Assoc. Director - Country Central Project Office

This position is assigned to support CPO head to manage and control on-going project portfolio management according to the defined process & procedure including: advise organization for project initiation, business justification, and prepare for project submission, preparing list of projects for portfolio; prioritizing and getting project approval; controlling project through change control, project completion and monthly project progress update to ensure the success of entire project portfolio.  

Increasing the project management capability of the organization through good practices, methodologies, standards and tools to enable project managers to better deliver projects as well as acting as a central point of contact for project managers consulting service.  

Additionally, this position acts as project manager for the assigned projects, which are different based on the complexity, size and no. of projects which overall has the key responsibilities including: conduct feasibility study, define scope and budget, prepare detailed project plans, recruit, lead and manage project team, control & monitor project progress, manage conflict and project issue, manage stakeholder expectation, perform deliverable quality management, manage project risk, and close the project.

1. Manage and control on-going project portfolio management
- Support Central Project Office Head to manage the entire project portfolio of the company.
- Understand corporate strategic direction and align overall central project office process.
- Prepare project portfolio:
    - Gather the project information, and maintain the information of existing and new projects into database.
    - Validate the data at a portfolio level and check in term of the consistency, reasonableness and overall fit.
- Prioritize projects objectively and gain project approval:
    - Analyze and evaluate the project portfolio objectively.
    - Apply the provided tools/ templates in preparing and prioritizing projects under a portfolio under responsibilities.
    - Clearly define the transparent rules for project prioritization to ensure the right projects.
    - Prioritize projects  by ensuring the linkage with strategic objective, managing the total investment in all projects and considering the resource constraints.
    - Recommend the selected portfolio to CPIC (Central Project Investment Committee) for budgetary approval.
    - Gain approval for projects to be executed from the CPIC, whilst considering the organization’s resource limitations and strategic objectives.
    - Communicate selection result to stakeholders and ensure the commitment of top management.
- Monitor and control projects within project portfolio:
    - Be assigned to manage and control projects to ensure success of the entire portfolio.
    - Work with project managers to ensure that the project produces the required deliverables, to the required standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time & cost.
    - Work with project managers for updates on ongoing projects, and support for the resources needed/ used/ allocated.
    - Monitor resource/budget consumption against plan, and ensure the they are managed and controlled effectively.
    - Provide regular review and consolidate the status reports for a portfolio of projects under responsibility.
    - Coordinate with project manager to produce project status report document to CPIC.
    - Evaluate and consolidate project issue and facilitate for issue resolution generation to propose CPIC.
    - Monitor the alignment of project outcomes with the company strategy.
    - Identify spare capacity and foster the rescheduling of approved projects waiting to start. 
    - Track and ensure that all projects apply the standard project management approach and methodology.
    - Promote the continuous improvement of project management related processes.

2. Increasing the project management capability of the organization
- Provide project initiation advice and guidance to all departments to ensure that all activities are implemented accurately in accordance with CPO procedures and processes.
- Promote company’s standard program and project management processes.
- Provide consultancy and professional services to other project stakeholders in the areas of project management and resources utilization (e.g. project planning, requirement gathering, scheduling and work planning, communications, issue resolution, cost tracking, financial reporting, change management).
- Track and ensure that all projects apply the standard project management approach and methodology (e.g. OPEX PM) (Formal PMO training is being handled by HROD and OM). 
- Promote the continuous improvement of project management related processes.

3. Acting as a program/project manager as well as project management office for assigned projects
- Manage project assigned by CPO head.
- Act as project management office for the projects, based on the assignment.
- Take primary ownership of the assigned project  to ensure that the project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality standard.
- Prepare project pre-study, feasibility and business justification document (if required).
- Develop high level of project requirement including scope, resources, timeframe, and budget to obtain the approval of appropriate management and operating personnel.
- Acquire appropriate level of project resource to the project and resolve any related conflicts;
- Define and manage project stakeholders to ensure their expectation properly balanced, managed, and delivered.
- Define and control project risk proactively.
- Developing and maintaining a detailed project plan. 
- Managing project deliverables in line with the project plan. 
- Manage, lead, and delegate day-to-day activities of the project to project team.
- Recording and managing project issues and escalating where necessary. 
- Managing project scope and change control and escalating issues through change control process.
- Monitoring project progress and performance. 
- Providing status reports to the project sponsor. 
- Liaises with, and updates progress to, project board/senior management. 
- Managing project evaluation and dissemination activities. 
- Working closely with users to ensure the project meets business needs. 
- Final approval of the project deliverable.

Qualifications :

- Minimum of 4-6 years direct work experience as a project manager that includes managing implementations of projects or organization process improvement or change transformation project/program.
- Knowledge of project management techniques and tools as well as businees process improvement methodology required.
- Strong leadership skill, possess good communication and negotiation skill.
- Analytical, creativity and problem solving skills. 
- Can-do and positive attitude, self-motivated, energetic, result orientation, ability to work well under pressure and time constraint;
- English proficiency on speaking, writing, and reading is a must;
- Proficiency with MS Office, MS Project, and Visio.
- Strong in presentation skill (preferable). Any AI-future skills e.g., ChatGPT, or CoPilot 365, will be an advantage.

Allianz Group is one of the most trusted insurance and asset management companies in the world. Caring for our employees, their ambitions, dreams and challenges is what makes us a unique employer. We are united by a shared commitment: to put our customers first and at the centre of everything we do. Their needs inspire our thinking and guide our actions. Together, we can build an environment where everyone feels empowered and confident to explore, grow and shape a better future – for our customers and for the world around us. At Allianz, we stand for unity: we believe that a united world is a more prosperous world, and we are dedicated to consistently advocating for equal opportunities for all. The foundation for this is our inclusive workplace, where people and performance both matter, and where integrity, fairness, inclusion and trust are at the heart of our culture. We therefore welcome applications regardless of ethnicity or cultural Internal background, age, gender, nationality, religion, social class, disability or sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected under applicable local laws and regulations.

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