[Hiring] Director of Project Management Office @Foundant + smartsimple

Role Description

• Lead, coach, and develop the Project Management team — including performance management, goal setting, and career development conversations.
• Build and maintain a high-performing PMO culture grounded in accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with the Sr. Director to recruit, onboard, and ramp up new project managers.
• Scale our partnership business and oversight of partner implementation projects, ensuring consistent client experiences align with Foundant's north star.

Portfolio Governance & Delivery Health

• Maintain full visibility into the active SOW and enhancement portfolio of project work — tracking milestone adherence, budget performance, and project health status (Green / Amber / Red) across all engagements.
• Own escalation management for Amber and Red projects; serve as the first point of escalation above the Project Managers.
• Drive portfolio health reporting cadences — weekly check-ins with project managers, quarterly scorecard reviews, and executive-facing portfolio updates.
• Enforce delivery standards and Project Manager accountability against the project manager Delivery Goal Framework (schedule adherence, scope and change management, client engagement, resource and budget stewardship, operational compliance, and project closure).

Tooling Standards & Data Integrity

• Own Rocketlane and Salesforce as the source of truth for project delivery data — ensuring all project fields, resource allocations, and timesheet records are current and accurate.
• Drive adoption of tooling standards across the project manager team; develop and maintain the Internal Reference Guide and associated project manager process documentation.
• Use Rocketlane’s Capacity Planning, Resource Management, and Timeline tools to maintain portfolio-level visibility and inform resourcing decisions.
• Partner with the Director of Implementation and Sr. Director on cross-functional capacity planning as new SOW & RFS volume enters the pipeline.

Process & Operational Excellence

• Design, implement, and iterate on project management processes and methodologies that improve project manager efficiency and delivery consistency at scale.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives — identifying patterns in escalations, scope changes, and timeline variance to strengthen delivery quality across the portfolio.
• Champion Change Request discipline: ensure 100% of scope changes have an approved CR before work begins, and monitor compliance in monthly portfolio reviews.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Implementation, Digital Transformation, Sales, and Customer Success to ensure seamless handoffs and aligned client expectations.

Stakeholder Communication & Reporting

• Prepare and present regular portfolio status updates to the Sr. Director and leadership; translate data from Rocketlane and Salesforce into decision-ready reporting.
• Act as a senior voice on project delivery in cross-functional conversations — representing the PMO’s perspective on capacity, risk, and process.
• Partner with HR, the Sr. Director, and People leaders on goal-setting cycles, performance review cadences, and team development initiatives for the Project Manager team.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in project management, with 5+ years in a people leadership or PMO management role (required).
• Demonstrated track record owning a project manager team and a complex, multi-project portfolio in a SaaS, professional services, or technology implementation environment.
• Experience building or maturing a PMO function — establishing standards, governance frameworks, and tooling practices that scale.
• Experience in previous Agile transformation (required).
• Proven ability to manage escalations, navigate client-facing complexity, and coach project managers through high-stakes delivery situations.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Project Management, or related field (required); Master’s degree (preferred).
• PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management certification (required).
• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada, USA, or EU (required).

What You’ll Bring to our Team Dynamics

• Strong command of project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, hybrid) and delivery tooling — Rocketlane experience or equivalent PSA/project delivery platform strongly preferred.
• Excellent leadership, coaching, and people development skills — you know how to build accountability while maintaining team trust and psychological safety.
• Data-driven decision-making: comfortable reading portfolio dashboards, burn-rate reports, and capacity plans to identify risk and drive action.
• Clear, structured communicator — able to translate operational detail into executive-facing reporting without losing nuance.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills; experience working with Sales, Implementation, and Customer Success counterparts.
• Tools & Platforms: Rocketlane (or equivalent PSA/professional services automation platform), Salesforce, Agile, Waterfall, hybrid delivery methodologies.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits, including tuition, and lifestyle reimbursements, and bespoke mindfulness and fitness initiatives.
• Flexible PTO policy, allowing you to manage your time in a way that supports personal well-being and professional success.
• Opportunities for professional and personal development through collaboration across teams and exposure to diverse ideas and projects.
• Support for internal mobility to help you achieve your career goals.
• Autonomy and responsibility, empowering you to approach your work creatively and independently.
• Employee recognition as a core part of our culture.

Company Description

Foundant is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve. We welcome and encourage applications from all qualified candidates, and will consider all applicants without regard to race, color, citizenship, religion, sex, marital/family status, sexual orientation, gender identity, Indigenous status, age, disability, or individuals who may require accommodation.

Foundant is also committed to providing accommodations throughout the interview and employment process. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates participating in all aspects of the selection process. If you have accessibility requirements during the recruitment process and require accommodation, please contact [email protected].