Responsibilities
The Program Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating a portfolio of IT projects within the financial services domain, ensuring alignment with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and technology strategy. This role oversees several Project Managers, provides governance, drives delivery excellence, and ensures that all projects within the program meet scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations.
Program Leadership & Governance:
- Lead a multi-project program consisting of several concurrent IT projects within insurance, or financial technology domains.
- Provide direction, support, and performance management to assigned Project Managers.
- Establish program governance frameworks, reporting structures, and delivery standards.
- Ensure compliance with financial services regulatory requirements (e.g., AML, PCI-DSS, MAS/BNM guidelines depending on region).
Planning & Delivery Management:
- Develop and maintain integrated program plans covering timelines, dependencies, resources, risks, and budgets.
- Monitor project progress and drive corrective actions to address issues, delays, or deviations.
- Coordinate cross-functional delivery teams including business analysts, developers, QA, infrastructure, security, and vendor partners.
- Facilitate decision-making across stakeholders and escalate critical issues as needed.
Stakeholder Engagement:
- Serve as the primary point of contact for senior leadership and business sponsors.
- Present program status, dashboards, financial updates, and risk assessments.
- Build strong relationships with business units, operations, compliance, technology leads, and external vendors.
Risk, Compliance & Quality Assurance:
- Identify, assess, and manage program-level risks, dependencies, and constraints.
- Ensure project deliverables adhere to internal policies, cybersecurity standards, and regulatory expectations.
- Conduct program reviews, retrospectives, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Financial & Resource Management:
- Own program budget planning, forecasting, and cost control.
- Optimize resource allocation across multiple projects.
- Support procurement and vendor management activities, including contract negotiation and performance evaluation.
Requirements
- 15+ years of experience in IT project/program management, 5 years in General and/or Motor Insurance domains with at least 3 years managing Project Managers.
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or related field; Master's degree is a plus.
- Strong understanding of SDLC methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, Hybrid).
- Knowledge of financial systems such as core banking, digital channels, risk management systems, or payment platforms.
- Familiarity with regulatory frameworks and cybersecurity standards in financial services.
- Having certifications in PMP, PgMP, PRINCE2; Agile certifications (CSM, SAFe, PMI-ACP) or ITIL Foundation is preferred
- Excellent leadership and people management skills.
- Strong communication and stakeholder engagement abilities.
- High level of analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capability.
- Ability to thrive in a demanding, fast-paced environment.
