Senior Director, Institutional Initiatives Portfolio Management

Accountabilities

• Lead the planning, coordination, management, and delivery of approved institutional initiatives sponsored by executive leadership, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and intended outcomes.

• Translate strategic vision and desired results into actionable implementation plans, project milestones, deliverables, and resource requirements.

• Partner with executive sponsors and stakeholders across project management, information technology, academic units, and administrative functions to coordinate priorities and facilitate effective decision-making.

• Lead and support a team of experienced project managers, providing oversight of project governance, schedules, resources, risks, dependencies, progress, and outcomes.

• Establish clear project plans, executive-level status reports, presentations, and communication processes to maintain transparency and accountability throughout delivery.

• Collaborate with change management and process improvement leaders to assess business process impacts, stakeholder needs, organizational readiness, and implementation requirements.

• Ensure project-related changes are effectively communicated, adopted, and sustained, while supporting the realization of intended benefits.

• Identify and resolve delivery challenges, manage competing priorities, and maintain momentum across multiple concurrent initiatives.

• Build consensus among diverse stakeholders and ensure effective collaboration between technical and functional teams.

• Provide executive sponsors with clear visibility into project status, emerging risks, decisions required, and overall delivery performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; a master's degree is preferred.

• At least 10 years of demonstrated experience leading a project management team or working within a consulting or Project Management Office (PMO) organization.

• Experience operating in a complex, matrixed environment and collaborating with stakeholders across different organizational levels.

• Strong understanding of project management methodologies, project plans, lifecycle deliverables, executive reporting, and implementation planning.

• Demonstrated ability to translate strategic objectives into structured, actionable plans and manage complex portfolios, programs, or projects.

• Excellent analytical, strategic planning, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.

• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to adapt communication styles to different audiences and seniority levels.

• Proven ability to build consensus, engage diverse teams, and work effectively with technical and functional stakeholders to achieve shared objectives.

• Knowledge of IT project planning and solution development, including defining objectives, planning lifecycle deliverables, assessing resource availability, and evaluating technical solutions.

• At least two years of higher education experience is preferred.

• Seven or more years of experience in a consulting organization is preferred.

• A demonstrated track record of successful portfolio, program, and project management is preferred, particularly supporting senior leadership in higher education, government, or nonprofit organizations.

Benefits

• Annual base salary: USD $220,000–$260,000. This range is published for the position in New York City and may not apply uniformly to other US locations.

• Mostly remote work arrangement: Remote work for more than 60% of the time.

• Full-time employment.

• Compensation offers may consider the scope of responsibilities, relevant experience, education, skills, internal equity, and market conditions.

• The stated salary range covers base pay only and excludes potential incentives, bonuses, or other additional compensation.

• No specific healthcare benefits, retirement plans, paid leave provisions, or additional perks were detailed in the provided posting.