Information Technology Project Manager

Key Responsibilities:

• • Project Management :

    • Provide leadership and guidance to project teams to deliver planned project execution high performance. Additionally, manage the KMRF IT portfolio of work, planned and unplanned, to ensure coordination with IT’s capacity is expended on the efforts for the best benefit to KMRF.
    • Prepare and present proposed projects to leadership that include the necessary information to educate to enable leadership to arrive at a formal approval decision that is best for KMRF and Kawasaki.
    • Track and deliver regular transparent project portfolio status reports to both KMRF and KMC-Japan leadership.
    • Keep abreast of and maintain the application of the best project management practices and methodology that benefit KMRF.

     

    Service:

    • Delivers highly satisfactory service to those that KMRF IT supports. Ensures that the teams under oversight of this role provides the most responsive and professional services to its customers, Kawasaki’s business leaders.
    • Provides leadership for a highly customer-focused culture -- outward and upward with customer expectation consistency.
    • Establishes and ensures that appropriate service level agreements are achieved.
    • Ensures best practices are continually used to meet service level expectations.
    • Ensures that development projects meet business requirements and goals.

     

    Industry Knowledge:

    • Keeps abreast with project management and Information Technology “best practices” and techniques and applies this knowledge to the application of KMRF’s and AKM IT resources.
    • Has experience with managing Auto, Powersports and/or consumer lending systems and technologies.
    • Maintains awareness of emerging technologies that can deliver benefit to our company and advocates for their use and value to the business with CIO, IT Director and communicates priorities to supporting IT managers.
    • Spots changing trends and remain aware of regulations that may affect KMRF.

     

    Research for Future:

    • Researches potential technology solutions and implementations in support of new initiatives, opportunities, and procurement efforts.
    • Supports technology research by understanding KMRF business goals, strategies, policies, practices, and business requests.

     

     

    Relations:

    • Collaboratively partners with business leaders and IT management to implement business strategy as it relates to IT capabilities.
    • Builds and maintains strong relationships throughout the organization to provide leadership, support, and identify opportunities for leveraging information technologies.
    • Works with external resources to leverage IT’s capacity to support KMRF’s business.
    • Understands and maintains good relations with the multi-cultural environment within any of Kawasaki’s businesses around the globe.
    • Works collaboratively and effectively with the multidisciplinary IT organization to ensure the team contributes to the overall good of the whole.
    • Ensures effective stakeholder communication is maintained regarding the status of their strategic and operational initiatives.

     

    Communication with Business:

    • Reviews and communicates project priorities, status, milestones, service level agreements, and resource allocation to Finance business units.
    • Reviews division and departmental goals, strategies and priorities with the business units and communicates these to IT management for continuous alignment with business.

     

    Contracts, Legal Agreements:

    • Creates and reviews contracts and agreements within KMRF IT’s sphere of influence toward the benefit of KMRF, ensures compliance, and that appropriate services are contracted to meet key objectives while minimizing risk to AKM and KMRF. This must be achieved with close coordination and under advisement of AKM’s Legal and IT teams.

     

    Technical Team Coordination:

    • Coordinates with AKM IT managers and team members within sphere of oversight, including resource and effort allocation.
    • Supports AKM IT Managers and team members, project leads, developers, systems analysts, outsourced resources, and project management.
    • Works with company software suppliers for prompt rectification of any problems or emergencies.
    • Provides appropriate level of guidance and support to subordinate managers and team members; Models ideal behavior, consistently demonstrates Kawasaki’s competencies, and leads by example with respect to fulfilling Kawasaki’s mission, vision, and strategic business objectives.
    • Supports and executes team building and team development by recognizing and developing the abilities of individuals.
    • Manages and provides directions for the application development team in support of business operations.

     

    Resource Allocation and Management:

    • Collaborates with AKM IT on resource allocations provided to each of the business units to ensure appropriate priority is applied to “timelined” and “non-timelined” IT service orders based on departmental policy to accomplish company goals.
    • Coordinates resource availability and communicates resource needs to management.
    • Operates projects within budgeted resources that include human, time, and funds by actively monitoring and appropriately responding.
    • Monitors the ongoing comparison of budget to actual.
    • Prepares explanations for significant actual to planned fiscal variances with appropriate supporting information as required.

     

    Performance, Value:

    • Reviews performance of IT systems to determine operating costs, productivity levels, and upgrade requirements.

     

    Education & Experience:

    • Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in business, computer science, information technology or related discipline from a four-year College or equivalent is required. A master’s degree is preferred.
    • Certification in proven widely used project management methodologies preferred.
    • 5-7 years related experience in Information Technology and Business Systems Management, preferably in the financial industry
    • Experience managing large projects including PMO best practice familiarity.
    • 5 years of experience, and demonstrated expertise, in managing a development operation including core administrative system processing and managing technical resources with a team size of 4 or more.
    • Experience completing full life cycle software implementations.
    • Wholesale/Retail Finance industry experience.
    • Wholesale/Distribution industry experience.
    • Experience with a light software development methodology such as Agile or Rapid Application Development.

     

     

    Skills and Qualifications:

    To perform this job successfully, you must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

    • Strong customer-service orientation.
    • Strong leadership skills with a professional attitude to lead, not drive, teams.
    • Leadership presence - active listening, assertiveness, willingness to give and take direction, negotiation and influencing skills.
    • Must consistently exhibit a positive attitude and a strong dedication to the senior management role and its responsibilities and an example that others will look up to.
    • Ability to work with the big picture vantage while diving into the details as needed for effective leadership.
    • Must bring energy and enthusiasm to group or team efforts.
    • Not a “yes” person, but a person who will ensure any dissent is professionally communicated for the understanding of interested parties. Ultimately must wholeheartedly support tasks and duties that AKM has determined are best regardless of personal position.
    • Strong interpersonal, oral, written and presentation communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate at all hierarchical levels within the Kawasaki company family.
    • Strong ability to build and maintain strong business relationships with user groups, various AKM departments and outside consultants or vendors.
    • Experienced working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
    • A natural restlessness to answer "why?" questions, and passionate about using data to drive decision making.
    • Must have a natural attraction to learning and serving the benefits of information services to the business. This attraction must also create the motivation for the team to do the same.
    • Excellent conflict resolution skills with the ability to facilitate discussion around possible different approaches.
    • Ability to manage vendor relationships to ensure that AKM’s business that is serviced by IT’s services is highly satisfied.
    • Must demonstrate initiative and drive to look beyond the "status quo" and continuously search for more efficient ways to improve AKM operations and/or practices.
    • Ability to deliver results under tight deadlines.
    • Must be able to commit to long hours to meet project deadlines.
    • Must demonstrate the ability to successfully prioritize and organize multiple, competing tasks.
    • Demonstrated ability to quickly prioritize and communicate conflicting demands in a fast-pace environment.
    • Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) and Visio.
    • Project management knowledge and supporting systems.
    • 24 X 7 support availability.
    • Approximate percentage of travel required <10%

     

Salary Range:

$115,000 - $123,000 annually, based on experience and qualifications.

Equal Opportunity:

KMRF is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with KMRF is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Salary : $115,000 - $123,000