It Change & Release Management - Director

Role Description

The AD Technology Change Management Director will support and enable the AD Technology change process across the Americas Division. Coordinator will support the governance and enable all change across AD, as well as lead the change team analysts that execute change management administration process. The Director will assist the Change Management Lead in the creation and implementation of change management strategies. The Director will analyze and provide reporting on user adoption, usage, and process effectiveness to minimize production system incidents. The primary role will be to manage the change analysts, support the change lead, prepare for the CAB process, and drive the lowest risk on change outcomes by supporting the user base to follow guidelines, best practices, and the defined process.

Role Objectives

Primary Responsibilities

• Support the design, development, delivery, and management of communications.
• Support communication efforts
• Liaison with the Project Management Office and ensure the Project Management process and Change Management process support each other.
• Construct a structured methodology that is ITIL based and lead change management activities during the CAB process
• Manage change analysts and support the development of a strategy to implement a unified change process across all entities and group companies in the Americas
• Review planned outages with Business, resolve conflicts with System Owners / Business, Escalate unresolved items to Lead
• Provide weekly list of upcoming week changes, perform pre-CAB reviews, and review and escalate unresolved/conflict items, emergency/unauthorized/expedited items
• Assess the change impact - Conduct impact analyses, assess change readiness and identify key stakeholders.
• Support Business process requirements in the Change Management process design by applying best practices and peer institution design choices.
• Apply the change management process and use of tools to create a strategy to support adoption of the changes required by a project or initiative.
• Setup / coordinate touchpoint meetings between Business Stakeholders and Information Technology to review book of work, planned outages, and change management process effectiveness
• Support the chair in the Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings across the entities and group companies
• Support training and awareness efforts - Provide input, document requirements, and support the design and delivery of training programs (intra team) and across all the AD Technology groups.
• Provide Project Management support of the Change Management process development

Additional responsibilities may include:

• Define and measure success metrics and monitor change progress
• Support the organizational design and definition of roles and responsibilities
• Coordinate efforts with other leads within AD Technology
• Identify and manage anticipated resistance
• Identify, analyze, and prepare risk mitigation tactics
• Support communication efforts – provide concise forward and backward looking information to the appropriate stakeholders
• Track and report issues
• Coach managers and supervisors on change management best practices
• Consult and coach the change team on all aspect of change management activities
• Support and engage senior leaders
• Integrate change management activities into project plan
• Coordinate with stakeholders (business, information technology) to ensure the Change Management processes supports operations and minimizes risks of Production system defects
• Manage the change portfolio
• Support change management at the organizational level
• Manage stakeholders

Qualifications and Skills

• Ability to establish and maintain strong relationships
• Forward looking with a holistic approach
• Excellent active listening skills
• A solid understanding of project management and the associated business processes
• Experience with large-scale organizational change efforts
• Flexible and adaptable; able to work in ambiguous situations
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to manage a team and the aspects of high performing teams
• Ability to influence others and move toward a common vision or goal
• Experience and knowledge of change management principles, methodologies, and tools
• Acute business acumen and understanding of organizational issues and challenges
• A solid understanding of change management and the change process
• Able to work effectively at all levels in an organization
• Familiarity with project management approaches, tools, and phases of the project lifecycle
• A leader able to work collaboratively with and through others
• Resilient and tenacious with a propensity to persevere
• Problem solving and root cause identification skills
• Ability to clearly articulate messages to a variety of audiences

Critical Job Knowledge and Core Competencies / Skills

• Possess executive level communication skills and the ability to resolve issues, build consensus amongst diverse groups with a proven skill in negotiating and mediating conflict resolution
• Must be a strategic thinker and be open to new perspectives, be creative and manage innovation well
• Judgment in handling complex and highly confidential matters with unquestionable character, integrity and professionalism
• Excellent leadership, business acumen and ability to effectively manage and lead a multidisciplinary team

Work Experience: 10+ years in Change Management / Project Management / Software Development

Education: MS/MA/MBA preferred

Additional Requirements

D&I Commitment

Responsible for fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion, holding leaders accountable for creating an inclusive environment through awareness and practice of equity in recruiting, developing, and promoting diverse talent.