud), to support DCP’s interdisciplinary staff across five boroughs, including planners, urban designers, project managers, and executive management. The division is comprised of experienced and talented software engineers, geographic specialists, service engineers, and technology leaders who specialize in managing system infrastructure, cyber security, geospatial data engineering, application services, and portfolio management.
THE ROLE
ITD is seeking a PMP-certified Senior Director of Project Management Office (PMO) to lead and govern project, program, and portfolio management functions across ITD's software application development teams. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Senior Director of PMO will work in close collaboration with the Senior Director of Enterprise Application Services and other ITD Directors to align delivery standards, application lifecycle management (ALM) practices, and organizational capacity toward DCP's strategic goals. This is a senior leadership role requiring a blend of technical acumen in software application development, deep expertise in project and portfolio management disciplines, and proven people management capabilities. The ideal candidate is an experienced PMO leader who can establish and mature governance frameworks, champion Agile and Scrum practices, manage complex vendor and procurement relationships, and provide executive-level visibility into IT portfolio health.
ITD is at the forefront of shaping the city's future, building the digital infrastructure that powers land use review, neighborhood and urban planning, and community development decisions affecting millions of New Yorkers every day. The Senior Director of the Project Management Office will play a pivotal leadership role in driving the successful delivery of transformative technology initiatives across the agency, and is instrumental for the agency to rebuild a mission-driven team modernizing a dynamic application portfolio of critical systems like Geosupport, geospatial services, and new digital capabilities to enable and expedite reforms to deliver affordable housing.
Under general direction, with wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, the responsibilities of the Senior Director of PMO include, but are not limited to, the following:
Strategic Planning
- Perform strategic planning, governance and performance analysis of cross divisional technology programs and projects.
- Translate organizational vision to strategic goals and tactical efforts to identify and prioritize IT engagements.
- Lead inter-agency business process improvement and technology collaboration efforts.
- Implement demand prioritization and governance for IT portfolio management.
- Provide leadership to complex business process re-engineering and system transformation efforts.
- Keep current on agency’s strategic objectives to identify potential opportunities for business process improvements and technology alignment.
- Encourage cross-functional partnerships for business process reengineering.
- Create and maintain strategic partnerships between business needs and technology delivery.
- Benchmark industry best practices, methodologies, frameworks, processes, and tools for organizational adoption.
Portfolio, Program, and Project Governance
- Lead multi-discipline solution teams of highly skilled IT professionals, including certified IT project managers, business analysts, architects, and software developers to plan, implement and support large-scale system implementations across DCP divisions, city agencies, and external stakeholders.
- Lead project portfolio management, coordinate business process re-engineering and performance improvement initiatives, and participate in project execution.
- Define project goals and deliverables that support business objectives in collaboration with stakeholders and senior management, while managing scope, schedule, cost and quality of DCP’s information technology projects as needed.
- Oversee the full Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) process, ensuring consistent adherence to Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) standards across all teams.
- Establish, govern, and continuously improve PMO frameworks, methodologies, standards, templates, and tools covering project, program, and portfolio management functions for software application development activities, system integrations, business process improvement initiatives, and IT infrastructure projects.
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive portfolio dashboard providing real-time visibility into project status, schedule performance, budget utilization, risks, and issues for executive stakeholders.
- Monitor and report on portfolio-level Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), milestones, and delivery metrics.
- Proactively identify and quantify risks and interdependencies and implement effective risk management plans.
- Ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope and budget, and in compliance with agency, city, and regulatory standards.
- Establish demand management processes to evaluate, prioritize, and resource incoming project and work requests in alignment with ITD strategic priorities.
- Develop and revise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) pertaining to high availability, disaster recovery, and systems changes to ensure efficient and consistent operations.
- Promote project management best practices and support adoption of agile principles to deliver iteratively with customer participation.
Agile and Scrum Practice Leadership
- Champion Agile and Scrum methodologies across ITD development teams.
- Define and enforce Agile governance standards including sprint planning, backlog management, velocity tracking, retrospectives, and release planning.
- Collaborate with the ITD Enterprise Application Services (EAS) unit to align development standards, coding practices, and release management workflows with PMO governance and ALM frameworks.
- Introduce and refine tools supporting Agile delivery (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub) and integrate them into portfolio reporting pipelines.
- Drive continuous process improvement in software delivery through adoption of emerging project management methodologies, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
Technical Collaboration and Application Development Standards
- Partner with ITD EAS unit, other directors and technical leads to ensure PMO practices align with application development standards, architecture review processes, and software release practices.
- Apply working knowledge of application development concepts, cloud computing, DevOps practices, and software engineering lifecycle to critically evaluate project plans, timelines, and technical risk.
- Facilitate cross-functional technical working groups to address application architecture decisions, integration challenges, and platform roadmap alignment within the PMO governance structure.
Executive Stakeholder Engagement and Reporting
- Prepare and deliver high-quality executive status reports, briefings, and presentations on portfolio health, program performance, risks, and strategic priorities for the CIO, agency leadership, and external stakeholders.
- Develop and maintain PMO dashboards and scorecards that provide actionable insights for decision-making.
- Maintain strong working relationships with DCP Divisions, OTI, OMB, the NYC Law Department, DCAS, and other city oversight agencies.
- Represent ITD in interagency governance forums, technology working groups, and oversight reviews as needed.
- Prepare and maintain documentation for audits, compliance reviews, and city oversight requirements.
Fiscal, Procurement, Contract, and Vendor Management
- Lead