Portfolio/Program Management Director

This position is eligible for teleworking. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective date of hire.

Opening

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

About Us

The MTA transportation network has very large systems and infrastructure for financial, business, automated train, transportation, power, and physical security.  The MTA IT Department is centrally responsible for providing a full range of Information and Operational Technology services to the MTA agencies and administrative units through its operating and support units. Services are provided on a 24/7/365 basis in support of the MTA organization and its ridership.

MTA IT’s Portfolio and Program Management job family is comprised of empowered, multi-functional individuals who focus on overseeing product management and development programs within the organization, from strategy to delivery. Portfolio and Program Management individuals are also responsible for managing all projects and programs to ensure that transportation is effective and secure, and back-end information systems are operational to support MTA goals and priorities.

Summary

The Director, Portfolio/Program Management is responsible for overseeing and leading MTA’s IT’s projects, ensuring that all programs and projects are executed effectively and efficiently, and deliver the intended business outcomes. This role involves strategic alignment of projects and programs with the company's goals, resource management, risk management, and continuous improvement of project management practices. The Director works closely with executive leadership, project and program managers, and other stakeholders to ensure that the portfolio of projects and programs is managed to achieve maximum value and benefits for MTA.

Responsibilities

1. Directs a portfolio of programs and projects by aligning projects with programs to support the direction of the MTA and provide optimal value to the enterprise.
2. Oversees the maintenance of the IT Business Plan, which is supported by Operating and Capital funded budgets as well as in line with the MTA Financial Plan.
3. Oversees a portfolio of projects/programs including timeline, budget, scope, and resourcing as compared to the original budget/plan. Manages risks or changes to the original plan. Escalates differences where necessary.
4. Oversees the allocation and utilization of resources across projects and programs.
5. Translates IT-wide strategies into action plans for the Portfolio/Program Management Function.
6. Leads identification, assessment, and mitigation of risks across the portfolio of projects to minimize impact on the organization.
7. Oversees key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and success of programs, reporting these to senior leadership.
8. Leads change management efforts associated with the program, ensuring that changes are smoothly and successfully implemented to achieve lasting benefits.
9. Oversees relationships with technology vendors and service providers, negotiating contracts and managing partnerships.
10. Directs a comprehensive understanding of the company-wide strategic goals with a focus on how technology can improve the company’s strategic position.
11. Directs relationship with the key business unit users and demonstrates the value of IT to the business community to promote and advance the business goals of the MTA and ensure users are making full use of system capabilities.
12. Directs business operations to identify process improvement opportunities, and model current and desired scenarios for stakeholder review, consideration, and approval.
13. Directs work with design and engineering teams to deliver solutions that have demonstrable and measurable impact and determine the best technical implementation methods to achieve our customer and business objectives.
14. Directs product management best practices, that maximize the value of existing technology and methodologies, to enable the Product team and the organization to operate more effectively as the organization scales.
15. Directs work with engineering, design, data, lifecycle, and member support teams to build software collaboratively and inclusively.
16. Attracts, develops, coaches, and retains high performance team members, empowering them to elevate their level of responsibility, span of control and performance.
17. Identifies, assesses, and mitigates risks. These risks may arise from numerous sources (e.g., financial instability, legal obligations, strategic management mistakes, and unforeseen incidents).
18. Ensures program/portfolio/product and personnel adhere to all organizational policies and procedures, as well as any relevant laws and regulations, including MTA standards, ethical polices and guidelines. Performs periodic recertification’s of devices and user usage. 
19. Establishes and monitors metrics for organizational performance to ensure alignment with MTA's objectives. Responsible for maintaining dashboards, deploying tools for service optimization, and overseeing usage to enhance monitoring effectiveness.
20. If applicable, identifies and selects vendors and products to be standardized by MTA, and orchestrating the establishment of contracts for their initial purchase and continued procurement. Collaborates with MTA IT Finance, technical teams, Legal, Procurement, specific MTA agency personnel, and vendors to establish contractual agreements and distribution protocols.
21. Performs other duties and tasks as assigned.
22. Observing the work performed by the contractor.
23. Reviews invoices and approving them if the work has contractual standards.
24. Addresses performance issues with the contractor when possible.
25. Escalates issues to other parties as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree. A combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years relevant experience with a minimum of four years supervisory/ management experience.

Technical Skills

• Expert understanding of technical concepts.
• Expert in process-focused execution, having successfully driven technical programs for enterprise products in a fast-paced environment.
• Expert ability to collaborate and coordinate with enterprise customers and/or business unit users.
• Expert knowledge of business analysis and project management concepts and tools.
• Expert knowledge of product lifecycle management concepts.
• Expert knowledge of MTA/Agency policies and procedures.
• Expert knowledge of IT service development concepts.
• In-depth knowledge of current and emerging technologies at a strategic level.
• Familiarity with common developer productivity tools like Jira, Confluence, etc.
• Familiarity with tools for data analysis and programming languages (e.g., Python or R) for data handling and analysis.
• Familiarity with agile methodologies.
• Familiarity with product management.

Leadership Skills

• Expert leadership in leading change by developing inter/intra team communication and cohesiveness; sustainment of culture and supporting staff during organizational growth/changes.
• Expert leadership in leading people by working with staff to develop systems to ensure consistent, high-quality project management discipline for all technology related initiatives and endeavors.
• Expert leadership in driving results by meeting organizational goals and customer expectations and make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.
• Expert leadership in business acumen by providing direction on evaluation, selection, implementation, and maintenance of information systems, ensuring appropriate investment in strategic and operational systems.
• Expert leadership in building coalition by internally and externally building partnerships with key stakeholders to help achieve the MTA’s mission or common goals through influence or negations.

Behavioral Skills

• Demonstrated ability to lead teams, provide coaching and direct feedback.
• Expert in active listening, attention to detail, customer service, prioritization, and problem-solving skills.
• Expert in working independently and strategically.
• Expert in identifying and analyzing risks and developing effective mitigation strategies.
• Expert technical knowledge and diverse skillset to understand various technologies, systems, and potential risks.
• Expert in critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Expert in interpersonal and verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with both technical and non-technical peers.
• Expert in managing multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizing tasks based on urgency and impact.
• Extensive hands-on experience with related tools.
• Expert experience with working under pressure and meet deadlines individually and collaboratively. Thinks logically, assesses problems, and is results-oriented.
• Expert in identifying complex business and technology risks and associated vulnerabilities.
• Expert in communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, to interact with team members, customers, management, and support personnel (technical and non-technical).
• Expert in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with employees at all levels within the organization, and with both internal and external customers.

Competencies

Other Information

Pursuant to the New York State Public Officers Law & the MTA Code of Ethics, all employees who hold a policymaking position must file an Annual Statement of Financial Disclosure (FDS) with the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the “Commission”).

Equal Employment Opportunity

MTA and its subsidiary and affiliated agencies are Equal Opportunity Employers, including with respect to veteran status and individuals with disabilities.

The MTA encourages qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, including military service members, to apply.