PMO Analyst - Innovation & R&D

Responsible for providing business-critical insights and information for a small to medium portfolio of work, with the ability to manage difficult analytical requirements for the portfolio/programme. Role holder is considered an individual contributor with a broad knowledge of Project Management principles.
Provide support to the Project Manager to successfully deliver projects on time and within budget. Role may support project evaluation and scoping by preparing and reviewing cost schedules, budget, and forecast returns.
Provide business-critical insights, information and support that enables prioritisation decisions and effective allocation of resources for a project.
Analyse various information sources and engage with the relevant stakeholders to create informed reporting insights that drive alignment across project goals and execution.
Responsible for maintaining the Delivery Framework process, templates and tools to enable the effective and efficient delivery of projects and programmes.

Here at DS Smith, we are looking for an experienced PMO Analyst to join our growing Group Innovation, Research and Development department.

About the role

Reporting into the Innovation PMO Manager, this PMO Analyst role will support the drive to improve the efficiency in the delivery of the Innovation and Efficiency project portfolios. The role will actively support the project teams to deliver the defined project objectives and achieve defined benefits with appropriate quality, speed and within budget.

This role is also responsible for improving the current portfolio towards a professional project management and PMO function using Group Delivery tools, including governance & assurance, monitoring progress, managing risks and issues, creating dashboards and regular reports to closely track project progress. Stakeholder engagement is key with high demands on communication skills and high degree of self-drive to engage the One Innovation Community.

In this role you will also collaborate with other PMO roles in the Group & Divisions to facilitate project delivery efficiently.

• You will provide PMO Analyst support to embed existing and new functionality within the Planview system for project and portfolio management

• Provide insights into process improvements. Improve the data quality within Planview and Provide the Innovation PMO Manager with data and reports to enable the tracking and monitoring of the project with clear visibility of its status and health

• Provide PMO Support to the teams responsible in delivering the Innovation & Efficiency project portfolios

• Support the delivery of the defined project objectives and achieve the specified benefits in line with the appropriate quality, on time, and within budget to achieve the organisation's strategic goals

• Provide PMO support for the embedding of the Innovation stage gate processes, governance, artefacts and tools and provide PMO assurance and support for projects

Key responsibilities:

• Ensuring agreed project management methods, standards and processes are maintained throughout the projects lifecycle

• Advise and assist project managers and team members in the application of project procedures, disciplines and recording and reporting standards and the use of Planview and Project Place

• Guide Project Managers in the Framework and Project Management

• Active role in the development of PMO and roadmap activities

• Support the development and maintenance of the library, recording and reporting systems

• Co-ordinate the production of all reports and produce portfolio summary reports

• Maintain portfolio risk and issue logs and change control records

• Develop and support effective communication mechanisms in PMO

• Maintain the portfolio documentation and minutes of project review meetings

• Monitor projects in the portfolio; milestone schedule commitments, resource commitments and collect project information to update the portfolio

• Manage the onboarding portfolio to ensure clear tracking of progress, including portfolio performance metrics

• Distribute project portfolio information to executive management, directors, and other key personnel

• Support Innovation PMO Manager with communications and training to progress the embedding of the Innovation Stage Gate process, tools and templates

About you

• Good knowledge and experience of techniques for planning, monitoring and controlling projects

• Proven ability to intelligently operate and navigate in a multinational, corporate environment, profound experience working in matrix roles

• Excellent communication skills (both verbal and written)

• Experience with stakeholder management – proven ability to deal with stakeholders on senior management level

• Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships

• Ability to work positively with a range of individuals involved with the projects

• Advanced level of proficiency in tools such as MS Office, MS Visio, MS Teams, PowerBI and Planview

• Strategic and Commercial Acumen

• Financial budget management

• Certification in Project Management (Prince 2, MSP, and PMP)

• Change Management Qualification (Desired)

About us

DS Smith are a leading provider of sustainable packaging solutions, paper products and recycling services in more than 30 different countries. It’s a very exciting time to join, as we have committed to investing in our future across our strategic growth enablers within Innovation (R&D), Sustainability and Digital & Data.

“To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.”