Marketing and Consumer Solutions, Senior Manager, Program Management

Manages a team of consultants and performs hands-on work on complex projects with business and IT partners in an agile methodology and work style. Hands-on work will include developing, reviewing, and advising on logical solutions and architecture. Primary focus is marketing and consumer experience, but a broad knowledge of health plan functions and business architecture is a strong plus. Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Job Summary:

Manages the delivery of large-scale programs or components with multiple workstreams and strategic business goals across departments, functions, or regions with responsibility and accountability for achieving program outcomes from initiation to close-out in an extended or open-ended time frame. Manages programs team(s) members, holding them accountable for results, and provides guidance regarding internal and/or external resource requests. Proactively monitors, identifies, and mitigates risks, issues, and trigger events across multiple interdependent programs by developing mitigation plans and strategies. Manages compliance of program activities by ensuring program plans and team members adhere to relevant policies and procedures. Ensures the alignment, buy-in, engagement, and support of diverse program stakeholders. Manages vendor performance, provides guidance for service improvements, and manages relationships and contract negotiations with vendors.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Creates and advocates for developmental opportunities for others; builds collaborative, cross-functional relationships. Solicits and acts on performance feedback; works with leaders and employees to set goals and provide open feedback and coaching to drive performance improvement. Pursues professional growth; hires, trains, and develops talent for growth opportunities; strategically evaluates talent for succession planning; sets performance management guidelines and expectations across teams / units. Oversees implementation, adapts, and stays up to date with organizational change, challenges, feedback, best practices, processes, and industry trends; shares best practices within and across teams. Fosters open dialogue amongst team members, engages, motivates, and promotes collaboration within and across teams; motivates teams to meet business objectives. Delegates tasks and decisions as appropriate; provides appropriate support, guidance and scope; encourages development and consideration of options in decision making; fosters access to stakeholders.
• Manages designated units or teams by translating business plans into tactical action items; oversees the completion of work assignments and identifies opportunities for improvement; ensures all policies and procedures are followed; partners with key stakeholders and business leaders to ensure products and / or services meet requirements and expectations while aligning with departmental strategies. Aligns team efforts; builds accountability for and measuring progress in achieving results; assumes responsibility for decision making; fosters direct reports to resolve escalated issues as appropriate. Communicates goals and objectives; incorporates resources, costs, and forecasts into team and unit plans; ensures matrixed resources are fulfilling service or performance requirements across reporting lines. Removes obstacles that impact performance; identifies and addresses improvement opportunities; guides performance and develops contingency plans accordingly; influences teams and units to operate in alignment with operational and business objectives.
• Manages the delivery of large-scale programs or components with multiple workstreams and strategic business goals across departments, functions, or regions with responsibility and accountability for achieving program outcomes from initiation to close-out in an extended or open ended time frame. Oversees development and execution of highly complex program plans, including scope identification and management, schedule, inter-dependencies, and resource forecast. Proactively manages and monitors the program financials of multiple large-scale programs and ensures they are managed within budget allocations. Oversees and drives program performance to ensure programs effectively deliver maximum long term value or benefit to the organization, and makes adjustments as needed in an uncertain environment where scope may be fluid. Manages program activities related to organizational change management (e.g., development and execution of user adoption, implementation, and training plans) as defined by the program. Establishes and drives proper allocation of resources, establishes schedules, and task assignments to ensure established program management practices are in place. This role may perform project management duties in addition to program management responsibilities.
• Manages programs team(s) members and holds team members accountable for results. Provides guidance to teams in reference to internal and/or external resource requests based on the alignment of team member skills and program demands. Empowers teams to develop and communicate a clear vision of program goals and objectives to the team. Delivers performance feedback to project managers.
• Proactively monitors, identifies, and mitigates program risks, issues, and trigger events across multiple interdependent programs by developing mitigation plans and strategies; and resolving or escalating risks or issues as appropriate.
• Manages adherence of program activities to policies and procedures by ensuring program plans and team members follow KP, departmental, and/or business line policies and procedures.
• Manages the alignment, buy-in, engagement and support of diverse programs stakeholders by building and maintaining relationships as well as communicating appropriately with internal customers, third party vendors, senior and/or executive management, and business leaders; and clarifying accountability and authority across stakeholders. Builds close relationships with key stakeholders across multiple functions based on their level of influence and decision making. Manages programs goals, influences the prioritization of deliverables, coordinates all business processes (e.g. project change management, communication) and facilitates decisions necessary for programs delivery by partnering with programs sponsors and/or review boards. Communicates tough issues to stakeholders while maintaining an independent opinion, providing recommendations, delivering formal presentations, and providing reports to senior and/or executive audiences. Engages with senior and/or executive stakeholders to identify long term value to the organization and define success.
• Manages vendor performance and provides guidance for service improvements or revisions to strategy. Partners with Procurement and/or Legal to develop service level and/or scope of work agreements as appropriate. Manages relationships and contract negotiations with vendors, and resolves issues with vendor invoices.