Project Manager - UK

At GBST, we’re inspiring wealth innovation for wealth management and advice organisations globally. Our commitment to excellence, track record of continued and successful delivery, hard work and product excellence has earned us the trust and partnership of many of the world’s leading financial services organisations. We’ve invested heavily in transforming our technology stack to bring a truly immersive and digital experience to the front and back-office.

We’re now on the lookout for a Project Manager. You will be responsible for the delivery of assigned product changes to EMEA clients, new and existing, in line with company objectives, strategy and processes. This includes, major client led changes (projects/programmes), small change (individual client enhancements), product upgrades (when dedicated project teams are assigned) and internal strategic change (R&D roadmap, technology refreshes/decommissioning).

What U will do:

Understanding the Client

• Develop an understanding of the client’s business, infrastructure, key contact points and approval points

• Understand client’s decision-making processes and change delivery processes

• Develop an understanding of any key barriers/challenges to clients implementing GBST product changes

Relationship Management

• Develop and maintain strong, trusted cross-business relationships at within client’s project teams

• Identify, share, agree and implement opportunities to improve change delivery between clients and GBST for mutual gain

• Identify key opportunities for the growth / sales pipeline

• Lead and act as the key contact point for clients and GBST for all change delivery matters assigned within EMEA

• Own the delivery, reporting and adherence of contractual commitments with clients for all assigned work

• Attend, chair, contribute to internal and client project meetings as the delivery subject matter expert and overall co-ordinator of change activity within GBST

• Author and where necessary walk-through key project documentation to ensure accurate, timely and transparent internal and client reporting is in place for all assigned work

• Participate in internal and client project team meetings to bring up issues, share knowledge, share achievements, and provide direction

• Develop strong and effective internal and client working relationships

• Effectively communicate information and insights to the head of delivery and other members of the GBST management team as appropriate

• Ensure successful communication/work with all areas of the internal and external project teams

• Contribute to continuous improvement in project methodologies, processes and supporting tools to identify and implement improvement opportunities

Change Management

• Negotiate a Statement of Work (and any change requests) with the client for assigned work as directed by the head of delivery, to ensure:

• Commercial Terms are favourable and realistically balance the nature of the project

• Needs, services and deliverables are clear and achievable

• Create a project plan that meets the needs of the SOW identifying needs, tasks, and dependencies. Ensure it is understood by all involved, shows relevant accountabilities, and is agreed and followed by respective stakeholders

• Create detailed system implementation plans in conjunction with project team and the client

• Manage projects and ensure the projects follow the appropriate GBST and client methodologies and procedures, are run in accordance with the SOWs, change requests, detailed project plans and within the agreed budget, scope, and time constraints

• Manage stakeholder engagement (GBST & client), including effective management of risks & issues, sponsor & client progress reports, budget tracking etc

• Manage the team in accordance with the detailed project plan, as per the roles and responsibilities defined therein

• Assess critical risks and analyse costs and contingencies and ensure that they are accounted for in the project plan or project status reports. Track regularly and update status of risks and mitigation strategies in project status reports

• Report the project status to the client, GBST senior management team, members of the project team and other stakeholders as appropriate utilising GBST’s standard reporting templates

• Monitor and control actual and forecast costs by holding regular reviews to ensure that they fit within the budget and plan. Ensure that any variances are proactively addressed and are reported to the key managers and the client via discussions and the project status reports

• Ensure that the quality and the status of the project is complete as per GBST’s Quality Management System’s methodology and guidelines. (For example, signed-off system designs, signed-off SOWs/change requests, signed off acceptance from the client; all outstanding issues clearly documented and agreed)

• Ensure that internal GBST systems (e.g., financial and issue logging) are used correctly by the team to ensure accurate and timely project status, issue tracking and financial reporting, and the accurate and timely production of invoices

• Assess the resource needs for assigned projects and provide reports to resource line managers for future and changing resource needs

• Ensure that project staff allocated to you, who are often geographically dispersed, are utilised effectively in order to meet % billable KPIs assigned

• Meet with the Resource Managers on a regular basis to discuss the effectiveness of resources allocated to you by them, provide feedback on their performance, and take note of any specific development requirements for staff allocated to you

• Monitor and manage team spirit and morale by initiating ideas that support an ongoing content and motivated working environment

• Seek and help solve inefficiencies identified within the change management processes (internal and client) so future initiatives benefit from a constant drive for continuous improvement

U will be someone with:

• Proven experience as a Project Manager in the IT industry delivering large scale projects, ideally from a Software Vendor perspective

• Knowledge of infrastructure or hosting services

• Sound understanding of release management, including branching, versioning and patching

• Sound understanding and application of Project Management competencies including scope, time, costs, quality, HR, communications, risk, procurement and integration

• Extensive knowledge and experience of applications development methodologies and the software development lifecycle. Effective leadership, coordination, motivational, negotiation and dispute resolution skills

• Ability to apply analytical skills and conceptual thinking to operations and system planning across a range of technologies

• Financial literacy to forecast and manage project budgets

• Experience in both Agile and Waterfall methodologies

• Ability to influence and build productive relationships with industry providers and stakeholders and able to be assertive with clients, whilst maintaining a strong relationship

• Working within a vendor environment will be highly regarded

• Excellent communication skills

• Strong negotiation skills

• Strong stakeholder engagement coupled with the ability to manage client expectations from the outset

• Demonstrated experience in administration in areas of documentation and reporting

• Excellent organisational skills

• Able to work toward tight deadlines and in pressure situations whilst maintaining a clear thought process Desirable experience and skills

• At least 5 years of experience in managing complex development and implementation projects involving software solutions