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Director, IT PMO

Panera Bread Company
  • Newton, MA
  • $155,476–$186,572 Per Year
11 days ago

Job Description

Position Summary

The Director, IT PMO is responsible for leading a centralized Information Technology Project Management Office that governs the enterprise IT portfolio and ensures technology investments are aligned with business strategy, organizational priorities, and available resources. This leader serves as the bridge between business demand, IT capacity, financial investment, and project delivery.

The Director establishes and maintains portfolio governance processes, drives strategic prioritization, facilitates executive decision-making, and provides visibility into project performance, resource utilization, and investment outcomes. The role ensures that IT teams are focused on the highest-value initiatives while balancing operational commitments, capacity constraints, and financial objectives.

This position leads portfolio planning, demand management, resource allocation, project governance, and reporting functions while enabling successful delivery across the IT organization.

Location: Newton, MA moving to Weston, MA in July 2027

Key Responsibilities

IT Portfolio Management

  • Own and manage the enterprise IT project portfolio, ensuring alignment with corporate and IT strategic objectives.
  • Facilitate portfolio prioritization and investment decisions in partnership with IT and business leadership.
  • Establish portfolio management practices that balance strategic initiatives, mandatory projects, operational commitments, and available resources.
  • Maintain visibility into portfolio health, risks, dependencies, funding status, and value realization.
  • Drive quarterly and annual portfolio planning processes.

Strategic Alignment & Governance

  • Establish governance frameworks that ensure projects align with approved business priorities, technology strategy, architecture standards, and funding decisions.
  • Lead project intake, evaluation, and approval processes.
  • Facilitate governance committees and executive steering reviews.
  • Develop decision-making frameworks that support prioritization, funding, and trade-off discussions.
  • Ensure adherence to project management methodologies, stage-gate controls, and governance standards.

Capacity Planning & Resource Management

  • Lead enterprise IT resource planning and capacity management processes.
  • Partner with IT Directors and functional leaders to evaluate resource demand, skills gaps, and allocation needs.
  • Recommend prioritization decisions based on resource availability, business value, risk, and strategic alignment.
  • Drive workforce planning initiatives that support both short-term delivery and long-term strategic objectives.
  • Monitor resource utilization and portfolio capacity metrics.

Portfolio Performance & Reporting

  • Develop executive dashboards and reporting that provide actionable insights into portfolio performance.
  • Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for portfolio health, project delivery, investment effectiveness, and resource utilization.
  • Provide regular portfolio updates to executive leadership, steering committees, and governance forums.
  • Monitor project financials, budget performance, and forecast accuracy.
  • Identify portfolio risks and drive mitigation strategies across projects.

PMO Leadership & Process Excellence

  • Build and lead a high-performing PMO organization consisting of project managers, portfolio analysts, and PMO support resources.
  • Define standards, templates, methodologies, and tools that drive consistency across IT initiatives.
  • Promote best practices in project, program, and portfolio management.
  • Drive continuous improvement of PMO processes, governance frameworks, and reporting capabilities.
  • Champion adoption of project portfolio management tools and data-driven decision-making.

Stakeholder Management

  • Partner closely with business leaders, IT executives, finance, architecture, security, and delivery teams.
  • Facilitate discussions that balance competing priorities and resource demands.
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership regarding portfolio investment decisions and execution risks.
  • Build strong relationships across the enterprise to improve collaboration and transparency.

Leadership Expectations

  • Lead through influence and collaboration across multiple IT and business functions.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and disciplined execution.
  • Promote data-driven decision-making and objective prioritization.
  • Drive organizational alignment around strategic objectives and portfolio commitments.
  • Develop PMO talent and build portfolio management capability across the organization.

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor"s degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, or related field.
  • 10+ years of progressive experience in IT project, program, or portfolio management.
  • 5+ years of leadership experience managing PMO, portfolio management, or enterprise governance functions.
  • Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale project portfolios.
  • Experience with project portfolio management (PPM) tools, resource planning, and financial management processes.
  • Strong knowledge of governance frameworks, project methodologies, and portfolio management practices.
  • Experience presenting to executive leadership and facilitating strategic decision-making.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master"s degree (MBA or related discipline).
  • PMP, PgMP, PfMP, PMI-ACP, SAFe SPC, SAFe LPM, or equivalent certification.
  • Experience implementing Lean Portfolio Management or Agile Portfolio Management practices.
  • Experience leading PMO transformation initiatives.
  • Strong financial planning and investment governance experience.

Success Measures

The Director, IT PMO will be evaluated based on:

  • Alignment of IT investments to strategic priorities.
  • Portfolio delivery predictability and transparency.
  • Resource capacity accuracy and optimization.
  • Governance compliance and adoption.
  • Executive stakeholder satisfaction.
  • Project portfolio health and risk management effectiveness.
  • Budget adherence and investment value realization.
  • Improvement in PMO maturity, reporting quality, and planning discipline.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Disabled/Veterans

Competitive Pay $155,476 - $186,572 annually

Additional Description :

Numbers & Facts

LocationNewton, MA
IndustryFood and Beverage Production
Salary$155,476–$186,572 Per Year
Company Size10,000 employees or more
Year Founded1981
Websitehttps://jobs.panerabread.com/

About Company

We are Panera. We are bakers of bread. We are fresh from the oven.

We are a symbol of warmth and welcome. We are a simple pleasure, honest and genuine. We are a life story told over dinner. We are a long lunch with an old friend. We are your weekday morning ritual. We are the kindest gesture of neighbors. We are home. We are family. We are friends.

In this section, you can:
  • Learn more about our company, including its history and leadership, in the Company Overview section.
  • Review financial news, reports, stock information and other investor resources in the Investor Relations section.
  • Browse our recent press releases, news articles about Panera Bread and various media resources in the Press Room.
  • Find out about the exciting and rewarding Career Opportunities available at Panera Bread.
  • Visit the Franchise Information section to find out more about franchising opportunities with Panera, including qualification criteria and available markets.
  • See how we give back to the neighborhoods we're a part of by visiting the In the Community pages.
  • Tell us about your experience in our bakery-cafes, or just ask us a question in the section.



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