Director, Strategic Programs & Projects

Job Title

Director, Strategic Programs & Projects

Job Description Summary

The Director, Strategic Programs & Projects is responsible for leading the strategic project and program management function, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery across a portfolio of complex, cross-functional initiatives. This role provides leadership, oversight, and development for Program Managers, Senior Project Managers, Project Managers, and associated delivery resources while establishing scalable governance, delivery standards, resource strategies, and operating models that translate executive priorities into measurable business outcomes.

Operating as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, the Director drives portfolio execution, enables organizational agility, and provides leadership with clear visibility into progress, risks, financial health, resource capacity, and strategic outcomes. This role is accountable for PMO maturity, delivery excellence, staffing strategy, talent development, portfolio governance, executive reporting, and strategic initiative execution. The Director serves as the escalation point for critical initiatives and acts as a rapid-response leader for urgent executive-sponsored efforts, creating structure, governance, and momentum until long-term ownership is established. This position balances strategic thinking with operational rigor to ensure the organization can effectively execute its highest-priority initiatives.

Job Description

Responsibilities:

• Own delivery health and oversight for a portfolio of strategic programs and projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives, executive priorities, customer commitments, and defined success criteria.
• Translate executive priorities into executable roadmaps, delivery strategies, governance models, and resource plans that drive measurable business outcomes.
• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve project and program management methodologies, governance frameworks, operating rhythms, templates, reporting standards, and best practices across the PMO.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop Program Managers, Senior Project Managers, Project Managers, and other delivery resources, establishing a high-performance culture focused on accountability, execution excellence, and continuous growth.
• Drive talent planning, workforce development, succession planning, performance management, and career progression strategies for the project management organization.
• Provide strategic guidance and support to program and project leaders by helping navigate complexity, mitigate risks, resolve stakeholder conflicts, and overcome delivery challenges.
• Monitor and proactively manage portfolio-level risks, dependencies, resource constraints, and cross-functional impacts; develop mitigation plans and escalate issues requiring executive attention.
• Lead portfolio resource planning, staffing strategy, utilization management, capacity forecasting, and budget planning to align talent with strategic business priorities.
• Evaluate project demand and prioritize resource allocation decisions to maximize organizational effectiveness and delivery success.
• Own executive-level portfolio reporting by synthesizing complex program information into clear, decision-ready insights regarding status, risks, financials, resource needs, critical path activities, and strategic outcomes.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive sponsors and senior leadership by framing options, trade-offs, risks, recommendations, and investment decisions.
• Lead resolution of the most complex cross-functional risks, issues, conflicts, and escalations to protect business outcomes and maintain delivery momentum.
• Act as a rapid-response leader for urgent executive initiatives by establishing governance, defining delivery frameworks, facilitating stakeholder alignment, and accelerating execution until dedicated resources are assigned.
• Champion enterprise-wide initiatives, business transformations, M&A integration efforts, organizational change programs, and new capability launches spanning multiple business functions.
• Drive adoption of AI-enabled tools, delivery automation, portfolio analytics, and modern delivery practices that improve visibility, efficiency, quality, and decision-making.
• Represent the PMO and strategic delivery organization in executive forums and planning discussions, providing recommendations on portfolio prioritization, resource investments, organizational readiness, and execution strategy.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree is required, MBA is preferred.
• 12-15 years of progressive project, program, portfolio management, or management consulting experience leading complex, enterprise-wide, cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience working within a Big Four consulting firm, global management consulting organization, professional services firm, or complex matrixed enterprise strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of commercial real estate, professional services, or service-based delivery organizations preferred.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience managing Program Managers, Project Managers, consulting teams, or PMO organizations.
• PMP, PgMP, Prosci, Agile/Scrum, or comparable certifications strongly preferred.
• Proven experience leading PMO functions, strategic delivery organizations, consulting practices, or enterprise program management teams.
• Demonstrated success managing a portfolio of concurrent strategic initiatives with accountability for governance, staffing, financial management, executive communication, and outcomes.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to influence senior leaders, executive sponsors, and cross-functional stakeholders in complex environments.
• Experience building resource forecasts, workforce plans, capacity models, staffing strategies, and budget recommendations aligned to business needs.
• Proven success leading organizational transformations, operating model changes, mergers and acquisitions, business integrations, or strategic growth initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly assess ambiguous business situations, establish structure, and mobilize teams to drive execution.
• Experience with portfolio governance, risk management, organizational change management, and executive reporting.

Skills (and Experience Level):

• Strategic Portfolio Leadership – Expert. Aligns investments, priorities, resources, and delivery strategies to enterprise objectives.
• PMO Leadership & Operational Excellence – Expert. Builds scalable governance, delivery frameworks, quality standards, and operating models.
• People Leadership & Talent Development – Expert. Develops high-performing teams, future leaders, and succession pipelines.
• Executive Communication & Strategic Message Distillation – Expert. Converts complexity into concise, decision-ready insight.
• Resource Planning & Capacity Management – Expert. Optimizes staffing, utilization, workforce planning, and forecasting.
• Program & Portfolio Governance – Expert. Establishes controls, accountability mechanisms, and delivery disciplines.
• Risk, Issue & Escalation Management – Expert. Anticipates systemic risks and drives resolution across organizations.
• Stakeholder Influence & Executive Presence – Expert. Builds consensus and alignment across senior leadership teams.
• Financial Planning & Portfolio Management – Advanced/Expert. Oversees budgeting, forecasting, resource investments, and portfolio financial health.
• Transformation & Change Leadership – Advanced/Expert. Leads organizations through ambiguity, change, and evolving strategic priorities.
• Tools – Expert. Smartsheet, Microsoft 365, portfolio management platforms, and AI-enabled productivity, reporting, and analytics tools.

Characteristics:

• Strategic operator. Balances long-term thinking with disciplined execution.
• Talent multiplier. Invests in people, develops leadership capability, and raises performance across teams.
• Enterprise problem-solver. Creates structure and momentum in ambiguous, high-stakes situations.
• Trusted advisor. Influences executive decision-making through sound judgment and data-driven recommendations.
• Proactive risk manager. Anticipates issues before they become business problems.
• Operationally rigorous. Holds a consistently high bar for delivery quality, governance, and accountability.
• Adaptive leader. Effectively shifts between coaching, directing, escalating, and personally intervening when required.
• Builder and firefighter. Equally effective at scaling long-term capabilities and stabilizing urgent executive priorities.
• Accountability-driven. Holds self and others responsible for commitments and outcomes.
• In-demand leader. Executives and sponsors actively seek this leader to launch, recover, and accelerate the organization's most critical strategic initiatives.

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