Publicis.Sapient, the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, helps clients drive growth and efficiency and evolve the ways they work, in a world where consumer behaviour and technology are catalysing social and commercial change at an unprecedented pace. 

With 19,000 people and over 100 offices around the globe, our expertise spanning technology, data sciences, consulting and creative combined with our culture of innovation enables us to deliver on complex transformation initiatives that accelerate our clients’ businesses through creating the products and services their customers expect. For more information, visit www.publicis.sapient.com. 

Publicis Sapient has an industry leading reputation in both Europe and around the world for delivering large-scale transformative programs that re-define how brands connect with consumers. With the significant demand for our services in France, we are looking for an experienced project management leader to join our Paris office to deliver our large-scale engagements, manage the client relationship from a delivery and commercial standpoint, and grow our brand, capability and reputation in the French market.

As a Director of Program Management you will be part of the leadership team and will encompass all facets of project management, client management and team leadership. The most typical project roles are Delivery Lead or Engagement Lead. You will have excellent program management skills to lead teams in distributed environments involved in delivering complex business systems. You will have a deep understanding of various commercial parameters and their business impact on delivery.

As a Director of Program Management you will create a positive team environment that promotes coaching, individual development and high performance standards, and be responsible for career management and demonstrable growth of people on your team. You will also contribute to the development of the Program Management Domain and community through training/mentoring others, knowledge sharing and leveraging of best practices. Therefore, we are looking for an individual who thrives on working in multi-disciplinary teams and delivering ground breaking work at the intersection of creativity and technology.

As we are currently building up our team in France, we are also looking for a leader with a strong entrepreneurial mindset. Together with the local management and closely interacting with colleagues in other European and international Publicis Sapient offices, you will drive the growth, including hiring and business development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Grow our Publicis Sapient operations in France and leverage this existing network
• Structure and manage integrated projects and programs to achieve expected business results
• Manage large, complex projects/programs (50-100 people) to an acceptable level of risk by balancing scope, time, cost and quality
• Lead proposal efforts and sell Publicis Sapient’s value proposition
• Lead diverse teams (i.e., multiple domains, across geographies, potential partners involved) to deliver integrated client solutions that achieve measurable business results for our clients
• Manage the financial profitability of the engagement - costs, collections, etc.
• Manage relationships with client's senior leadership team and communicate status and issues regularly
• Shape follow-on opportunities for Publicis Sapient at existing clients
• Identify business development opportunities for Publicis Sapient with new or existing clients and lead our response efforts
• Plan Publicis Sapient projects or work packages up front by leading the estimation efforts
• Mobilise and manage a team to execute against project plans
• Manage the growth of the project team
• Support hiring

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required, and a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Business or related field preferred
• 15+ years of Project and Program Management
• Previous consulting experience
• Experience in sales efforts such as writing proposals, RFP responses and other sales related activities
• Experience in managing complex IT projects with teams of 40+, must have been part of multiple full project lifecycles and has been in a client facing role
• Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously (preferably in an integrated program)
• Led a Business Design AND a Technical Design phase
• Led teams with multiple discipline representation (especially technology, user experience, and business consulting)
• Experience managing content management or commerce projects
• Experience managing new build, upgrade and package implementation projects
• Familiarity with Agile and Iterative Development (or other new PM methodologies)
• Strong written and verbal English and French skills
• Strong entrepreneurial mindset