Cybersecurity Project Manager

Role: Cybersecurity Project Manager

Duration: 06 months, possibility of CTH

Location:
Chicago, IL Work Model: Hybrid

Additional Notes:

Top Qualifications

• Cybersecurity Familiarity
  :
• Must
  know cybersecurity terminology and lingo
  , or
• Have
  related experience
  (e.g., audit, risk, IT governance) that shows capacity to learn and communicate cybersecurity concepts.
• Experience with cybersecurity domains (preferred):
• Identity Authentication and Authorization (IAA)
• Privileged Access Management (PAM)
• Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)
• Industry Background
  :
• 10+ years overall experience
• Some experience in
  financial services or insurance required
• Government-only experience not preferred
• Project Management Experience
  :
• True
  Senior Project Manager
  (not Program Manager, despite title)
• Must have
  project ownership and budget management
  experience
• PMP certification
  preferred
  (strong differentiator if all else is equal)

Key Skills & Capabilities

• Communication
  :
• Ability to
  translate technical content
  into
  business-friendly language
• Strong interpersonal skills with
  both engineers and executives
• Skilled at creating
  status reports
  that are readable at
  CIO/CEO
  level
• Tools Experience
  :
• Preferred:
  Azure DevOps (ADO)
  or
  Azure Boards
• JIRA
  or similar tools are acceptable; willingness to learn ADO is fine
• Project and Budget Management
  :
• Ability to
  manage multiple concurrent projects
• Budget responsibilities range from
  $500K to $3M
• Involvement in
  annual planning
  , including resource forecasting and rate planning

Preferred Candidate Profiles

• Candidates with
  cybersecurity PM experience
• Candidates with
  audit/risk/GRC
  PM experience, especially involving IT
• Candidates from
  regulated industries
  (finance/insurance preferred over government)
• Candidates who can demonstrate
  learning agility
  in security topics

Role Description:

• The client is seeking a Cybersecurity Project Manager to drive execution of strategic cybersecurity projects in support of one or more of our key cybersecurity control areas: Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Identity Authentication and Authorization (IAA), and Data Protection (DP.)
• This role is accountable for successful project delivery of highly visible, mission-critical projects.

Project Delivery:

• Lead global teams consisting of technical and non-technical employees and consultants to drive successful execution of strategic cybersecurity projects and programs.
• Partner with key business and technology stakeholders to define expected project benefits and outcomes and ensure successful achievement through project completion.
• Identify, assess, and manage project risks, issues, and dependencies to ensure successful project completion.
• Develop project schedules including effort estimates and task sequences and assignments and ensure they are adhered to; ensure projects are optimally sequenced and coordinated for efficiency.
• Lead resolution of conflicts or escalations in support of project or program delivery.
• Create and submit project/program status reports that are accurate and comply with team guidelines.
• Establish and maintain project artifact repository; review project deliverables to ensure quality and ensure project adheres to internal software delivery methodology.

Communication and Stakeholder Management:

• Develop project charters; develop and execute project communication plans.
• Facilitate engagement with cross-impacted technology and business stakeholders.
• Identify and execute approaches to resolve complex problems through critical thinking

Change/Risk Management:

• Define and document project scope and ensure scope alignment to project objectives and goals.
• Perform and follow project change control procedures for scope, resources, and financials where required.
• Ensure adherence to technology Change Management requirements and procedures or system implementations.

Financial Management

Oversee financial management and performance for projects including:

• Developing and/or managing project-specific capital and expense budgets including all financial form submissions required by internal finance teams
• preparing and submitting timely monthly forecasts (i.e., Clarity PPM) proactively analyzing and managing monthly budget variance optimizing spend for assigned projects participation in annual budget planning

Staff Management:

• Identify project resource needs and work with leadership to ensure staffing requirements are met
• Manage project resources to deliver tasks, optimize resource utilization and resolve conflicts.
• Provide constructive performance feedback regarding staff performance to leadership and line managers.
• Foster a supportive project delivery environment that encourages participation, teamwork, and collaboration.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience Required:

• A successful candidate for the role will have at least 10 years of overall experience including in Financial Services industry, with at least 5 years' experience leading and managing high-visibility technology projects. Additionally, the candidate will posses:
• Cybersecurity Project Management Experience – leading and driving execution of cybersecurity projects related to Identity & Access Management (i.e., Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Identity Authentication and Authorization (IAA)), Data Protection, Security Operations, or Attack Surface Management.
• Organizational Savvy – experience working within a matrixed organization to drive delivery of complex projects involving multiple disciplines.
• Problem Solving Skills – ability to handle ambiguous or complex issues including ability to identify creative resolution paths and gaining necessary alignment and support from leadership and stakeholders to bring to resolution.
• Superior Communication Skills– ability to articulate ideas and information verbally and in writing for varying audiences.
• Initiative – evidence that they take initiative at suggesting improvements and anticipating the needs of leadership, program stakeholders and team members.
• Organizational Skills – able to handle multiple simultaneous work deliverables and prioritize them accordingly.
• Delivery Mindset – has a delivery mindset with a bias for action, curiosity to learn, challenge, and enhance processes.
• Expert Analytical Skills – able to assemble data and analyze patterns, trends and draw conclusions and recommendations; rely on data to guide decisions.
• Financial Management Experience - managing project budgets up between $250K to $3M and comprised of internal and external labor.
• Knowledge of and experience working in software delivery lifecycle methodologies (e.g., Agile/ Scrum, Waterfall, etc.)
• Experience in demand & capacity management

Proficiency with:

• Project planning tools such as: MS Project, Azure DevOps (ADO) Boards, or similar
• Clarity PPM for project financial and status reporting (or similar)
• Collaboration tools such as: Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), MS Teams
• Reporting tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar data reporting and analytics tools.
• A College or University degree; MBA or relevant advance degree a plus.
• Current PMP certification strongly preferred, but not required.