Project Manager

Job Description,

To lead the end-to-end planning, coordination, and delivery of Life Solutions Product Development roadmap initiatives, ensuring effective execution across IT Agile teams and key business stakeholders. To manage the full project lifecycle, drive alignment between business and IT, monitor progress and resources, and ensure projects are delivered within agreed timelines, scope, budget, and quality standards while meeting business objectives.

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Requirements,

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering Commerce or related discipline with an information technology focus, or equivalent experience.
• Postgraduate qualification (preferred)
• Agile / Project Management certifications (preferred)
• Actuarial or Insurance qualifications will also be considered

Experience

• Experience in project management and delivery management across multiple projects.
• Experience working within IT Agile delivery environments.
• Experience in the insurance industry and exposure to insurance product development lifecycles.
• Large scale IT Program Management/Large Solution experience preferred.
• PPS system and product knowledge beneficial.

Knowledge And Skills

• Knowledge in Agile methodology and frameworks.
• Good skills to coach team how to follow agile methodologies practically.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives/EPICs, meeting deadlines and adapting quickly to changing priorities.
• Ability to work in self-directed, fast-paced environment.
• MS Office tools (e.g. MS Project, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Visio, etc.).
• Knowledge to make use of Agile toolkits (e.g. Miro, JIRA, etc.)

Competencies

• Ability to coach, lead and influence across teams and stakeholders.
• High level of ownership and accountability.
• Strong project planning and coordination ability across large, multi-team initiatives.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written and presentation) - able to engage at all levels from technical teams to senior management.
• Analytical thinking – ability to break down complexity into structured and sequenced execution plans.
• Sense of urgency and self-starter
• Adaptability and agility, with strong problem solving skills.
• Strong time management skills and holds people accountable
• Attention to detail and high levels of accuracy
• Resilience under pressure

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Duties and Responsibilities,

Project planning and execution

• Develop a deep understanding of the goals and objectives of the team's projects, as well as their relative priority, to ensure execution is aligned with strategic intent
• For each project, create a detailed project plan including tasks scheduled with clear ownership, timelines and key milestones, team and resource allocation and dependencies across workstreams
• Detailed projects plans created visually on JIRA or another accessible platform
• Monitor progress and ensure delivery against agreed timelines and objectives
• Pick up and address any issues, risks and obstacles that arise during the project

Product Manager Role and Agile Engagement

• Perform the Agile Product Manager role for the Agile team allocated to the Product Development team
• Play a key stakeholder role with IT Agile teams by participating in Agile ceremonies
• Attend and support PI Planning, Iteration / Sprint planning for the team. Attend the check-ins to track progress
• Ensure the required features of each project are planned out on JIRA team boards
• Work with IT to ensure work is correctly sequenced across Agile teams to meet the required launch dates
• Define objectives for the Agile teams and provide business value and actual values for work delivered where required
• Support backlog management and prioritisation in close collaboration with Product Owners across teams

Stakeholder Management and accountability

• Act as the primary coordination point across all involved stakeholders
• Liaise directly with Project Sponsors, Business Owners, other Product Managers and key stakeholders to understand the requirements and facilitate the implementation of new developments as scoped
• Schedule regular check-in meetings with the involved teams and update progress indicators on the project schedule
• Keep IT and internal teams accountable and manage dependencies by regularly following up on outstanding items
• Build strong, trust-based relationships across multiple business units including IT to facilitate collaboration and timely delivery
• Ensure all impacted stakeholders are engaged at the right time and with the right level of detail
• Report progress against plans on projects regularly to Life Solutions Management. Escalate matters timeously where required

Business Requirement support

• Provide key input into Business Requirement Specifications (BRS) and assist in identifying the key tasks and teams associated with each requirement.
• Ensure that BRS documents are distributed to all impacted stakeholders and maintain version control of the specifications, in close collaboration with the business owner
• Translate business requirements into logical delivery plans and clear implementation steps across teams
• Support Agile teams in prioritisation and scope management

Delivery and launch readiness

• Manage dependencies proactively to ensure key milestones and deadlines are met
• Drive completion of business testing and sign-off
• Support post-implementation where required