Principal Delivery Manager

About Horizontal Digital

At Horizontal Digital, we hold ourselves to one key belief: You’re only as good as your worst customer experience. This mantra is what drives our digital consultancy to think beyond the easy answers and instead create websites, apps, portals and other experiences that solve customer needs for Fortune 500 companies in intuitive and empathetic ways. And we make this lofty standard a reality by fusing strategy, data, design and technology together to arrive at solutions that set the bar higher for everyone. We use these values to fuel superior results: Lock arms We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good. Show hustle We’re not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional. Embrace change From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what’s next. Elevate empathy We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability. Never settle We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas.

About the Role

We are seeking a seasoned Principal Delivery Manager with a consulting mindset to join our growing team. In this role, you will be responsible for cultivating high-performing teams and acting as a trusted advisor to our clients. You will drive delivery excellence and value outcomes with speed and quality on your programs/projects. You will bring your expertise to partner with clients, identify their needs and challenges, and then leverage Agile (and hybrid) practices to deliver exceptional results.

What you’ll do:

• Program Delivery: Lead one large program or multiple small programs that require multiple contributing project managers; personally manage complex and/or high-profile projects as needed.
• Delivery Consulting: Consult on delivery strategies to ensure success, including frameworks, tools, processes, etc. Drive agile and product delivery methods wherever possible. Solve complex delivery issues and modify processes as needed for each engagement to ensure success.
• Project Planning: Oversee and/or create and manage detailed project plans based on the delivery methodology/framework chosen, project scope, constraints, risks, and dependencies.
• Budget Management: Proactively manage your program/project budgets to ensure the work we’re planning to deliver can be accomplished within the approved budget. Monitor weekly burn and velocity to develop burndown reports against remaining scope. Understand and report on project margin performance and revenue forecasting. Develop plans to course-correct if project begins to trend over budget.
• Risk Management: Proactively identify and mitigate project risks before they become issues. Triage projects in the red to identify a path to green. Escalate as needed to obtain support and solve risks before they become issues. Openly discuss risks with clients to ensure alignment and encourage collaborative solutioning.
• Client Partnership: Be the primary point of contact for clients in delivery to not only deliver consistent status, communicate risks, and manage deliverables – but also to build strong client relationships and be seen as a delivery leader and consultant.
• Scope Management: Fully understand the scope of work being delivered and consult with the team and client to manage to it consistently. Proactively prioritize scope where needed. Estimate, create, and deliver change orders as needed when scope deviates.
• Account Growth: Support Client Partner and Business Development teams to estimate, pitch, and scope work to new clients. Drive delivery strategies during the sales phase to ensure success post-sale. Partner with Client Partners to grow existing accounts.
• Tools Knowledge: Hold expert-level knowledge of standard PM tools, including Smartsheet and Atlassian suite (Jira; Confluence).
• Team Leadership: Lead a team of globally distributed cross-functional Horizontal designers, strategists, technologists, etc. to understand client objectives and successfully deliver solutions that achieve them. Manage resourcing process within assigned projects.
• Practice Involvement: Actively participate in initiatives that uplevel and mature the Horizontal Delivery team. Proactively identify ways we can improve our processes/methods and work with practice leadership to fill gaps as appropriate.
• Mentorship and Coaching: Mentor junior program managers and team members, fostering a culture of continuous learning and development.

Who you are:

• Digital Consulting Experience: Proven track record of leading and executing large-scale, enterprise-wide digital transformations that deliver significant business value and competitive advantage. Deep expertise in leveraging key technologies like CMS, CRM, CDP, Sitecore, and Salesforce products to drive transformational digital initiatives. Proven ability to collaborate with clients to develop customized digital solutions that address their unique needs and challenges. Experience in advising key client stakeholders and C-suite executives on digital transformation best practices and emerging trends to optimize their program operations and enhance their digital presence. Proven ability to identify and capitalize on new opportunities to drive growth and innovation.
• Project Management Expertise: Proven ability to oversee and manage large-scale, multi-disciplinary digital projects/programs with complex requirements and timelines. Strategic mindset to align digital initiatives with overall business goals and drive measurable outcomes. Experience in managing global, distributed teams across multiple time zones and cultures. Proven ability to define and manage complex contracts and partnerships with key stakeholders. Proactive approach to risk management and issue resolution, ensuring project success. Strong financial acumen to estimate and optimize project profitability. Proficiency with advanced project management methodologies and tools, including Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid approaches. Analytical and problem-solving skills to identify and address complex challenges proactively.
• Team Leadership and Development: Proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams of digital experts, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence. Strong leadership skills to inspire and motivate teams to achieve ambitious goals and exceed expectations. Mentorship and coaching skills to develop and empower team members at all levels of their careers. Effective conflict resolution skills to maintain a positive and productive team environment.
• Effective Communication and Presentation: Exceptional interpersonal skills to build and maintain strong relationships with C-suite executives and other key stakeholders. Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences clearly and concisely. Influence and persuasion skills to drive consensus and gain buy-in from key stakeholders. Executive-level communication skills to present strategic recommendations and justify investment decisions to senior leadership.

What you bring:

• Minimum 10+ years of experience leading digital projects/programs.
• A minimum of 5 years agency/consultancy experience. 7+ years preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Certifications in Agile methodologies (e.g., Certified Scrum Master (CSM), PMI-ACP).
• Experience and certifications in scaling Agile methodologies across an organization (e.g., SAFe Agilist (SA) or SAFe Practice Consultants (SPC)) preferred.

Benefits

HZTL offers a wide range of competitive benefits to eligible employees including health, dental, vision, life, retirement plans, paid time off, paid holidays, paid time off to volunteer, paid parental leave, flexible work environment, and more.

Key skills/competency

Principal Delivery Manager, Program Delivery, Digital Transformation, Agile Methodologies, Project Planning, Budget Management, Risk Management, Client Partnership, Team Leadership, Consulting.