The Senior Director, Institutional Initiatives Portfolio Management, serves as the University PMO’s lead implementation partner for initiatives sponsored by the President's Office, Provost's Office, and possibly other senior university leaders. While university leadership establishes strategic priorities, desired outcomes and determines what the institution seeks to accomplish, this role is responsible for helping define the plan and help determine how those priorities can be successfully implemented across the university. Working at the intersection of consulting, technology, process improvement, organizational change, and execution, the Senior Director partners with executive leaders to assess opportunities, help define implementation approaches, evaluate alternatives, and develop actionable plans. Through a consultative and facilitative approach, this role helps leaders understand the potential implications, benefits, risks, organizational impacts, resource requirements, and trade-offs associated with various implementation options, enabling informed decision-making. To help develop implementation recommendations and approaches, the Senior Director engages stakeholders across the university, researches leading practices, assesses how peer institutions and other organizations have addressed similar challenges, facilitates cross-functional discussions, and evaluates impacts across people, process, technology, governance, service delivery, and organizational structures. The role serves as a connector across the institution, bringing together expertise from Information Technology, Finance, Human Resources, schools, administrative units, and other functional areas to identify practical, sustainable solutions that align with the strategic objectives of the President and Provost Offices. A critical component of this role is partnering closely with peers across the PMO, including Change Management and Process Improvement leaders, to assess organizational readiness, business process implications, stakeholder impacts, adoption considerations, and opportunities for operational improvement. The Senior Director leverages these partnerships to ensure implementation recommendations address not only project delivery requirements but also the broader organizational changes necessary to achieve desired outcomes and sustain long-term value. The role also works closely with Information Technology leadership and university technical teams whenever initiatives involve technology-enabled solutions, systems, data, integrations, digital capabilities, or technology investments. In these situations, the Senior Director serves as the bridge between executive stakeholders and technology teams, ensuring solution options are fully evaluated, technology implications are understood, and implementation efforts remain coordinated and aligned with institutional technology standards and priorities. The Senior Director also assumes responsibility for overseeing the project and the desired outcomes for all approved projects coming from the President and Provost Offices. This includes leading a team of experienced project managers and partnering with PMO colleagues and university stakeholders to establish implementation plans, governance structures, priorities, timelines, and success measures. The role provides ongoing leadership throughout execution by managing risks, resolving issues, facilitating decision-making, coordinating stakeholders, monitoring progress, and ensuring leaders have visibility into status, challenges, dependencies, and expected outcomes. Success in this role requires a unique combination of consulting, facilitation, critical thinking, problem-solving, relationship management, and execution skills. The ideal candidate can effectively move between executive discussions about future-state possibilities and the practical realities of implementation, helping university leaders transform strategic priorities and vision into successful and sustainable outcomes and roadmaps.
