Charles River is seeking an experienced Implementation Project Manager. This role is a high impact, hands-on leadership role with main responsibility consisting of Managing projects in the investment trading space of various complexity ranging from medium sized implementations with up to three workstreams to large multi-million-dollar projects. And, contributing to the Project Management Practice at Charles River via various initiatives.

This position will provide oversight, regular analysis, and feedback relative to clients, key projects’ stakeholders, and senior CRD management. Additionally, it serves as a source of documentation, guidance, and metrics on the practice of project management and execution and supports the successful delivery of programs and projects through effective facilitation, tracking and reporting. This role interfaces between end clients, CRD project teams, and senior management working cross-functionally across various levels of the organization. This individual will provide support to Delivery Directors and will mentor and develop project managers in support of the company’s client portfolio.

• Develop and implement Project Management processes and policies, direct project management staff, and work with other department leaders to define, prioritize, and develop projects and programs.

• Track the efficacy of various initiatives and help implement the appropriate reporting and metrics to ensure desired results are being achieved.

• Drive effective and impactful communication related to program activity, serving as a key point person for the program team and partner for key stakeholders in order to ensure active management of ongoing issues/risks/decisions related to all internal and external activities.

• Maintain processes to ensure project management documentation, reports and plans are relevant, accurate and complete and support overall firm goals and strategic initiatives.

• Manage and control the project plan and remain within budget.

• Liaise with project stakeholders on an ongoing basis to ensure stakeholders’ expectations are met.

• For large client implementations oversee the management of scope, schedule, cost, quality, and resources in addition to proactively monitoring and mitigating issues and risks. Manage to milestones, understand critical path, and effectively communicate status at all levels.

• Drive and facilitate project review process at management level. Ensure appropriate team issues are elevated to management in a timely manner. Chair formal or ad hoc internal management processes regarding project decision points and or/project issue resolution.

• Assist with advising project managers/implementation managers and their teams on the best use of project management disciplines and approaches and act as the first point of contact for any program/project management questions. 

• Share lessons learned and best practices across programs and projects, building relationships with stakeholders and to promote efficiency in day-to-day project management processes and practices; oversee the adherence to the processes and best practices.

• Improve CRD’s implementation methodology and build a library of standard project plans, collateral, and tools that are mapped to each phase of the implementation methodology.  This material will collectively serve as an “implementation toolkit” and resides on a collaboration site like Sharepoint.

What We Value

• Minimum of 10 years of experience with the implementation of mission-critical financial solutions. Ideally hands-on experience implementing investment management software, preferably an order management and compliance system is especially valuable or experience in the implementation of a financial systems within a bank, hedge fund or asset manager, or wealth management firm is especially valuable.

• Understanding of multi-tier technical architectures and relational database structures. Familiarity with SQL, FIX and SSRS is a plus.
  A strong record of customer service of managing large Implementation efforts and must understand customer needs and build effective relationships. The candidate must be able to convey plans, issues and concerns to clients and team members in a clear, logical and concise manner. They will need to also be able to influence key decision makers both internally and externally.
  Must be customer driven, have the ability to work within a team environment, and be focused on providing a high quality of service to the customer.
  Strong time management skills including the ability to manage multiple projects in parallel.
  Strong problem solving/analytical skills.

Education & Preferred Qualifications

• Four (4) year degree in a business or technical field such as Finance, Mathematical Finance, Economics, Engineering, or Computer Science. An advanced degree or industry certification such as the CFA or CAIA is a strong plus.

• Ten years of experience leading Large Program Software Implementations in the Fintech space.

• Travel: The ability to travel to client sites throughout the United States and Canada. Travel of 30%-50% is typical and but may exceed that in any given year.

Salary Range:

The range quoted above applies to the role in the primary location specified. If the candidate would ultimately work outside of the primary location above, the applicable range could differ.