Job Summary: The Director of the Program Management Office will be a pivotal leader responsible for establishing, maturing, and overseeing program and project management best practices and teams across the Operations and Engineering departments. This role will drive strategic alignment, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure the successful delivery of critical initiatives across IT, Cybersecurity, Operations, Content Engineering, Digital and Broadcast Engineering teams. The ideal candidate is a highly experienced and strategic PMO leader with a proven track record in a media or technology-driven environment, possessing exceptional communication, organizational, and leadership skills.
Key Responsibilities:
PMO Strategy & Leadership:
Define, implement, and continuously refine the PMO strategy, methodologies, processes, and tools tailored to the unique needs of a media engineering department.
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of program and project managers, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and high performance.
Act as a strategic partner to the Technology and other senior leaders, providing insights and recommendations on portfolio health, resource allocation, and project prioritization.
Direct project managers and assign projects as necessary.
Serve as a PM for occasional projects which require cross-department coordination or are high-profile in nature.
Program & Project Governance:
Establish and enforce consistent project management standards, templates, and procedures across all engineering teams.
Develop and maintain a comprehensive portfolio roadmap, ensuring alignment with organizational strategic objectives and business priorities.
Implement robust governance frameworks for project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure.
Collaborate with department leaders to aggregate and prioritize a list of capital and operating-related projects based on the company’s strategic plan.
Work with Technology leaders to identify cost and resource requirements for each proposed project.
Map out timing for projects, based on prioritization and resource availability.
Work with department leaders to develop a business case and capital budget requests for proposed projects to submit to leadership for approvals.
Manage and communicate all project prioritization changes to Senior Management and key stakeholders.
Aggregate and maintain a Capital Expenditure planning tool, so that capital projects can be tracked against it.
Aggregate and maintain cost estimates in a capital planning tool.
Track all approved capital project budgets (as managed by the individual Project PMs) against the approved capital plan.
Track all projects against budgeted timelines.
Delivery Excellence:
Oversee the successful planning and execution of a diverse portfolio of projects, including, but not limited to, IT infrastructure upgrades, cybersecurity enhancements, content delivery platform development and broadcast system implementations.
Proactively identify and mitigate project risks and issues, developing contingency plans and escalating as necessary.
Ensure effective resource planning and allocation across projects, optimizing utilization and managing capacity constraints.
Drive a culture of data-driven decision-making, leveraging project metrics and analytics to track performance and identify areas for improvement for both the PMO and partner teams.
Stakeholder Management & Communication:
Build strong relationships with key stakeholders across Engineering (IT, Cybersecurity, Content Engineering, Broadcast Engineering), Product, Operations, and other business units.
Facilitate executive-level portfolio reviews, providing transparent reporting on project status, risks, and dependencies.
As part of a program status report, aggregate high-level project status from project managers and/or project leads, including scope, budget, risks and issues, and key milestones, to distribute to appropriate leadership team members and key Stakeholders.
Work closely with Financial Planning and Accounting teams to manage tracking and reporting of project budgets and timelines.
Develop and execute effective communication plans to ensure all stakeholders are informed of project progress, changes, and impacts.
Facilitate cross-functional collaboration, ensuring seamless integration and handoffs between teams.
Continuous Improvement:
Champion a culture of continuous learning and process optimization within the PMO and across the Engineering departments.
Stay abreast of industry best practices in project and program management, particularly within media and technology sectors, and introduce relevant innovations.
Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field.
PMP (Project Management Professional) or PgMP (Program Management Professional) certification required. Other relevant certifications (e.g., Agile Scrum Master, SAFe) are a plus.
10+ years of progressive experience in project and program management, with at least 5 years in a leadership role establishing and running a PMO.
Demonstrated experience managing complex technology projects within a media, entertainment, or similar fast-paced industry.
In-depth understanding of the various facets of an engineering department, including IT infrastructure, cybersecurity principles, content workflows, and broadcast/media production technologies.
Proven ability to implement and mature PMO methodologies (e.g., Waterfall, Agile, Hybrid) and project management tools (e.g., Jira, Asana, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet).
Exceptional leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a data-driven approach.
Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels.
Ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with large-scale digital transformation initiatives.
Familiarity with media asset management (MAM) systems, content delivery networks (CDNs), and broadcast technologies.
Experience in a highly regulated or security-conscious environment.
Allen Media Group is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to these characteristics. We are dedicated to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination.
