Senior Project Manager

Job Overview

Working under limited supervision, this job plays a critical role in delivering large, complex, and strategic initiatives that support Wawanesa’s strategic priorities. This role ensures that projects are executed with discipline, transparency and alignment to strategic priorities. The Senior Project Manager is accountable for managing cross‑functional teams, third‑party vendors, and internal stakeholders to deliver measurable outcomes and value.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of large-scale, strategic projects, ensuring alignment with our Life organization and enterprise priorities and the EPMO’s strategic execution framework.
• Develop and manage integrated project plans, schedules, budgets, and resource allocations using approved methodologies and tools.
• Manage project decisions, risks, issues, dependencies, and change requests.
• Collaborate with the Director of Life Transformation and stakeholders to ensure project alignment with capability roadmaps, resource planning, and value architecture.
• Support benefits realization by contributing to the definition of success metrics, tracking KPIs, and contributing to value creation reporting.
• Prepare and present project updates, dashboards, and governance materials.
• Manage vendor relationships and contracts to ensure quality and accountability in third‑party delivery.
• Champion change management practices in collaboration with the Enterprise Portfolio Change stakeholders to support adoption and sustainment.
• Drive consistent application of the PM COE methodology and tools resulting in effective and consistent delivery of projects.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of delivery standards and tools.
• Mentor junior Project Managers and contribute to the maturity of project delivery within the Life organization.
• Maintain accurate and transparent project documentation and reporting to stakeholders and governance forums.
• Ensure consistent application of project management methodologies (e.g., PMI, Agile, SAFe) and tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence, SharePoint, MS Planner).
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience managing large, complex, and strategic projects in a matrixed environment.
• Completion of post-secondary education or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• PMP, PgMP or similar project management certification is required.
• Chartered Insurance Professional or Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional is an asset.
• Experience in financial management and budget management, including strong attention to detail.
• Experience using various project management methodologies and project management tools.
• Knowledge and understanding of Information Technology principles (Architecture/Application Development/Quality Assurance/Service Delivery).
• Strong understanding of project planning, risk management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Experience in the Individual Life, Group, Wealth or Property & Casualty Insurance industry is considered an asset.
• Certified Change Management accreditation is an asset (CCMP or PROSCI).

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

At Wawanesa, we are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and believe that our strength lies in the diversity of our people – this is supported by having a representative workforce. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, including racialized persons, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, gender‑diverse and neurodiverse individuals, and anyone who can contribute to the further diversification of thought and ideas. We aim to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all candidates.