Program Director: Global Banking Modernization - SVP at State Street in Boston, Massachusetts

Job Description:

Job Description:

The program director is responsible for overseeing and delivering a portfolio of projects/releases that involve cross-organizational and/or strategic initiatives. This will role will specifically program direct the global banking modernization program across State Street.   This is a $100m, multi-year complex program which will replace the entire global banking and payments infrastructure to ensure we are able to meet client, regulatory and operational requirements now and in the future.  It is a multi-year, multi release program of work, with extensive transformation across both our technology and operations functions of the organisation.  The program director will be responsible for managing the release leads; functional subject matter experts; technology leads across application development, infrastructure and all testing phases as well as managing two large, significant external third parties, providing key software solutions to the Bank.  They will have ultimate accountability to the two senior sponsors across Operations and Technology and will act as a key leader for achieving company wide strategies that drive efficiency, risk excellence and growth.

Experience:

• Extensive, in-depth relevant experience in program management, including experience of leading multi-year, cross-functional or enterprise-wide programs specifically in global payments / cash programs across both operations and technology functions within a global financial services


• An exceptional understanding of standards-based program management and business analysis practices (Agile/Six-Sigma/Lean), with demonstrable skills in program and project management tools and methodologies


• Strong project planning skills and expertise in large, complex program management, across multiple work-streams; releases and complex data migrations


• Extensive experience in payments / cash operations and/or technology background, must be able to manage and understand both BAU operations and technology teams within a program context


• Capability to initiate, plan, execute, monitor, control and close on multiple cross-organisational projects concurrently, working with multiple project teams; releases with extensive release management techniques


• Able to manage complex payments migrations; understanding complexity of balancing project vs. BAU priorities and multiple instances of the code


• Ability to manage challenging stakeholders, delivery of difficult messages and pro-actively managing effective communication


• Lead and influence global cross-functional teams whose priorities may not always align to the assigned project and reach a shared understanding to ensure progress is maintained


• Exceptional communication skills and relationship management capabilities, able to communicate with all levels of the organisation effectively and across Operations and Technology subject matter experts


• Relevant regulated financial service expertise, ideally within Payments or the broader cash/GL business, with an understanding of challenges of running a large scale Operations and Technology transformation program


• Commercially astute driver able to navigate challenging environments


• Managed cross-border teams based over multiple locations, with strong connectivity to the regulators


• Extensive experience in managing large, complex third parties, who are critical to the success of the program


• Ability to work cross-enterprise to define and prioritize target client and product outcomes and ensure focus on these outcomes is maintained through program delivery


• Demonstrated resiliency and track record of leading high profile and high pressure programs;  passion for finding better ways of working and comfortable challenging even those more senior

Personal Characteristics:

• A smart, challenging and energetic leader, with a passion and deep understanding of program management across Global organisations.


• Need to understand the dynamics of large scale transformation programs, with key operations and technology knowledge across the Payments, Cash and General Ledger of a global bank.


• Additional personal characteristics will include unbound energy, with a gravitas to work with some of the most senior people across the organisation and interfacing with our key regulators.  High intellect, decisiveness and the drive and flexibility to operate in a constant changing environment.


• A risk taker who seeks data and input from others to foresee potential challenges; threats to the program or unintended circumstances and able to head off potential impacts as a result


• A leader, viewed by others has having a high degree of integrity and forethought in making decisions; able to act in a transparent and consistent manner, not afraid to deliver and manage complex and difficult messages