Senior Project Leader
Context of the mission / Objective(s) of the job
The candidate will work within the Life Information Systems division. This group is responsible for all Life product related developments of underwriting applications and claims management systems. Our main partner is BNPPF. The applications are developed based on a Microfocus mainframe emulator in Windows (programming language Cobol/Mix Cobol+.NET), with various technologies used on the frontend (.Net, CRM), printing, Integration and communication side. As large part of our portfolio for the upcoming years consists of project activities, we need to enforce our project leading capabilities.
We are looking for an open minded and solution driven candidate with strong leadership skills as he will need to coop with firm timelines and bring people together from several teams.
Mission period
Expected Start date: Asap
Duration: 12 months (extension is possible)
Language requirement
| Language | Speaking | Reading | Writing | Mandatory | Preferable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 2 | 2 | 2 | X | |
| Dutch | 3/1 | 3/1 | 3/1 | X* | |
| French | 3/1 | 3/1 | 3/1 | X* |
1 = Basic – 2 = Good – 3 = Fluent
Dutch and/or French (One Fluent, the second one can be Basic)
Localisation
Brussels centre 2 days/week and 3 days/week on teleworking
Level of education required
Master in Engineering, Computer Sciences, Sciences … or equivalent
Required Knowledge and Experience
Personal Skills (soft skills – intangible qualities or traits that enhance our interactions)
Mandatory
• Good communication skills (be able to adapt the communication depending on the audience)
• Methodical, structured and pro-active
• Self-driving
• Result oriented with attention for quality and details
• Dynamic, analytic, synthetic
• Quick learner
• Client oriented
Preferable
• To the point
• Strong active listening skills
Business experience required (work experience)
Mandatory – Senior (10 Years)
• Confirmed experience in managing IT projects (on application side).
During the interview you will be requested to show and discuss project management activities from the past.
• Several projects with more than 1000 Mandays
• Insurance service experience
Preferable
• DWH experience
Technical experience required (hard skills related to physical or digital tools)
Mandatory
• Microsoft Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Functional experience required (job experience in particular industry and in particular function)
Mandatory
• Prince-2 project management methodology
• Experience on waterfall methodology (on Agile/scrum is a plus)
Preferable
• Test management principles
• Business analyst
Objective of the job
In this context the mission of the candidate project leader will be to drive many different projects in many different technologies.
We expect the project leader to:
• Organize project governance (timing before full autonomy: 1 month) (stakeholders, resources, external dependencies, communication plan…)
o Description
▪ Determine project stakeholder and document it explicitly
▪ Set up the steering committee and get the involvement of every member.
▪ Set up the communication plan defining the different decisional platforms and the expected reports
o Minimal expected outputs
▪ Stakeholders matrix
▪ Communication plan
• Manage and challenge business requirements (timing before full autonomy: 1 month)
o Description
▪ Together with the architects and the business, determine the best scope for the project (balance value/cost/timing)
▪ Identify opportunities
▪ Challenge the business to avoid over-engineering
▪ Keep a trace of open points and the related decisions/actions
o Minimal expected outputs
▪ Open point log
▪ High-level presentation with project goals and business case
• Coordinate architecture activities and outputs (timing before full autonomy: 1 month)
o Description
▪ Identify clearly with the architect the expected outputs and the related milestones
o Minimal expected outputs
▪ Architecture detailed planning
• Set-up project budget and roadmap (timing before full autonomy: 1 month)
o Description
▪ Set-up the product breakdown structure
▪ Consolidate project budget thanks to detailed work packages estimations.
▪ Plan every phase of the project
o Minimal expected outputs
▪ Project roadmap
▪ Work-packages detailed plan
▪ Project budget forecast in our administration tool
▪ Project test plan
• Follow progress of the developments
• Report on progress, timing, scope, quality and budget to the client and the senior managers (timing before full autonomy: 1 month)
o Description
▪ Determine suitable reporting periodicity
▪ Report on progress
▪ Report on timing
▪ Report on scope
▪ Report on quality
▪ Report on budget
o Minimal expected outputs
▪ Highlight Report (existing template)
• Anticipate risks and issues and propose actions to tackle them (timing before full autonomy: immediately)
o Description
▪ Proactively manage risk and issue on the project (scope, budget, timing, quality)
▪ Set-up and communicate action plan for each risk or issue
▪ Drive the project to the objectives
o Minimal expected outputs
▪ Risk/Issue/Action log
• Communicate pro-actively to all stakeholders of the project (timing before full autonomy: immediately)
o Description
▪ Implement the communication plan
▪ Take initiatives to communicate outside the communication plan when needed.
▪ Ensure everyone has the level of information he needs when he needs it.
• Stimulate the project teams
o Description
▪ Get every project team member involved.
▪ Stimulate the collaboration between teams and people
▪ Encourage initiatives
▪ Allow each team member to develop their skills.
