Senior Project Manager – CMS Implementation

Salary: $200,000 – $300,000 per year

Role Purpose

The Senior Project Manager will lead the end-to-end implementation of the new CMS platform, replacing the incumbent legacy system. The role requires a delivery professional who can manage a large-scale development, configuration and implementation project while working confidently with the platform vendor's technical teams, the client's Transformation Office and Business/Product stakeholders, and third-party delivery partners (including the appointed System Integrator).

The successful candidate will be technically aware rather than hands-on technical. They will understand enough about software delivery, integrations, configuration, testing and deployment to manage delivery risk, ask the right questions and keep the programme moving — including navigating the dependency register, vendor SOW commitments and change control process.

Key Responsibilities

Project Delivery

• Lead the full project lifecycle from initiation and planning through to go-live, transition and post-implementation support.

• Develop and maintain integrated project plans, schedules, milestones, budgets and delivery reporting across POC, Build and UAT phases.

• Manage scope, dependencies, risks, issues, assumptions and decisions across multiple workstreams, including the formally endorsed programme dependency register.

• Coordinate delivery across software development, configuration, testing, integration, data migration and release activities with the platform vendor and the System Integrator.

• Monitor progress against agreed time, cost, quality and customer outcomes.

Client and Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the primary project contact for client stakeholders throughout the implementation, including the Transformation Office, application owners and IT leadership.

• Facilitate project kick-off sessions, requirements workshops, delivery reviews and steering committee meetings.

• Manage senior stakeholder expectations and provide clear, practical reporting on project status, risks and decisions required.

• Translate technical delivery issues into business language for non-technical stakeholders.

• Build trusted relationships with client teams, internal delivery teams and third-party suppliers, including the platform vendor and the SI.

Technical Delivery Coordination

• Work closely with the platform vendor's developers, solution architects, business analysts, testers and implementation specialists.

• Coordinate development and configuration activities required to meet client requirements.

• Support the management of system integrations, interfaces, API dependencies and third-party platform connections via Azure Integration Services.

• Oversee planning and coordination of data migration, environment readiness, testing (including UAT via Standard Test Scenario Log) and deployment activities.

• Drive timely resolution of technical blockers, defects and delivery dependencies, escalating vendor delay-risk promptly.

Governance, Controls and Reporting

• Establish fit-for-purpose project governance, decision-making rhythms and reporting artefacts.

• Maintain project documentation including project plans, RAID logs, change records, status reports and implementation plans.

• Manage change control and scope variation processes in a commercially disciplined way, protecting the client's position against vendor-driven change requests.

• Prepare concise reporting for project sponsors, executives and delivery leadership, including MD/HQ-level material where required.

• Ensure delivery controls support quality, transparency and timely escalation.

Business Readiness and Adoption

• Coordinate implementation readiness activities including training, communication, cutover preparation and operational transition.

• Support client onboarding and ensure implementation activities are aligned to business adoption outcomes.

• Manage go-live planning, hypercare and transition to support or BAU teams.

• Capture lessons learnt and contribute to continuous improvement of the implementation methodology.

Essential Experience

• Demonstrated experience managing complex software implementation or technology delivery projects.

• Experience delivering client-facing enterprise software, SaaS or platform implementation projects.

• Strong understanding of software delivery lifecycles, including Agile, waterfall or hybrid delivery approaches.

• Experience coordinating development, configuration, testing, integration, data migration and deployment activities.

• Proven ability to manage senior stakeholders, project sponsors, technical teams and third-party suppliers.

• Strong project governance, planning, reporting, risk and issue management capability.

• Commercial awareness and the ability to manage scope, budget, trade-offs and delivery commitments, including contractual dependency and change-request exposure.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in Auto Finance, consumer finance, lending, asset finance, banking or FinTech.

• Experience implementing loan/contract management systems, finance origination, CRM, dealer management or financial software platforms.

• Exposure to regulated financial services environments and associated risk, compliance or audit expectations.

• Experience with Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence, MS Project or similar delivery tools.

• Previous experience working for, or closely with, a software vendor or implementation partner.

• Professional project management certification such as PRINCE2, PMP, PMBOK, CPPM, AgilePM, Scrum Master or equivalent. Certification is desired but not essential.