Portfolio Manager
: Job Details :

Our ideal candidate is a highly skilled professional with extensive experience in portfolio and project management. They possess a deep understanding of governance, processes, and tools to ensure successful project execution and alignment with strategic goals. With a proven track record in resource management, strategic prioritization, and continuous improvement, they excel in providing quality reporting, counsel, and guidance to senior management.

They are adept at independent decision-making, problem-solving, and capable of analyzing complex challenges and delivering innovative solutions with strong emotional intelligence. Their leadership skills are evident in their ability to mentor and coach senior and journey-level project managers, fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment, and leading with high influence.

With strong communication and interpersonal skills, they effectively engage with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring alignment with the agency's mission of providing equitable access to resources that improve economic security.

This role will play a pivotal role in optimizing our agency funding, legislation, prioritization of work, audit and compliance, perception, and the future of our portfolios and projects. This function will support ESD's portfolio administrator in the Portfolio and Project Management Office (PPMO) and require strong facilitation skills to steer decisions and achieve strategic outcomes. This is truly an exciting opportunity! Apply today – It begins with YOU!

The Portfolio Manager is responsible for influencing the development and implementation of an agile transformation strategy, agency strategic plans, executive steering and leadership meetings, and project management practices. This role involves decision-making authority on project governance, resource allocation, and policy development, ensuring compliance with state-mandated standards. The incumbent collaborates with stakeholders to align projects with the agency's strategic vision, impacting internal and external policymakers.

Some of your duties may include:

• Project Insights and Management:
  • Oversee cross-portfolio projects and dependencies, ensuring a structured approach to project management.
  • Manage projects in the enterprise portfolio, cross-portfolio, and PPP division, focusing on strategic alignment and execution.
• Strategic Execution and Resource Allocation:
  • Continuously improve and execute a comprehensive portfolio and project management strategy.
  • Resource allocation and capacity planning, ensuring effective oversight and follow-through for resourcing priority projects.
• Performance Reporting and Budget Tracking:
  • Provide portfolio and project performance insights for work like legislative reporting and funding support.
  • Establish and implement methods to track portfolio budgets in collaboration with Finance partners.
• Team Development and Leadership:
  • Recruit, coach, and mentor senior and journey-level project managers, including contracted vendors.
  • Foster a collaborative and supportive work environment, promoting independent decision-making and problem-solving.
  • Exhibit leadership skills by mentoring and coaching project managers to cultivate a high-performance team.
• Change Management and Strategic Alignment:
  • Execute organizational change management plans to ensure team adoption and success.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders to align projects with the agency's strategic vision, impacting internal and external policymakers.
• Governance and Policy Development:
  • Influence agency strategic plans, executive steering and leadership meetings, and project management practices.
  • Ensure compliance with state-mandated standards through effective governance, resource allocation, budget tracking, and policy development.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, Public Administration, Project Management, Information Technology, or a related field.

TO INCLUDE:

• Five (5) years of progressive project management experience.
• Two (2) or more years leading portfolio management implementation and setting priorities for an agency.

OR

• A combination of education and/or relevant work experience totaling nine (9) years.

TO INCLUDE:

• Five (5) years of progressive project management experience.
• Two (2) or more years leading portfolio management implementation and setting priorities for an agency.

Education to Experience Equivalences:

Associate Degree = 2 years | Bachelor Degree = 4 years | Masters or Higher = 5 years

Required Professional Certifications:

• Project Management (PMI, CompTIA Project+ or strong equivalent)
• Continuous process improvement (Lean preferred)
• Change Management (Prosci preferred)

Required Competencies:

• Experience creating professional communications and presentations with written and visual components for a variety of audiences (strategic and operational).
• Experience developing business, resource management, and project spend plans with executives.
• A high-level producer, capable of delivering original work products and services under tight deadlines.
• Must be flexible, a fast learner, and capable of absorbing and synthesizing large amounts of new information.
• Must be able to apply learning in a team setting to improve the results of large-scale projects.
• Must be able to demonstrate change management thinking and consideration with projects.
• Must be able to work with agency experts and data analysts to measure operational performance to determine the effectiveness of investments, services, and products.

Desirable/Preferred Education, Experience or Certifications:

• One (1) or more years in strategic initiative development (strategic planning).
• Two (2) or more years management experience. Demonstrated experience in contractor management.
• Professional certification in:
  • Scrum Master
  • Agile
• Demonstrated ability to provide innovative and highly effective solutions for agency executive management in exceptionally sensitive legal or political circumstances.
• Understanding of language and concepts related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Additional Requirement of Employment:

• Must be able to pass an Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claim & Benefit Information Review.
• Position requires periodic travel to statewide ESD business locations. Occasional out of state travel may be necessary.

Please submit only the required documents as noted below and ensure all Personal Identifying Information (PII) such as Social Security numbers etc. are edited out of your materials for privacy.

Please submit your Cover Letter and Resume with your Online Application through the Add Attachments field. A resume will not substitute for the work experience section of the application or vice versa. Applications with blank fields, or supplemental question responses with comments such as see attachments may be considered incomplete.

Our agency's mission and values drive every decision that we make, determine how we interact with others, and are at the core of who we are. We value Access, Love, Belonging, Equity, and Stewardship. We understand that a work environment that respects your work/life balance is key; that's why many of our positions are eligible for flexible work schedules and teleworking opportunities. Through support, value, and trust, our employees are empowered to grow and develop into their best self.

Opportunity for All We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, sexual orientation, and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, people over 40 years of age, people with religious beliefs, veterans or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. The Employment Security Department is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. If you are a person needing assistance in the application process, if you need this job announcement in an alternate format, or if you have general questions about this opportunity, please contact ...@esd.wa.gov or the Talent Acquisition Team.

If you are having technical difficulties creating, accessing, or completing your application, please contact ...@des.wa.gov or (360) ###-#### or toll free (877) ###-####, Washington Relay 711.

This recruitment may be used to fill additional agency-wide positions in accordance with Article 4 of the WFSE Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Candidates who are offered a job with ESD must possess work authorization which does not require sponsorship by the employer for a visa now or in the future.

**This Organization Participates in E-Verify**