Senior Project Governance & Delivery Lead (PMO) | Financial Services | Paris | Hybrid
4 days ago
Paris
Senior Project Governance & Delivery Lead (PMO) | Financial Services | Paris | Hybrid Location: Paris, France Working Model: Hybrid – 8 days per month onsite in Paris, remainder remote Contract: Freelance / Contract Sector: Financial Services The Opportunity We are looking for an experienced Senior Project Governance & Delivery Lead (PMO) to join a major strategic initiative within a leading financial services organisation. This is not a traditional administrative PMO role. We are looking for a senior, delivery-focused professional who can operate at the centre of a complex project, bringing structure, governance, visibility and momentum across multiple workstreams and stakeholders. You will work closely with Project and Programme leadership, Product Owners, senior management, business stakeholders and external participants to ensure that priorities remain aligned, critical issues are identified early, dependencies are actively managed and key decisions are driven through to closure. A major part of the role will be providing senior management with a clear and accurate view of the project: where delivery stands, what is on the critical path, what is at risk, what decisions are required and where intervention is needed. Key Responsibilities Project Governance & Coordination • Provide senior-level project coordination and ad hoc governance across multiple internal and external stakeholders., • Maintain the central project cockpit, providing visibility across planning, milestones, dependencies, workload and escalations., • Coordinate activities across multiple workstreams and ensure clear ownership of deliverables and actions., • Ensure appropriate governance is in place to support effective and timely delivery., • Maintain momentum across the project and proactively address areas where progress is beginning to drift., • Identify potential scope, timeline, resource or delivery issues at an early stage and ensure they are appropriately addressed or escalated. Planning, Milestones & Critical Path • Maintain an integrated view of project plans, key milestones and dependencies., • Work closely with workstream leads to understand progress, upcoming deliverables and potential blockers., • Identify activities and issues sitting on the critical path and ensure they receive appropriate attention., • Coordinate dependencies between workstreams, internal teams, external stakeholders and related initiatives., • Provide project leadership with an accurate and current view of overall delivery health. Business Backlog & Prioritisation • Work closely with Product Owners and project stakeholders to maintain and prioritise the business backlog., • Ensure priorities are clearly understood and aligned with overall project objectives., • Support discussions around sequencing, competing priorities and dependencies., • Highlight backlog items that could impact key milestones or project deliverables., • Help maintain alignment between business priorities and project delivery. RAID & Dependency Management • Maintain and actively manage Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies (RAID)., • Ensure risks and issues have clearly documented owners, mitigation actions and target dates., • Identify and communicate critical issues that could impact the successful delivery of the project., • Proactively follow up mitigation actions and challenge owners where progress is insufficient., • Ensure material risks, issues and dependencies are escalated through the appropriate governance channels. Executive Project Reporting • Prepare and issue high-quality project status reporting at the agreed frequency and format., • Consolidate information from multiple workstreams into clear, concise and meaningful management reporting., • Translate complex project information into executive-level messages., • Clearly communicate achievements, milestones, risks, dependencies, decisions and areas requiring management attention., • Ensure reporting provides insight and supports decision-making rather than simply presenting project data. Senior Steering Committees • Organise, prepare and support internal and external senior Steering Committees., • Coordinate contributions from project stakeholders and workstream leads., • Prepare high-quality Steering Committee packs, presentations and supporting materials., • Ensure key messages, risks, issues, decisions and recommendations are clearly articulated., • Capture decisions and actions and drive these through to completion., • Ensure Steering Committees are focused on the areas requiring senior management decisions or intervention. Decision Management • Frame and document decision options for project sponsors, senior management and Steering Committees., • Clearly articulate the risks, implications, dependencies and trade-offs associated with different options., • Maintain appropriate decision logs., • Ensure agreed decisions are communicated to relevant stakeholders., • Track decisions and associated actions through to implementation and closure. Working Meetings & Action Management • Organise and support key project working groups and stakeholder meetings., • Prepare agendas, meeting packs and supporting documentation., • Produce clear and concise minutes capturing decisions, actions, owners and deadlines., • Proactively follow up outstanding actions and commitments., • Escalate overdue or critical actions where required. Strategic Project Communication • Strengthen strategic project communication across internal stakeholders and external participants., • Ensure stakeholders have a clear understanding of project priorities, progress, risks and upcoming activities., • Tailor communication appropriately for delivery teams, Product Owners, senior management and external stakeholders., • Help establish a consistent project narrative across different workstreams and stakeholder groups., • Ensure important issues and decisions are communicated at the right level and at the right time. Delivery Drive & Stakeholder Alignment • Act as a central coordination point across the project., • Sustain momentum and alignment across multiple workstreams and stakeholder groups., • Proactively identify areas of misalignment, ambiguity or delivery drift., • Challenge stakeholders constructively where commitments, milestones or actions are at risk., • Bring structure and clarity to complex delivery situations., • Help ensure that decisions translate into actions and that actions translate into measurable progress. What We Are Looking For We are looking for a genuinely senior PMO / Project Governance professional who has operated within complex transformation environments. You should have: • Strong experience as a Senior PMO, PMO Lead, Project Governance Lead, Programme Governance Lead, Programme Office Lead or similar., • Proven experience supporting large, complex projects or programmes involving multiple workstreams., • Strong project and programme governance expertise., • Demonstrable experience preparing and supporting senior Steering Committees and executive governance forums., • Excellent executive-level project reporting and presentation skills., • Strong experience managing RAID, dependencies, milestones, critical-path activities and escalations., • Experience establishing or maintaining project/programme cockpits and integrated delivery views., • Strong understanding of project planning, governance and delivery controls., • Experience identifying delivery risks early and driving appropriate mitigation and escalation., • Experience preparing decision options and recommendations for senior stakeholders., • Strong action and decision management capabilities., • Experience coordinating multiple internal and external stakeholder groups., • Confidence working with and constructively challenging senior stakeholders., • Experience working alongside Product Owners and managing/prioritising business backlogs., • Excellent organisational, communication and stakeholder-management skills., • Ability to operate effectively in complex environments with multiple competing priorities. Financial Services Experience Previous experience within banking, financial services or another highly regulated environment is strongly preferred. Experience within areas such as the following would be particularly valuable: • Banking / Financial Services, • Securities / Post-Trade, • Financial Market Infrastructure, • Payments, • Regulatory or transformation programmes, • Large-scale business and technology change, • Complex multi-party or cross-organisational initiatives The Person This role requires someone considerably more senior and proactive than a traditional PMO analyst. You should be comfortable moving between detailed project delivery and the strategic view required by senior management. You will need to be able to quickly understand: • What is on track and what is beginning to slip, • What sits on the critical path, • Which dependencies require intervention, • Which risks require escalation, • What decisions need to be made, • Who owns the next action, • What senior management needs to know, • Where scope, timeline or resourcing is beginning to drift You will be proactive, structured, delivery-focused and confident operating with senior stakeholders. This is not a position for someone who simply collects updates and produces reports. We are looking for someone who uses governance, communication and stakeholder engagement to drive the project forward, accelerate decision-making and maintain alignment across the organisation. Location & Hybrid Working The role is based in Paris, France and operates on a hybrid working model. 8 days per month onsite in the Paris office are required, with the remainder of the assignment delivered remotely. Candidates must be able to commit to the Paris onsite requirement.