This position assumes a senior leadership role in driving our transformational journey, overseeing key strategic initiatives to meet ambitious business targets.
As the primary steward of strategic project delivery, you'll hold a significant position overseeing and propelling key initiatives critical to the success of the new business strategy. You will lead the planning, execution, and monitoring of strategic projects across the organisation, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to define and develop the scope, objectives, and roadmaps in alignment with organisational goals.
As a newly created position, cultivating an environment committed to continuous improvement by implementing best practices, identifying areas for enhancement, and evaluating project effectiveness will also be a key responsibility.
ABOUT THE ROLE:
Key Responsibilities:
This role's primary areas of focus include:
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
Strategy & Vision: Collaborate with the CTO and other senior leaders to define, communicate and execute clear and compelling strategic project proposal that aligns with business objectives.
Change Management: Work closely to anticipate and address potential impacts of business changes to team and projects.
Managerial: Lead, mentor and empower project teams to manage the end-to-end project lifecycle ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope and meeting the highest quality standards.
Diversity & Inclusivity: Build a strong team culture and foster a high-performance team by owning and delivering the team D&B strategy
DELIVERY
Project Portfolio Management: Oversee the diverse portfolio of transformation projects ensuring alignment with business objectives and strategic priorities. Key projects for 2024 will be Sailthru, Piano and SCV.
Project Documentation: Collate and own project roadmaps, schedules and resource plans
Project Initiation: Work closely with stakeholders to define the project scope, objectives and deliverables. Ensure that project charters, requirements and success criteria are clearly defined and agreed.
Resource Allocation: Collaborate with heads of department to allocate the right resources to projects, considering skill sets, availability and project requirements.
Risk Assessment & Mitigation: Lead the identification and assessment of potential risks and issues across projects. Develop risk mitigation strategies and contingency plans to ensure successful project outcomes.
Project Execution Oversight: Provide guidance and direction to project teams to ensure projects are executed according to scope. Monitor progress, track key milestones and address any roadblocks that may impede progress.
Quality Assurance: Define and enforce quality standards and best practices for project deliverables. Ensure that projects adhere to established processes, methodologies and documentation requirements.
Communication & Reporting: Facilitate transparent communication between project teams, stakeholders and senior leadership. Provide regular updates on project status, milestones achieved and any deviations from the original plan.
Vendor & Partnership Management: Collaborate with procurement and vendor management teams to ensure effective partnerships with external vendors and service providers. Monitor vendor performance and adherence to contractual obligations.
Continuous Improvement: Lead post-project reviews to identify lessons learned and areas for improvement. Implement process enhancements and best practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness of project delivery.
Budget Management: Manage project budgets and track expenses where relevant.
Stakeholder Engagement: Work closely with stakeholders to understand their requirements, gather feedback and ensure project outcomes meet or exceed their expectations.
OPERATIONS
Process Optimisation: Streamline operational processes and workflows, eliminating inefficiencies and redundant tasks. Implement standardised procedures to enhance operational efficiency and consistency.
Budget Oversight: Assist in managing departmental budget, monitor expenses, track social spending and ensure adherence to budgetary constraints.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a bridge between Transformation and other departments. Collaborate with stakeholders to understand their needs, align on priorities and ensure seamless coordination of efforts.
Change Management: Facilitate the adoption of new processes, tools and technologies. Communicate changes effectively, provide training as necessary and address concerns to ensure smooth transitions.
Communication & Alignment: Promote clear communication channels within the team and across the business. Facilitate open dialogue, promote constructive problem-solving, and maintain a positive team atmosphere.
Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Encourage a culture of excellence by fostering an environment where team members are encouraged to propose and implement process improvements, creative solutions and new ideas.
ABOUT YOU
Essential Skills & Experience:
- Proven track record of 8+ years in project and operations management with at least 4 years in a strategic leadership role.
- Experience creating and scaling operational, end-to-end processes.
- Excellent problem-solving skills.
- Managerial experience.
- Proven experience in fostering a sense of team spirit within different departments/teams.
- Detail-orientated and business-focused.
- Highly collaborative and exceptional communicator, relaying information in a timely manner.
- Able to work with a high level of autonomy.
- Is known as a trusted expert who acts in the interest of the business.
- End-to end project planning - from initial scoping to end of project analysis.
- Agile & Waterfall methodology
- Proven technical operational delivery
- PRINCE 2 Foundation and/or Practitioner qualification
Desirable Experience/Knowledge:
- Publisher / Media background
- Knowledge of wider Digital marketing practices
WHAT WE OFFER
At Hearst UK, you can choose from a huge range of perks and benefits that can help you learn well, work well and live well including:
- 25 days' holiday (with the option to buy up to 5 additional holiday days)
- Hybrid working - Three days per week in the office
- Discounted gym membership
- Healthcare cash plan
- Spend a charity day with your favourite good cause
- Life assurance and pension scheme
- Regular socials and more!
There's more to your story than you imagine. And the next chapter begins right here.
Hearst UK is deeply committed to using our influential brands to reflect the world we want to live in - one that respects, protects, represents and uplifts the voices and opinions of all people. As a business, we recognise the significant benefits of creativity, collaboration and innovation that comes with diverse teams. Not only is diversifying the voices in our organization the right thing to do, but it also helps us to make powerful and exciting content that can be enjoyed by many more people. This is why we're working to build a sense of true belonging within our business and foster a culture in which everyone feels heard.