Head of IT Ops Strategy & Portfolio Mgmt

Company



Munich Re America Services



Location



Princeton
, United States

Head of IT Operations, Strategy and Portfolio Management

Information Technology Business Solutions

We're adding to our diverse team of experts and are looking to hire those who are committed to building a culture that enables the creation of innovative solutions for our business units and clients.

The Company

As a member of Munich Re Specialty - North America (MRSI-NA) operations, we offer the financial strength and stability that comes with being part of the world's preeminent insurance and reinsurance brand. Our risk experts work together to assemble the right mix of products and services to help our clients stay competitive - from traditional reinsurance coverages, to niche and specialty reinsurance and insurance products.

The Opportunity

The Head of IT Operations, Strategy and Portfolio Management will establish a consolidated portfolio management process to identify, analyze and organize IT initiatives so that interdependencies across initiatives and portfolio level execution risks identified and mitigated. She / He is responsible for the planning, oversight and administration of the entire MRSI IT project portfolio. She / He will work primarily with her / his Business and Strategy, GSI Portfolio Management including (CFO of MRS- NA )counterpart as well as several levels of management and staff across IT and business departments to assess, document and budget projects; guide and oversee prioritization and coordinate commencement and plan project resource(s) as necessary.

The Head of IT Operations, Strategy and Portfolio Management will monitor and report on the health of the MRS-NA IT Portfolio; ensure coordination with the change management process and play an integral role in the annual IT budget development process. She / He will develop and implement best practices, processes, and appropriate toolsets for effective portfolio management inclusive of KPIs for operational efficiency.

He/she will be competent in modern cloud technologies and have comprehensive understanding of Portfolio and Program Management, Agile methodologies and ITIL. She / he will manage several project managers and will be charged with establishing the overall program management function for transformation initiatives.

The Head of IT Operations, Strategy and Portfolio Management is a key member of the technology leadership team and reports to the Head of IT Business Solutions of Munich Re Specialty - North America. She / He will work collaboratively with the GSI competencies, GSI transformation, MRS-NA Chief Operations Officer as well as central teams within Munich Re, MRS-NA and GSI organizations. She / He will also work with the Head of Business Solution Architecture and the Head of Business Portfolio Management to ensure appropriate initiative prioritization and impact analysis of business priority, budget; initiative scope, personnel and / or organizational structure changes on the portfolio. The ideal candidate will have strong leadership and negotiation skills while being future focused. She / He must be able to bridge the gap between the traditional waterfall / iterative mindset and the paradigm enabled by agile methodologies. She / He will have been in a similar operating model for minimum three (3) years and be intensely familiar with Agile frameworks and delivery structures necessary to execute against a large portfolio. Aside from certifications (PMP, Agile and ITIL ), certifications practical experience in the delivery space is desired.

Responsibilities

Delivery Excellence:

• Team up with the strategy and business portfolio management to chalk out and prioritize strategic business moves.
  • Work with the team so develop and continue to refine business roadmap
• Operating Model
  • Inside of MRS-NA and GSI
• Collaborate on onboarding, reporting and management processes for the MRS-NA IT portfolio and induct in-flight initiatives
• Identify metrics and key health indicators of portfolio, program and project operations.
• Collaborate with the Business Portfolio Management Lead to qualify, prioritize and optimize inbound initiatives.
• Develop and operate a model to size and prioritize all new IT Development initiatives, as well as establish delivery management controls to deliver business objectives.
• Create the support model and enable processes that will allow transitioning to a DevOps factory model for initiative execution.
  • Work with FinOps
• Identify metrics and create efficient reporting and control processes to enable MRS-NA IT to have full visibility of the portfolio of initiatives with the ability to exercise pre-emptive intervention where necessary
• Participate in and support internal and external application security and compliance audits
• Guiding the overall MRS-NA IT leads with expert advice on enhancements necessary to increase the overall team efficiency
• Drive towards accomplishments of the various 6-blocker objectives (GSI, MRS-NA business and IT)
• Completing special projects and iteratives with skillful oversight and support
• Provide a unified, portfolio level (all entities along with AMS, GSI horizontal competencies) view of IT ready for ELT (executive leadership team) consumption
• Responsible for participation and creating content for various operations and business

Leadership:

• Act as a role model to the team and constantly strive towards organizational improvement.
• Accountable for the management, mentoring and career development of staff including team composition, hiring, motivation, retention and performance management.

Relationship Management:

• Establish connections with global business stakeholders, MRS-NA executives, GSI leadership
• Partner with DevOps and Platform Architecture Teams. Align Delivery teams to the DevOps and Architectural Vision.

Qualifications:

• Outstanding leadership competency with 15+ years of relevant professional management experience in IT related areas as defined above, preferably in a global enterprise.
• Strong decision making skills with demonstrated ability to make implementable decisions quickly and efficiently.
• Possess excellent prioritization, resource planning and management skills as well as proven ability in the identification, assessment and contingency planning and managing for risk factors.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills (both oral and written) with the ability to clearly communicate complex messages to a variety of audiences. The above needs to be coupled with excellent negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated competency in developing and managing complex portfolio plans, timelines, budgets, and critical paths and identification of interdependencies across portfolio of initiatives.
• Detail-oriented with proven ability to adapt to a dynamic environment and oversee multiple projects, manage schedules, resource allocation/planning and maximize work efforts across all teams.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree preferably in engineering / IT or similar background.
• Experience leading a Delivery organization through several Development and Cloud Migration programs.
• Experience in Financial planning, Forecasting and Expense management in an IT environment.
• Knowledge of Product and Project management principles and practices.
• Experience with Agile delivery frameworks (e.g. Scrum, SAFe) coupled with knowledge of DevOps tools, practices and methodologies
• Proven consultative, conflict resolution, negotiation and facilitation skills to gain consensus and ensure delivery of portfolio initiatives.
• An emphatic manager with an ability to mentor several project managers towards successful project outcomes.
• Ability to improve current processes and procedures; present opportunities for change and help implement them for the benefit of the firm.
• Ability to establish connections with global business stakeholders, and build teams that manage internal and external interfaces in a global context
• PMP and Scrum Certification preferred but not required. ITIL certification highly desirable
• High Technical Aptitude in Cloud Technologies with professional level certification on a public Cloud highly desirable.
• The ideal candidate would have Development, Agile Program Management and Architecture experience in equal measure and be comfortable diving deep as needed.

At Munich Re US, we see Diversity and Inclusion as a solution to the challenges and opportunities all around us. Our goal is to foster an inclusive culture and build a workforce that reflects the customers we serve and the communities in which we live and work. We strive to provide a workplace where all of our colleagues feel respected, valued and empowered to achieve their very best every day. We recruit and develop talent with a focus on providing our customers the most innovative products and services.

We are an equal opportunity employer. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.