Director, O&T Governance at Sharp Decisions

The O&T Administration team is responsible for the governance of Operations & Technology portfolio/project management, resource management, and financial management. The team oversees the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC) and associated processes. Several tools are utilized track these efforts. Tools currently in use are Clarity, Jira, Confluence, Miro, SharePoint Online, Power Automate, and Udemy. The team members are super-users of many of these tools, as well as the owners of standards and processes related to their usage.

The O&T Administration Director will be a key member of the team responsible for driving our governance programs, as well as continued use and innovation of the Clarity tool across the O&T organization, including developing a roadmap to guide the organization toward optimal utilization of the tool, and maintaining and updating the processes and procedures to support the optimization of the tool and governance of O&T work. A critical component of this role will be to understand both Agile and Waterfall project management and Clarity from both the user’s and a governance perspective, as we continue our Agile Transformation work. The Director will incorporate the needs of our users, along with reporting, financial, risk and regulatory requirements, into the optimization and utilization of the tool. The Director will mentor the O&T organization and partner with other team leads to streamline methodology and business processes. As a main resource for these business processes, the Director will also have the responsibility of regulatory and audit reporting. Requests from Internal Audit, the external SOC audit and any other requests that are submitted regarding the O&T Portfolio and our governing process will be coordinated by the Director. The Director will also be responsible for identifying opportunities to simplify and automate processes across functional areas (such as O&T Finance, HR, IAM) as they relate to financial, resource and project management within O&T. The O&T Administration Director will lead a staff of 1-2 individuals.

In addition to hands-on Clarity analysis and reporting, the Director will have responsibility for creating consolidated monthly metrics reporting and Archer risk reporting for senior O&T leaders, incorporating information received from the Agile Service Management, O&T Process Management, Product and Finance. The ability to extract data from multiple sources, analyze, consolidate, and automate, is a key function of this role.

Documentation retention for Audit, Risk and Regulatory review is housed in numerous sites in SharePoint. SharePoint Online is our official document repository and the O&T Administration Director will be responsible for maintaining its structure, overseeing its documentation review, and managing the retention time and deletion of expired documents across all O&T Admin and O&T Project Sites. In addition to the oversite of SharePoint Online for documentation, Power Automate is used to capture the required approvals on all SDLC/PDLC documents. The Director will be responsible for maintaining these workflows in Power Automate and creating any new flows deemed advantageous to provide continued automation and process improvement.

Qualifications required:

• 5+ years managing technology projects and/or applications, preferably in a financial services organization
• Experience with Agile and Waterfall methodologies; understanding of governance processes
• 5+ years as an experienced Clarity (or similar project management tool) user, preferably in a financial services organization
• 2+ years experience with SharePoint (preferably SharePoint Online)
• Process analysis and improvement
• Strong leadership skills; able to train and develop the O&T Administration team as well as influence and train all O&T teams on processes and tools
• Ability to work with staff at all levels of the organization
• Excellent communication skills, able to articulate and champion process changes
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Excellent teamwork, stakeholder and relationship management skills, ability to influence beyond direct area of responsibility

Qualifications desired:

• Experience using Clarity, Sharepoint, Power Automate
• Project governance experience within a technology organization; understanding of risk and regulatory requirements for a financial services technology organization
• Ability to develop and deliver effective business presentations and reporting solutions; must possess excellent written communication skills

Essential functions and responsibilities:

• Enhance, Maintain and Support the Toolset - Understand the business and technical aspects of the Clarity tool (others as appropriate) and implement system enhancements and refined processes to best utilize and automate PM/Scrum, RM and delivery functions as well as automated reporting capabilities. Provide excellent customer service, maintenance and support for the tools and processes. Become a SME on the internal tools to support project delivery and provide robust reporting solutions. Create, and ensure periodic maintenance of, documented processes and procedures as well as system implementation and configuration guides.
• Revamp Process and Methodology - Revamp obsolete SDLC and project management methodologies while embracing the client Agile methodology (PDLC). Streamline procedures for maximum efficiency, adoption and utilization across O&T. Fine tune processes to ensure entry and exit criteria for SDLC and PDLC defined stage-gates are met. Structure programs and projects to ensure compliance with defined governance and control standards/requirements through all phases of delivery validated with monthly reporting. Aggregate portfolio and product reporting.
• Evangelize and Ensure Adoption - Evangelize use and functions of the tools across the organization. Ensure adoption and full utilization of the Clarity tool, and SharePoint Online (& PA) and revised methodology. Ensure the O&T Admin team adds value to the organization and partners with PMs/Scrums and RMs, while providing governance and standards; ensure the standards are followed.
• Manage the Book of Work – In conjunction with the O&T Admin team, oversee execution of the O&T book of work to ensure continuous progress to objectives and delivery dates. Provide capacity planning as well as resource forecasting services across the whole of O&T. Implement advanced reporting services for O&T and our business partners we support. Drive data into the system to better ensure reporting accuracy by working with the RMs and PMs/Scrums.
• Cross-functionally Integrate Systems and Process - Identify opportunities to integrate Clarity and SharePoint Online with newer tools such as Jira, Confluence and Miro. Create automated month-end interfaces for Clarity as needed. Optimize Clarity flows and simplify business processes across teams who will utilize data from Clarity (FIN, ERM, O&T, HR, etc.).
• Build and Grow the Team and Offerings - Train, develop and lead the O&T Administration team to manage Clarity, Jira, SharePoint Online, Confluence, Miro and related, mission-critical project/resource management applications within the firm. Grow a team of Clarity and SharePoint Online SME’s and collaborate with O&T teams to continuously evolve and improve the platform, methodologies and tool offerings. Assist O&T teams with assessing their needs, identifying improvements and implementing solutions for improved efficiency.
• Improve Project/Product Sites and Approval Process -Work to continue the improvement of SharePoint Online Site creation and management while ensuring all record retention policies are followed and documentation and approvals are easily accessible for audit and regulatory review. Continue to use SPO and Power Automate to reduce manual process and to provide greater traceability. Automate within the systems/tools where possible.
• Enhance and Automate Reporting – Working within the O&T team, help develop and automate weekly, monthly, and adhoc reporting to include:
• Consistent project status reporting across initiatives
• Provide or oversee presentations for weekly status reports
• Provide presentation for Quarterly Rolling Book of Work
• Provide presentation for Monthly Operations & Technology Portfolio Steering Committee
• Provide Monthly Metrics to address Portfolio health to included both Project/Product and Resource data
• Capacity planning and demand management
• Resource time logging and project tracking

Physical demands and work environment:

Work is generally sedentary in nature, but may require standing and walking. The working environment is generally favorable. Lighting and temperature are adequate, and there are no hazardous or unpleasant conditions caused by noise, dust, etc. Work is generally performed within an office environment, with standard office equipment available.