Project Portfolio Analyst – Contract
Location: North York, ON
Employment Type: Contract 3-6 months, potential extension
Work Model: Hybrid
Rate: 30/hr - 40 hour work week
About the Opportunity
We are currently seeking an experienced Project Portfolio Analyst for a contract opportunity in North York.
This role will provide administrative, financial, resource management and project governance support across a portfolio of business and technology projects. The Project Portfolio Analyst will play an important role within the PMO, supporting project intake, estimation and initiation, project governance and gating, executive reporting, financial management, resource tracking, budgeting, forecasting and project compliance.
The successful candidate will be highly analytical and organized, with strong experience in project controls, financial analysis and PMO environments. This position requires advanced Excel skills and the ability to consolidate and analyze information from multiple sources while managing competing priorities and deadlines.
Key Responsibilities
PMO Administration and Reporting
- Consolidate and complete weekly, monthly, quarterly and ad-hoc project reporting.
- Prepare reporting related to project status, project health, risks, financials and key performance metrics.
- Manage the PMO reporting process and act as a central point of contact for reporting requirements.
- Maintain accurate and timely portfolio and project information.
- Support executive and portfolio-level reporting.
- Manage and maintain the Project Management Information System (PMIS), including Project Online.
- Develop, maintain and report on project and portfolio metrics and KPIs.
- Assist with project analysis and reporting to support portfolio objectives and management decision-making.
Project Portfolio Intake Management
- Receive, document and track new project and initiative requests from multiple business areas.
- Manage the project intake queue and supporting documentation.
- Coordinate project estimation activities with internal technology teams and external vendors.
- Track intake requests and estimates to ensure they are completed within established timelines.
- Consolidate individual estimates into overall Order of Magnitude estimates for new requests.
- Respond to inquiries from requestors and stakeholders throughout the intake process.
- Communicate finalized estimates and related information to appropriate stakeholders.
- Support project initiation and funding processes.
Project Governance and Controls
- Act as a central point of communication for project governance, project controls and project gating activities.
- Support and administer project governance processes across the portfolio.
- Perform periodic project audits to ensure adherence to PMO standards, processes and documentation requirements.
- Maintain project artifact requirements and completion tracking.
- Monitor project compliance and follow up on outstanding documentation or governance requirements.
- Manage consolidated project reporting, KPIs and performance metrics.
- Support project budget, forecast and financial reporting.
- Track Statements of Work, invoices, project change requests and approvals.
- Support project gating and approval requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
Project Financial Management
- Assist with project and portfolio budgeting, forecasting and financial tracking.
- Maintain project financial information and support the development of consolidated PMO budgets.
- Track project forecasts, actuals, expenses and financial variances.
- Investigate project financial issues and work with appropriate stakeholders to resolve or escalate concerns.
- Partner with Finance, project teams and business stakeholders to obtain and consolidate required financial information.
- Provide detailed project financial information to support forecasting and the tracking of capitalization and amortization.
- Manage project invoice authorization, reconciliation, tracking and approval processes.
- Support financial governance activities and periodic audits.
- Manage funding requests, including seed funding, business cases and additional funding requirements.
- Assist Project Managers with the preparation and maintenance of project budgets.
- Maintain accurate financial records across multiple projects.
Project Resource Management
- Maintain project and program resource models.
- Track resource allocations, utilization and time reporting across projects.
- Prepare resource utilization reports and identify potential gaps or issues.
- Support resource planning and forecasting based on upcoming project requirements.
- Assist with forecasting future resource needs using project and business metrics.
- Perform periodic time-tracking, reporting and governance audits.
- Reconcile resource time reporting against project financial and invoice information where required.
Stakeholder Management
- Work closely with Project Managers, Portfolio Management, Finance, technology teams, business stakeholders and external partners.
- Coordinate the collection and consolidation of information required for portfolio reporting and analysis.
- Respond to stakeholder inquiries related to project intake, governance, financials, resourcing and reporting.
- Follow up proactively with stakeholders to ensure deadlines and PMO requirements are met.
- Build effective working relationships across business and technology teams.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in a Project Control, Project Analyst, Portfolio Analyst, Financial Analyst or similar role, preferably supporting a PMO or project environment.
- University degree in Business, Finance or a related discipline, or equivalent financial/project management experience.
- Strong experience supporting project financial management, budgeting, forecasting and reporting.
- Experience working with large projects and/or multiple concurrent projects.
- Strong understanding of project governance and project control processes.
- Experience consolidating project information and preparing portfolio-level reports and metrics.
- Demonstrated ability to work with large volumes of financial, project and resource data.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
- Ability to integrate information from multiple sources and apply it to business analysis, project reporting and strategic objectives.
- Excellent organization, follow-up and priority-setting skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines in a changing environment.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy.
- Ability to work effectively both independently and within a team.
- Proactive, highly motivated approach with the ability to take ownership and drive activities to completion.
- Strong customer service and stakeholder management skills.
Advanced Excel Skills
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills are a key requirement for this position. Candidates should have hands-on experience working with and manipulating large datasets, including:
- Advanced formulas and functions
- PivotTables
- VLOOKUP and other lookup functions
- Data manipulation and reconciliation
- Financial and project reporting
- Large-volume data analysis
Experience developing or working with Excel macros would be a strong asset.
PMO Systems and Tools
The successful candidate should have experience working with project and collaboration tools in a PMO environment.
Experience in the following areas is highly valued:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Project Online / PMIS tools
- Microsoft SharePoint, including administration or management within a PMO
- Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tools
- Project financial and resource tracking systems
Experience administering or supporting a PPM tool within a PMO environment would be considered an asset.
Additional Assets
The following qualifications would be considered assets:
- PMP certification
- Accounting designation
- Knowledge of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
- Knowledge of the Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC)
- Advanced Excel macro development experience
- Experience administering SharePoint for a Project Management Office
- Experience with Project Online or other Project Portfolio Management tools
- Experience supporting technology and systems implementation projects
