The Program Director contributes to the management of stakeholders within cross-functional initiatives to achieve objectives within defined time and budget constraints. They orchestrate the feasibility and viability of the program, define action plans and milestones, and coordinate the program teams. Their role involves ensuring the organization, direction, and control of the human, material, financial, and technological resources essential to the delivery of one or more large-scale, cross-functional, and highly innovative initiatives. They are responsible for the program master plan and act as the central point of contact for all stakeholders involved in program delivery (sponsor, managers, and contributors). They exercise leadership and influence with senior management, decision-making bodies, and working teams. They represent and commit the company and participate in negotiations with external suppliers.
The client is seeking a Senior Program Director capable of leading large-scale, cross-functional initiatives in data, analytics, and artificial intelligence - not a Project Manager or Portfolio Manager. The role is that of a single point of contact for accountability, coordinating multiple Project Managers under their supervision, on programs valued at $50 million or more annually.
The recurring terms of the mandate - cross-functional, highly innovative, high velocity, multiple organizational interdependencies, and leadership with senior management - indicate that the ability to exert political and strategic influence with decision-making bodies is as important as the delivery process. The delivery area is specific: implementation of AI development tools (Pro-Code, Low-Code, No-Code), organizational transformation, and AI governance within a large enterprise.
The candidate must demonstrate a multi-year track record in large organizations and proven experience managing service providers on a fixed-price basis. A purely technical profile or one strictly focused on IT delivery, without a governance and transformation dimension, does not align with the client's requirements.
Main
Responsibilities:
- Be
responsible for developing the program plan, taking into account the issues,
complexity, stakeholders, and alignment with other programs/projects, while
ensuring consistency with the sponsor's business objectives.
- In
collaboration with the various project managers and contribution managers, be
responsible for deliverables to meet business objectives and achieve benefits,
respecting agreed-upon terms, costs, and deadlines.
- Provide
functional supervision and coordination of internal and external contributors
involved in program delivery. Authorize all requests for changes to resource
allocation and ensure quality control of work and adherence to the governance
and methodology applied within the program.
- Develop
risk analyses, impact assessments, and related strategies, taking into account
various factors to manage the program's risk level.
- Be
responsible for providing a single accountability report and program progress
status updates to the sponsor, steering committee, and other decision-making
bodies.
- Manage
large or multiple initiatives with project managers under their supervision.
Requirements
REQUIRED
- Minimum 10
years of project and program management experience, or equivalent relevant
experience | Required | All requirements
- Strategically
complex programs of $50 million or more per year | Required | All requirements
- Multi-year
project initiatives in large organizations | Required | All requirements
- Management
of fixed-price service providers | Required | All requirements
- High-velocity
delivery projects with multiple organizational interdependencies | Required |
All requirements
- Intermediate
level English | Required | All requirements
DESIRED
- Data,
analytics, and AI delivery domain (Pro-Code, Low-Code, No-Code, use cases) |
List of examples | Sufficient Majority
- Organizational
Transformation and AI Governance in Large Enterprises | Required Combination |
All Required Conditions
ASSET
- PMP, ACP,
and SAFe Certifications | One Opt-In Required | Sufficient Majority
- Note: All
three certifications are designated as assets by the client; having only one
will never lower the score. Intermediate English is listed as required because
it is specified as a required skill in the mandate, but it is validated with
the candidate and is not weighted in the scoring system.
WHAT WE
DON'T WANT
- Sole
Project Manager without experience supervising multiple project managers.
- Portfolio
Manager or PMO without direct accountability for program delivery.
- Profile
whose maximum portfolio managed remains well below $50 million per year.
- Program
Director without exposure to the data, analytics, or AI domains.
- Purely
technical AI profile without a management, governance, and transformation
dimension.
- Candidate
with no history in large organizations, experience limited to small structures.
