Associate Director, Project and Program Management Center of Excellence

Associate Director, Project and Program Management Center of Excellence

Toronto or London, ON

ABOUT US

Cognizant is one of the world's leading professional services companies, transforming clients' business, operating, and technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build, and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant, a member of the NASDAQ-100, is ranked 195 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com.

COGNIZANT CONSULTING

Within Cognizant is Cognizant Consulting, a global consulting organization delivering strategic and domain consulting through industry and technology expertise. With over 6,000 consultants worldwide, Cognizant offers high-value consulting services that improve business performance and operational productivity, lower operational expenses and enhance overall performance. Clients draw upon our deep industry expertise, program and change management capabilities, and analytical objectivity to help improve business productivity, drive technology-enabled business transformation and increase shareholder value. We provide a number of Business/IT Consulting Services including Business Strategy, IT Strategy & Roadmap Development, Process Re-Engineering & Transformation, Enterprise Architecture & Technology Selection, and Domain Solutions. The Cognizant Consulting team is a high performing organization that is continually expanding our client base and increasingly being recommended by analysts such as Forrester and Gartner. And we’re growing!

The Role

Our Consulting Practice is looking for an Associate Director, Project and Program Management to join us on our journey to become the preeminent technology services partner to the Global 2000. We’re looking for an ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PROJECT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT CENTER OF EXCELLENCE who can deliver within Cognizant’s Five Pillars of Consulting Excellence, which are: 1) Project Execution, 2) Expertise, 3) Business Development, 4) Practice Development, & 5) People Development. At the Associate Director Level, this means overseeing advisory consulting engagements, being a trusted advisor to clients, establishing oneself as a thought leader in your field, solving complex problems, consultatively working with a client to achieve business goals, driving contributions to offerings and innovations, and serving as a people leader, guiding multiple teams as they work to transform a client and the world. In addition to enabling consulting excellence through the Five Pillars of Consulting, the specific requirements for this position are below.

Responsibilities

1. Serve as a Consulting Leader, bringing your areas of Insurance expertise to Cognizant’s clients, as we engineer modern businesses to improve everyday life.
2. Exercise quality assurance for engagements within your remit.
3. Accountable for overall delivery across multiple projects/program in the account.
4. Regular connect with Clients at VP, CTO and CIO Levels for the delivery and helps the account team in identifying new opportunities (organic / adjacent).
5. Get first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in services provided by Cognizant.
6. Should be aware of how strategies and tactics work in the client’s environment with knowledge of Cognizant’s competitors as well as broad drivers in client’s business.
7. Expected to have a high-level technical knowledge to explain business problems to Cognizant internal teams and cascade information in most lucid form.
8. Review Solution and estimate for new opportunities.
9. Assist account managers/client partner in related business development activities to grow mindshare and market share in the account.
10. Reporting to our internal senior management or leadership teams on the Overall engagement (across different dimensions like delivery, bid management, staffing, financials etc.).
11. Oversee budgets, forecasts, and profitability of accounts. Ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget.
12. Identify cross/up selling opportunities and collaborate with sales teams to drive revenue growth.
13. Support and Manage business development activities, developing and delivering formal presentations to senior clients in both delivery and sales situations.
14. Focus on developing a plan on increasing the visibility of Cognizant in the account relationship and in the financial industry.

Qualifications

1. 15+ years of demonstrated experience in delivering Projects, P&L responsibilities, handling multiple accounts from a delivery and growth perspective, industry segment and customer interactions.
2. Proven experience, insight, and credibility in the Life Insurance domain in Canadian market.
3. Experience in technology delivery projects in handling large delivery engagements.
4. Excellent client management, relationship building and escalation management skills.
5. Ability to have tough conversations on critical project deliverables / timelines / scope and negotiate on behalf of Cognizant.
6. Grooming Engagement Leads/Project Managers.
7. Strong exposure to SDLC and agile methodologies.
8. Ability to multitask, collaborate, resolve conflicts and react in a fast-paced, diverse and matrixed organization.
9. Consistent track record of achieving profitability metrics by using various levers such as pyramid optimization, scope monetization, on: off ratio, etc.
10. Ability to expand portfolio through incremental business development activities and partnering closely with account team and client stakeholders.
11. Understanding of financial management, revenue forecasting and profitability management.
12. Global delivery model knowledge and experience.
13. Personal leadership and a desire to create a culture that enables exceptional outcomes; the embodiment of Cognizant’s Core Values of: Start with a point of view; Seek data, build knowledge; Always strive, never settle; Work as one; Create conditions for everyone to thrive; Do the right thing, the right way.

Working Arrangements:

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a Cognizant office in either Toronto or London, ON. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.

Work Authorization

Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in Canada without requiring employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.