Director of PMO – Insurance & Investments

Job Description: Director of PMO – Insurance & Investments

1. Role Summary

Sets up, leads, and runs the organization's Project Management Office so strategic and operational projects are well governed, planned, carried out, tracked, and delivered.

Covers projects in insurance, investments, corporate operations, technology, digital change, and business development. Makes sure projects land on schedule, on budget, to quality, and in line with company goals, while keeping risk, resourcing, and stakeholder engagement under control.

The hire will raise the bar on project management, strengthen governance, improve delivery, and make sure project results feed growth, efficiency, regulatory compliance, and customer experience.

2. Key Responsibilities

A. PMO Strategy, Leadership & Governance

• Set up, grow, and lead the PMO.
• Decide how the PMO works: its direction, rules, methods, and oversight model.
• Introduce common project processes, tools, templates, and reporting.
• Put in place approval steps, stage gates, escalation routes, and clear accountability.
• Spread good project practice across departments and business units.
• Keep project delivery tied to company strategy.

B. Project Portfolio Management

• Steer the organization's portfolio of projects toward its strategic priorities.
• Assess proposed projects, their business cases, feasibility work, and how much money they need.
• Rank projects by business value, financial effect, risk, and available resources.
• Track dependencies between projects, coordination across departments, and risks at portfolio level.
• Advise senior leaders on which projects come first and how to staff them.
• Follow portfolio results and make sure the expected benefits arrive.

C. Project Planning & Execution

• Keep planning, timetables, budgets, and delivery of strategic projects under control.
• Make sure project managers produce full plans with milestones, outputs, and resource needs.
• Watch progress and spot slippage, delivery problems, and performance gaps.
• Push fixes and escalations so delivery promises are kept.
• Get projects finished within agreed scope, cost, schedule, and quality.
• Line up cross-functional teams so rollouts go smoothly.

D. Insurance & Investment Project Oversight

• Keep watch over insurance projects in operations, underwriting, claims, policy administration, and distribution.
• Where relevant, coordinate investment work such as operations, financial products, portfolio reports, and client service.
• Back regulatory, compliance, risk, and internal-control initiatives.
• Follow work on launching products, entering markets, improving operations, and integrating businesses.
• Make sure project outputs meet the operational and regulatory needs of insurance and financial services.

E. Digital Transformation & Technology Projects

• Supervise change led by technology, for example new core insurance platforms, CRM, ERP, digital channels, and automation.
• Partner with IT, operations, and business teams so rollouts go well.
• Watch tech project budgets, vendor performance, timelines, and quality.
• Support digitization, process automation, data management, and efficiency work.
• Make sure tech projects produce measurable business results.

F. Financial & Resource Management

• Build and track project budgets, forecasts, and spending reports.
• Allocate and use project resources well.
• Watch spending and how it compares with the plan.
• Assess financial risks on projects and suggest ways to control costs.
• Work with Finance and Procurement on funding, contracts, and supplier payments.
• Measure ROI and whether benefits are realized.

G. Risk Management, Compliance & Quality Assurance

• Set up a project risk framework and escalation routes.
• Identify and track risks, issues, dependencies, and constraints on delivery.
• Keep projects within regulation, internal policy, and governance rules.
• Check quality and make sure outputs match the agreed specs.
• Keep paperwork, audit evidence, and management files in order.
• Partner with the risk, legal, compliance, and audit teams.

H. Performance Monitoring & Executive Reporting

• Create the dashboards, reports, and measures leaders use to follow the portfolio.
• Brief executives on status, risks, budget results, and delivery.
• Flag delays, resource limits, and critical dependencies early.
• Track project KPIs and hold project managers accountable.
• Chair project reviews and portfolio governance meetings.
• Suggest ways to improve delivery processes and organizational performance.

I. Stakeholder & Team Management

• Manage and develop the project managers, PMO analysts, and support staff.
• Earn the trust of senior leaders, department heads, sponsors, and outside suppliers.
• Keep communication and coordination flowing across units and teams.
• Grow project skills through training, coaching, and performance management.
• Encourage ownership, teamwork, openness, and continuous improvement.

3. Required Qualifications & Experience

Educational Qualifications

• A bachelor's in business, project management, finance, engineering, IT, or a similar field.
• A master's or MBA in business, project management, finance, or a related area is a plus.

Professional Experience

• 10–15 years of growing experience in project, program, or portfolio management.
• 5+ years as a senior PMO leader or at director level.
• A record of setting up, running, or overhauling a PMO.
• Has overseen complex, organization-wide and cross-functional projects.
• An insurance, banking, financial-services, or investment background is strongly preferred.
• Has managed big portfolios, budgets, resources, and several project teams.
• Exposure to digital, technology, process-improvement, and change programs.

Preferred Certifications

• PMP (Project Management Professional)
• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• MSP (Managing Successful Programs)
• PfMP (Portfolio Management Professional)
• An Agile or Scrum certification
• Lean Six Sigma

Core Competencies

• Leading projects and portfolios strategically.
• Running PMO governance and operations.
• Planning money and managing budgets.
• Weighing risks and fixing problems.
• Talking clearly with leaders and other stakeholders.
• Leading change and transformation.
• Leading and growing a team, and making the call.
• Project tools and reporting systems.

4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Share of projects finished on time and within budget.
• How the whole portfolio performs and how often delivery succeeds.
• Variance against cost and schedule.
• Milestones and strategic goals reached.
• Benefits delivered and ROI.
• How well governance and reporting work.
• How well risks are spotted, reduced, and resolved.
• How efficiently resources are used and allocated.
• Feedback and satisfaction from stakeholders and sponsors.
• How mature the PMO's processes are and how they keep improving.
• Adherence to project standards and regulation.