Director, ERP Portfolio Management

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students in 500 schools and employing over 45,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. Aligned with our transformed philosophy, we are steadfastly focused on ensuring that the District provides resources equitably to support every student, every school, and every community. Six core values guide the work we do every day for our students – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning. Each role in the district supports our vision that every student deserves a rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experience.
 

The Office of Information and Technology Services (ITS) works to build the capacity of schools to use information and technology, maintain network infrastructure, security standards, and support other departments to meet district goals. ITS provides innovative technology solutions that improve the quality of education for students, reduce the administrative burden on educators, facilitate parent interaction, increase community engagement, and support CPS’ mission of transparency by focusing on the ease and equity of access to information.

Job Summary:

The Director of ERP Portfolio Management will lead the CPS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Modernization Program and processes, partnering closely with IT and business leadership from departments including Finance, Budget, Procurement, and Human Resources/Talent to ensure the successful delivery of our 4-Year ERP Modernization Program in alignment with CPS business initiatives and priorities. This position will oversee all project management and processes of the Program rollout while delivering a greenfield ERP implementation on budget, on schedule, on quality, and within scope. The Director of ERP Portfolio Management will report to the Chief Information Technology Officer (CIO) and will build and lead a team of direct reporting professionals. This is a full-time exempt position that will be paid for time worked on a salary basis.

The Director, ERP Portfolio Management will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Drive the planning, overall assessment, implementation, and execution of a highly-complex value-capture portfolio of ERP projects

• Recruit, onboard, and provide direction, guidance, and strong leadership to the ERP portfolio management team to ensure robust learning and career development consistent with the CPS values and mission; foster collaboration and effective integration of efforts with division-wide initiatives

• Deliver excellent reporting and clear/concise communication to key stakeholders within and across the organization to ensure successful project completion

• Ensure that project results contribute positive business value and meet agreed-on scope, cost, schedule, and quality objectives all while providing effective project and program delivery

• Establish and maintain a standard project management approach to drive project initiation, planning, and execution, tailored to deliver innovative new technologies with timeliness, readiness and reliability

• Collaborate with the ITS department and functional leaders to ensure appropriate leveling and allocation of resources to projects and to resolve competing project needs

• Partner and collaborate with business stakeholders to define success metrics and criteria, project size and complexity, cost, urgency, risk, and stakeholder value

• Ensure that investments and initiatives in project management services are aligned with business strategy and priorities able to meet success parameters and ROI targets stated in the business case

• Incorporate industry best practices, define metrics and key performance indicators, and clarify ownership for delivery at all levels of the organization, driving for focused delivery based on commitments

• Monitor value metrics to make informed decisions that maximize returns across enterprise projects and programs

• Develop an overall communication strategy and a reporting process for updating the organization and relevant business stakeholders on project and pipeline progress, decisions and impacts

• Monitor the delivery of business objectives and client experience for ERP portfolio management services

• Conduct regular program and project reviews, proactive risk management, and think critically to ensure predictability, quality, and communication; conduct post-project reviews

• Create and implement a systematic approach to improving project planning accuracy and project cycle time

• Drive the implementation of a resource management and reporting process to facilitate prioritization, management trade-offs, and efficient project intake based on changing functional needs, resource capacity constraints, risks, and interdependencies meeting deadlines

• Identify critical skills and competencies necessary for success in ERP roles and related positions; assess cross-functional project team capability and skill gaps (where present), and initiate activities to close those gaps; define specific improvement actions and recommend training to improve collaborative development and project results

• Effectively motivate team members and colleagues while pursuing opportunities for continuous improvement in department processes to drive a nimble and fast-paced business environment

• Other duties as assigned