MetLife

Location: Virtual, but must be commutable to Cary NC, New York NY, Bridgewater/Whippany, NJ

Employees are to report to the office once a month.

The Team You Will Join

The Enterprise Program Management (EPM) Strategic Programs team you will join is focused on executing top strategic programs to their full value realization. The team is comprised of seasoned professionals who bring connectivity and structure to large-scale change across disciplines and organizations. 

The Opportunity

The Director – Enterprise Program Leader is accountable for delivering full value realization of large, strategic MetLife initiatives through day-to-day program management.  This role is responsible for leading large programs/projects from the planning phase where the business case is approved and funding is secured through implementation and closure where the business benefits are delivered. Throughout this journey, the Program Manager addresses obstacles that impact the successful implementation of the business objectives.  The Program Manager ensures that key stakeholders are working together on shared deliverables and that the sponsors and senior management are constantly informed of the initiative’s progress to plan.

How You’ll Help Us Build a Confident Future (Key Responsibilities)

• Virtual roles work from a home office with periodic visits to the assigned office as needed for team events, meetings, training, business continuity, etc.
• Directs a team of managers responsible for the implementation of MetLife strategic programs and projects to achieve full value realization by delivering benefits, budget and timeline to meet the approved business case.
• Demonstrates management rigor, data-driven decision-making and a spirit of continuous improvement by implementing a practical yet robust program governance framework focused on value delivery through leadership, analysis and insights.
• Integrates workstream milestones into overall program schedule, tracks, and provides reporting at a tactical and executive level.
• Utilizes a practical framework to identify, catalogue, track and manage key dependencies and integration points between major workstreams from planning through execution.
• Identifies, escalates and resolves risks and issues related to scope, schedules and dependencies that threaten the successful delivery of the program benefits, budget and timeline.
• Facilitates continuous communication and dialogue between teams where dependencies and integration points, or the potential for such, exist.
• Fosters an environment of critical thinking, intellectual rigor, collegial challenge and collaboration between major programs and workstreams and creates channels that allow the flow of information to take place easily across program areas.
• Implements rigorous program governance and reporting processes to keep stakeholders informed and engaged
• Identifies variances to schedule, scope, benefit and budget and drives the change control process to ensure that the program remains aligned to business objectives.
• Provides financial and non-financial updates to department leadership regarding program status through reports, status dashboards, scorecards, etc.
• Reports on the progress of all initiatives and milestones, to ensure timeliness and deliverables are met across the program.
• Provides information to end users to help resolve inquiries related to assigned processes, procedures, and/or initiatives.
• Works on basic to more complex financial analyses assignments or projects.
• Identifies program financial trends, issues, and risks, providing guidance to senior leadership.
• Applies strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills to resolve challenges.

What You Need to Succeed (Required Qualifications)

• New hires should live within a commutable distance from the site where the role is posted.
• Bachelor's Degree
• 8- 10+ years program management experience.
• Prior experience with financial and management reporting, including an understanding of financial practices and processes.
• Exceptional, analytical, prioritization and program management skills, including meticulous attention to detail.
• Strong leadership qualities, interpersonal skills and team orientation needed to build partnerships and work successfully across teams.
• Proven experience in complex project planning with the ability to lead and/or simultaneously manage multiple large, complex projects.
• Ability to distill large amounts of data into clear concise formats for easier reporting and analysis.
• Excellent storytelling and executive presentation skills, with demonstrated expertise in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project).
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and working independently to resolve issues with sound judgment, demonstrating excellent problem-solving skills (structuring, analysis, insight generation, actionable implications, and recommendations) and a solution-oriented approach to drive prompt decisions.

What Can Give You an Edge (Additional Skills)

• Consulting experience in program and project management is highly preferred
• PMP certification is highly preferred
• MBA or other advanced degree
• Experience in investments and financial services industries
• Adept at working with distributed, global teams
• Agile/Lean experience
• Strong interpersonal, influence, conflict resolution and negotiation skills