The VP PMO Center of Excellence (COE) provides enterprise leadership for governance, methodology, visibility, forecasting, strategic planning, capability development, and continuous improvement of project delivery across A&I. The role establishes the operating framework used across Project Management, HMI and PLC Application Engineering, and Field Service to improve project predictability, resource planning, execution discipline, financial performance, and customer outcomes.
The PMO COE serves as the central source of standards, tools, portfolio intelligence, project governance, and capability development for A&I project delivery. The VP PMO partners with the Regional Vice Presidents, Operations Managers, Project Managers, Application Engineering leaders, Field Service leaders, and other functional stakeholders to provide leadership with consistent visibility into portfolio health, resource demand, project risk, and execution performance.
The PMO COE establishes how project delivery is governed and measured while regional and functional leaders remain accountable for execution, people leadership, and business results.
RESPONSIBILITIESProject Governance- Establish, maintain, and continuously improve A&I's project governance framework across Project Management, HMI and PLC Application Engineering, and Field Service
- Define project lifecycle requirements, governance checkpoints, stage gates, escalation criteria, project health standards, and required documentation
- Establish appropriate governance requirements based on project size, complexity, risk, customer requirements, and strategic importance
- Monitor adherence to established governance standards and identify areas requiring corrective action or additional support
- Establish clear accountability and escalation protocols for financial, schedule, resource, technical, quality, and customer risks
- Partner with regional and functional leadership to drive accountability for governance compliance without replacing operational ownership
Portfolio Reporting & Analytics- Develop and maintain standardized portfolio reporting across A&I
- Establish common definitions, KPIs, dashboards, and reporting requirements to provide leadership with reliable visibility into portfolio performance
- Ensure leadership has consistent, timely, and actionable visibility into project health, financial performance, schedule performance, backlog, resource demand, customer risk, quality, and other key portfolio indicators.
- Identify portfolio-level trends, systemic risks, recurring execution challenges, and emerging opportunities
- Provide actionable insights and recommendations to A&I President and regional leadership based on portfolio data
- Continuously improve reporting quality, accuracy, consistency, and usability
Project Health Reviews- Design and facilitate a standardized project health review process across A&I
- Establish criteria for determining project health and identifying projects requiring enhanced oversight or intervention
- Facilitate periodic portfolio reviews and targeted reviews of high-risk, high-value, strategic, or underperforming projects
- Partner with Project Managers, Operations Managers, and functional leaders to identify root causes, corrective actions, owners, and timelines
- Track significant risks and corrective actions through resolution and escalate unresolved systemic or business-critical issues to appropriate leadership
- Capture trends and lessons learned from project reviews to improve future project execution
Resource Forecasting & Capacity Planning- Provide leadership for A&I's integrated resource forecasting methodology across Project Management, HMI/PLC Application Engineering, and Field Service
- Establish enterprise standards and methodologies for forecasting resource demand based on backlog, project schedules, pipeline, project complexity, and anticipated business needs
- Consolidate regional and functional resource forecasts to provide enterprise visibility into current and future capacity
- Identify projected resource constraints, excess capacity, capability gaps, and competing priorities
- Partner with Regional Vice Presidents, Operations Managers, and functional leaders to develop resource scenarios and recommendations
- Provide data and analysis to support hiring, workforce planning, outsourcing, cross-regional resource sharing, and other capacity decisions
- Monitor forecast accuracy and continuously improve resource-planning practices
Strategic Scheduling & Planning- Establish an integrated planning framework that connects project schedules with Application Engineering and Field Service resource requirements
- Facilitate cross-functional and cross-regional planning discussions involving major project milestones, resource demand, customer commitments, and operational constraints
- Identify schedule conflicts, resource bottlenecks, and dependencies across the portfolio before they impact project execution
- Develop scenario analyses and recommendations when demand exceeds available capacity
- Support regional and executive leadership in making informed prioritization decisions
- Establish appropriate planning horizons and planning cadences for short, medium, and long-term capacity requirements
Standardized Project Delivery Methodology- Develop, maintain, and continuously improve A&I's standardized project delivery methodology
- Define minimum expectations for project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, change management, financial management, risk management, closeout, and lessons learned
- Ensure methodology is scalable based on project size, complexity, and risk
- Incorporate lessons learned, operational feedback, and industry best practices into project delivery standards
- Partner with functional leaders to ensure methodology appropriately integrates Applications Engineering and Field Service workflows
