Manager, Portfolio & Program Management

Department: Information Technology | Reports to: DCTO, IT COE Agile Service Delivery | Location: 2 Broadway, New York, NY 10004

About the role

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.

The Manager, Portfolio/Program Management role is responsible for overseeing, coordinating, and managing a set of projects and programs aligned to IT's services for MTA operations. This position is directly responsible for ensuring all IT projects within their defined program portfolio are delivered on schedule and within budget. This position will collaborate closely across the MTA IT departments to ensure flawless program execution. The Manager, Portfolio/Program Management role is responsible for coordinating multiple projects and program management activities, including planning, governance, and resource allocation.

Responsibilities

• Manages 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.
• Assists in 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.
• Tracks project/program timeline, budget, scope, and resourcing as compared to the original budget/plan. Manages risks or changes to the original plan. Escalates differences where necessary.
• Oversees the allocation and utilization of resources across projects and programs.
• Leads identification, assessment, and mitigation of risks across the portfolio of projects to minimize impact on the organization.
• Manages key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and success of programs, reporting these to leadership.
• Produces metrics that reflect the capacity and constraints of resources, funding, and the ability to change — to help inform the demands from both customers and the department.
• Oversees relationships with technology vendors and service providers, negotiating contracts and managing partnerships.
• Manages relationships 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.
• Oversees business operations to identify process improvement opportunities and model current and desired scenarios for stakeholder review, consideration, and approval.
• Leads the execution of resourcing activities in collaboration with delivery team managers.
• Oversees work with developers and designers to implement product enhancements based on business requirements.
• Develops effective reports to communicate findings and analysis to product team and business stakeholders.
• Oversees work with design and engineering teams to deliver solutions that have demonstrable and measurable impact and determine the best technical implementation methods to achieve customer and business objectives.
• 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.
• Oversees work with engineering, design, data, lifecycle, and member support teams to build software collaboratively and inclusively.
• Oversees rigorous quality assurance processes to deliver reliability, performance, and safety objectives.
• Oversees staff workload and quality of work, addressing performance issues when needed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Complies with all policies and standards.
• May be required to work hours outside regular work hours, as applicable.
• Observes the work performed by contractors, as applicable.
• Reviews invoices and approves them if the work has contractual standards, as applicable.
• Addresses performance issues with the contractor when possible, as applicable.
• Escalates issues to other parties when needed, as applicable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS). A combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant technology experience.
• SAFe / Portfolio Management Credentials: SAFe LPM or equivalent portfolio management training, SAFe Agilist/SPC, or comparable transformation/portfolio credentials desirable based on experience upon hire is preferred.

Skills

Required Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated leadership ability.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire, motivate, and empower people to achieve organizational goals.
• Collaboration skills to ensure design specifications are seamlessly implemented by the development team.

Technical Skills

• 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 MTA/Agency policies and procedures.
• Expert knowledge of IT service development concepts.
• Strong knowledge of product lifecycle management concepts.
• Strong understanding of technical concepts.
• Strong experience with process-focused execution, having successfully driven technical programs for enterprise products in a fast-paced environment.
• 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 making 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 coalitions by internally and externally building partnerships with key stakeholders to help achieve the MTA's mission or common goals through influence or negotiations.

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 a diverse skill set to understand various technologies, systems, and potential risks.
• Expert in critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Expert in interpersonal, 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 working under pressure and meeting 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.

Critical Technical Skills

• Portfolio Governance & Lean Portfolio Management: Portfolio governance and Lean Portfolio Management experience, including portfolio Kanban/intake, prioritization, dependency management, capacity planning