AVP, Portfolio Lead

You have a clear vision of where your career can go. And we have the leadership to help you get there. At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something important, ensuring the abilities of all employees are used to their fullest potential. 

The AVP, Portfolio Lead is accountable for the overall execution of the portfolio and delivery of quality business outcomes. This includes building and maintaining business partner relationships, vendor management, and financial management at the portfolio level. The AVP, Portfolio Lead partners closely with the Business Owner, Enterprise Architect, and Agile Portfolio Manager to ensure portfolio success. The AVP, Portfolio Lead is also accountable for the business agility culture, mindset, and behaviors of the Tech team, aligned with Tech Shared Values.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Performs a combination of duties in accordance with departmental guidelines:

• Manage and operate enterprise data assets for financial reporting, audit, and investment technology tooling, as well as enterprise financial close operational requirements, solution delivery for Reinsurance, HR and enterprise corporate systems.

• Has overall technology accountability for effective portfolio delivery, quality, financial performance, agility journey, and committed business outcomes.

• Partners with Business Owner and Enterprise Architect to ensure portfolio initiatives’ alignment to business outcomes and strategic themes, to establish priorities, evaluate pivots, and manage the portfolio funnel.

• Works directly with Agile Portfolio Manager to establish budget, oversee Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) ceremonies, and manage Portfolio financials via established governance process.

• Ensures that the Portfolio Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) align with achieving Product specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and value.

• Works with RTE’s, System Architect, and Product Managers to ensure Product priorities align to Portfolio Strategic Themes and Initiatives.

• Leads initiatives focused on continuously improving data quality across all systems, actively working to identify and resolve data inconsistencies and reduce data silos.

• Liaisons with Business partners to assure current processes and procedures are met in accordance with agreed upon controls.

• Implements and manages robust data security measures, defining and enforcing access controls to sensitive financial and customer data. Partners with security architecture to determine enterprise-wide strategy for data security, access, and provisioning.

• Ensures that all data infrastructure and governance practices adhere to relevant financial services regulations and internal compliance standards.

• Works with the Business Owner, System Architect, and Product Management to ensure PI objectives align to Portfolio Strategic Themes.

• Works with Quality Lead to ensure effective test strategies, automation, staffing, execution, and overall quality results for portfolio applications.

• Actively participates in PI planning for product areas, removing blockers and issues for product teams that cannot be removed by the ART level roles.

• Reviews ART-level metrics with Product Leadership team and takes corrective action to resolve performance issues.

• Accountable for effective lifecycle management of applications and pipelines in portfolio (possibly in conjunction with one or more Application Owners), including maintenance, performance, stability, compliance, SLAs, and incident response.

• Has full management responsibility for the performance and development of subordinate staff, including resource planning, hiring, talent, performance, and career development.

• Collaborates to ensure adoption and execution of SAFe/agile standards and operating model resulting in achievement of business outcomes via true delivery agility.

• Develops and manages relationships with AVP/VP business leadership aligned to portfolio.

• Provides overall portfolio leadership and promotes a culture based on shared values.

Reporting Relationship

Reports to the VP of Data & AI Engineering.
 
Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• Strong delivery track record leading complex initiatives.

• Ability to proactively manage partners/vendors (MSP) to resolve issues quickly and provide timely communication to key stakeholders.

• Mastery of technical knowledge of financial reporting requirements, financial general ledger, and accounting principles.

• In-depth knowledge of application lifecycle management and product delivery practices.

• Servant leader, embodying the Agile mindset with experience coaching and mentoring to empower development teams.

• Strong ability to build and maintain collaborative relationships with stakeholders while driving toward outcomes.

• Adept conflict resolution skills and ability to diplomatically set clear expectations.

• Proven ability to enact change quickly.

• Proven ability to work directly with Senior Leadership within technology and business functions.

• Ability to effectively communicate with all levels of employees and third-party suppliers within scope of responsibility.

• Well versed in Jira.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related discipline; equivalent work experience is acceptable. A master's degree is preferred.

• 10 years of experience managing Application Delivery, or Portfolio Management Leadership.

• Experience with Mainframe systems is a plus.

• Experience with insurance or finance-based products (e.g., Workday).

• Proven success with Agile and SAFe methodologies; certifications are preferred.

#LI-GV1

In certain jurisdictions, CNA is legally required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. In District of Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, the national base pay range for this job level is $152,000 to $242,000 annually. Salary determinations are based on various factors, including but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. CNA offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to help our employees – and their family members – achieve their physical, financial, emotional and social wellbeing goals.  For a detailed look at CNA’s benefits, please visit cnabenefits.com.

CNA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the recruitment process. To request an accommodation, please contact leaveadministration@cna.com