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Principal IT Program Manager

Austin, TX

Whole Foods Market is looking for a Principal IT Program Manager who'll be responsible for delivering significantly complex programs and leading projects end-to-end within a highly visible Enterprise Back-office Systems portfolio. The Program Manager will collaborate with key business partners, IT teams and vendors for developing, deploying, and supporting solutions which are scalable, operational, and maintainable. We are looking for an experienced leader with strong drive for results, critical thinking capabilities, ability to work across teams and someone who has a passion for delivering value to our business partners in back-office functions, including Finance, Accounting, Tax, Indirect Procurement, HR, Timekeeping, Real Estate, Store Construction, and Repairs & Maintenance.


Responsibilities:

  • Initiates, plans, and implements large scale and complex multi-year projects (or oversees multiple small to medium projects) utilizing WFM’s methodologies, practices and requirements spanning one or more technical domains.
  • Defines and follows communication plan with Team Members, partners, and stakeholders.
  • Plans programs in detail, oversees completion of and alignment to the component project plans, documents dependencies, and works with resource managers to acquire and schedule resources.
  • Standardizes, generates, and evaluates project and program-level metrics and reporting.
  • Tracks dependencies between project teams and on partners, vendors, and other 3rd parties and effectively influences successful dependency resolution.
  • Establishes clear roles and responsibilities on the program.
  • Serves as an escalation and conflict resolution point for project teams for issue, scope, budget, resource, or process concerns.
  • Manages, accurately documents, and communicates program status and/or roll-up reporting to leaders and stakeholders on a regular basis.
  • Establishes program documentation library and ensures program management deliverables are completed.
  • Actively participates and collaborates with Team Members to achieve business goals.
  • Controls program quality and success by actively managing issues and the decision process, assessing risks, initiating, and tracking change requests, meeting schedule and deadlines for deliverables, financial planning, and timely completion of program deliverables.
  • Ensures that all personal and program activities, metrics, and reports are conducted with as high transparency as possible for stakeholders, leaders, partners, and as part of a program if applicable.
  • Organizes, attends, participates in, and facilitates meetings and ceremonies with Team Members, partners, and executive stakeholders, and distributes minutes to all attendees where appropriate.
  • Identifies and provides recommendations for program management process improvements.
  • Proactively dives deep into technical solution, business context, and team process as a servant leader.
  • Keeps abreast of changes and innovations in the IT field and/or technical domain – particularly with respect to project management and SDLC practices
  • Anticipates critical situations and collaboratively drives mitigation strategies and actions.
  • Uses judgment to convey an appropriate sense of urgency and drives issues to closure.
  • Guides project teams’ response to critical situations and oversees successful resolution.
  • Conveys a strong sense of urgency and drives issues to closure
  • Diplomatically but assertively leads negotiation of competing priorities and interruptions with stakeholders on behalf of the team, escalating where necessary.
  • Models WFM principles and core values.


Skills:

  • Advanced experience planning and managing complex programs.
  • Advanced experience in project governance to keep multiple projects on track financially, technically, and in accordance with deadlines.
  • Knowledge of both Agile/Lean and waterfall project management and key differences in principles and practices.
  • Experience aligning waterfall and Agile/Lean project schedules to program-level workplans.
  • Advanced experience developing waterfall or Agile/Lean project management deliverable structure and content.
  • Experience defining and leading process for program risk, issue, and scope change management.
  • Advanced experience monitoring and controlling programs using a combination of Agile/Lean and waterfall project measurements and metrics.
  • Advanced ability to oversee and advise on project management issues and lead overcoming barriers.
  • First-hand experience supporting or maturing a PMO or PSO.
  • Advanced experience with advanced backlog management tools (e.g., JIRA).
  • Experience successfully leading troubled project recoveries.
  • Flexible in one’s viewpoints and positions in order to support the direction taken by other Team Members.
  • Challenges the status quo, champions change and influences others to change.
  • Regularly interacts with colleagues or customers up to the senior leadership level.
  • Establishes credibility quickly by proactively setting and routinely meeting expectations.
  • Demonstrates resourcefulness, ceaseless energy, persistence, and ownership mindset to achieve goals despite obstacles and difficulties.
  • Able to play a key and influential role working with others, in groups, in cross-functional settings and with diverse stakeholders internally and externally.
  • Comfortable in a servant-leadership role, successfully resolving critical situations with coaching and communication, while minimizing direct action unless required.


Education & Experience:

  • BA/BS degree and 5+ years’ relevant experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. (required)
  • At least one industry-standard project or program management certification. (preferred)
  • 5+ years’ experience managing large scale and complex multi-year projects with both a business and a technology focus. (required)
  • 5+ years in leading, planning and execution of back-office systems (e.g., accounting systems, HR systems), leveraging a matrixed team within a large, complex, and critical portfolio. This includes adherence to SLDC deliverables. (preferred)
  • 5+ years building and leading teams. (required)
  • Experience working with a structured project management methodology. (required)


At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

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