- Drive adoption and consistent application of standardized project practices across regions
Project Delivery Quality & Assurance- Establish A&I's project-delivery quality management framework, standards, assurance processes, and performance measures
- Define project-delivery quality expectations across the project lifecycle, including adherence to established processes, controls, documentation, customer requirements, and delivery standards
- Establish project quality review and audit practices designed to identify process gaps, recurring issues, and opportunities for improvement
- Ensure root-cause analysis and corrective-action processes are utilized for significant or recurring project-delivery quality issues
- Establish quality metrics and reporting that provide leadership with visibility into systemic project-delivery risks and trends
- Integrate lessons learned and quality findings into project governance, methodology, tools, training, and continuous improvement initiatives
- Partner with Applications Engineering, Field Service, Project Management, and Operations leadership to strengthen quality throughout the project lifecycle
Tools Templates & Systems- Establish the strategy and governance for standardized project management tools, templates, workflows, and project controls across A&I
- Ensure teams have appropriate tools and templates supporting project planning, scheduling, forecasting, financial management, risk management, change management, project health, quality, and closeout
- Partner with business and technology stakeholders to evaluate and optimize project management systems, reporting platforms, and related technology
- Reduce unnecessary administrative burden while ensuring appropriate controls, visibility, and documentation
- Establish governance for changes to PMO tools, templates, processes, and standards
Project Management Capability & Development- Ensure development of structured onboarding and development pathways for Project Managers
- Establish progressive capability expectations that support Project Manager career development and advancement
- Partner with Operations Managers and other people leaders to identify PM capability gaps and development priorities
- Develop tools and resources to support coaching and performance discussions
- Facilitate communities of practice, peer learning, mentoring, and knowledge sharing across the Project Management organization
- Identify recurring capability gaps through project performance data and incorporate those findings into development programs
Training & Knowledge Management- Establish the training and knowledge-management strategy supporting A&I project delivery
- Ensure development and delivery of training related to project methodology, project financials, scheduling, forecasting, change management, risk management, tools, governance, and other core execution capabilities
- Partner with Application Engineering and Field Service leaders to identify cross-functional training needs that improve project delivery
- Ensure centralized access to documentation of PMO standards, processes, tools, templates, training materials, and lessons learned
- Establish measures for training effectiveness and adjust programs based on business outcomes, project performance, and capability gaps
EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Project Management, Operations Management, or related field required; Masters degree preferred; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered
- 12+ years of progressive experience in project management, program management, PMO leadership, engineering operations, or project-based operational environments
- 7+ years of leadership experience
- Demonstrated experience developing or leading project governance, portfolio management, resource planning, and standardized project delivery practices
- Experience managing or supporting complex portfolios involving engineering, field service, manufacturing, construction, automation, or similar technical delivery environments strongly preferred
- Experience developing Project Managers and implementing project management training and capability programs
- Experience with project management systems, portfolio reporting tools, scheduling tools, and data analytics
- PMP, PgMP, Lean/Six Sigma, or similar professional certification preferred
- Water and wastewater and/or automation industry experience preferred
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES- Executive-level business, operational, and financial acumen
- Expert knowledge of project, program, portfolio, and project controls principles
- Strong understanding of project financial management, scheduling, resource forecasting, risk management, change management, and project controls
- Demonstrated ability to develop scalable governance frameworks, processes, methodologies, and standards
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate portfolio data into actionable business insights
- Ability to influence leaders and drive organizational consistency
- Strong facilitation and cross-functional leadership skills
- Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and drive adoption of new processes and tools
- Strong coaching, training, and capability-development skills
- Ability to balance standardization with appropriate flexibility based on project complexity and business needs
- Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills
PHYSICAL DEMANDS- Ability to work in office, operational, and customer-site environments as required.
- Ability to sit, stand, and work at a computer for extended periods.
- Travel to A&I offices and operational locations required to support governance reviews, training, planning sessions, and continuous improvement initiatives
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.
