Senior Delivery Lead

Job Purpose/Overview

The Senior Delivery Lead is accountable for managing and overseeing critical transformations and portfolio delivery across the Enterprise Analytics landscape. This candidate will partner with the

Business to define the Functional AI & Analytics roadmaps and define and execute upon these critical value-add initiatives, through bringing best-in-class traditional programme/project management and agile delivery practices. The Enterprise Analytics team serves Mars Global central functions including Finance, Commercial, R&D, Labs and Innovation. This role partners with a diverse stakeholder landscape up to senior leadership executives, bringing technical orchestration and delivery excellence to steer the end-to-end reporting and analytics portfolio from inception through to successful go-live and operations.

The Senior Delivery Lead is instrumental to lead, organise and orchestrate high profile transformational and product delivery, ensuring value realisation across the Enterprise functions.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

• Collaborates closely with associates and teams across MGS functions, Business Segments and within Enterprise Analytics to define, adapt and execute the delivery of successful project & programme outcomes, enabling Mars to realise value across its business objectives and strategic priorities.

TRUSTED PARTNER & PROGRAM DISCIPLINE

• Acts as an experienced, highly dependable delivery leader across Enterprise Analytics, showcasing best practices and innovative ideas to bring gold-standard transformational delivery excellence to the team.

NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY WITH OWNERSHIP

• Operates with a high level of autonomy, navigating ambiguity and organisational complexity through a results-driven, collaborative and proactive approach.

Key Responsibilities

As the Senior Delivery Lead in the Enterprise Analytics Delivery Office team, your key responsibilities are as follows:

AI & ANALYTICS ROADMAP DELIVERY

• Roadmap Orchestration: Closely partnering with Business stakeholders to understand and co- define future analytics roadmaps across the Enterprise functions.

• End-to-End Lifecycle Management: Design, structure and maintain integrated programme roadmaps mapping out project dependencies, key milestones and critical paths.

• Product Delivery Oversight: Leading product delivery teams and Scrum Masters to deliver against agreed roadmap deliverables.

• Agile Expertise: Implement and optimise delivery frameworks tailored to unique use-cases, with primary driver being on value delivered to Mars.

PROJECT & PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

• Governance Frameworks: Establish robust programme governance structures, including defining R&Rs, decision-making matrices (RACI) and reporting cadences.• PMO Leadership: Responsible for driving PMO excellence for the responsible transformational & product delivery

• Executive Steering Committees: Act as the primary presenter and facilitate for Executive Steering Committees, translating complex/technical project updates into strategic progress narratives for sponsors and board members

• Risks, Issues & Dependency Management: Map and actively manage technical, resource and schedule dependencies across all projects within the programme portfolio. Act as an escalation point for resolving and unblocking complex issues that cannot be resolved at the individual project level.

• Financial & Resource Orchestration: Oversee total programme budget, monitoring burn rates, variance and overall financial forecasts. Optimise deployment of resources across project to resolve bottlenecks and enable effective allocation. Partnering with vendor senior management, ensuring high performance and quality outputs continue to be delivered.

STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

• Stakeholder Management & Translation: Act as the primary technical leader across functional pillars, bridging the gap between understanding functional business objectives and driving technical outputs across the delivery team.

• Alignment & Influence: partner with Business leaders, product management and engineering teams, with strong ability to influence decision making to drive the highest value realisation for Mars. Thought Leadership: Championing best practices from both a technical and delivery lens, keeping close to emerging trends and industry practices.

LEARNING & GROWTH

• An expert leader within the Delivery Office and overall Enterprise Analytics team, seen as a go-to person to learn and apply best practice across the delivery pillar.

• Continually explore opportunities to improve approach to programme & portfolio delivery, having the confidence and freedom to test and learn new concepts, with a core focus on value realisation.

• Coach and mentor more junior Delivery team members, ensuring highest standards are defined and upheld – being viewed across Mars as a best-in-class service provider.

COLLABORATION & COMMUNICATION

• Collaborate closely with Enterprise Analytics leadership, Business/Segment leaders and product delivery teams across the portfolio.

• Foster relationships with both technical and business stakeholders across the core Enterprise functions: R&D, MGS Labs, Commercial and Finance.

• Exceptional emotional intelligence and active listening skills; with confident ability to manage difficult conversations and align competing priorities.

Key Skills/Qualifications

ESSENTIAL:

• Previous experience in managing successful complex projects/ programmes.

• Proficient and management experience across all phases of Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).

• Experienced in agile leadership with track record of managing/overseeing a number of squads.

• Experienced in managing end-to-end project lifecycle in a traditional waterfall method – from inception to hypercare exit.

• Product vs Project Mindset – clear understanding and experience in both product-led delivery approach vs traditional project management method.• KPIs & Delivery Metrics – knowledge and history of effectively tracking team velocity, throughput, burn-up/burn-down charts and lead/cycle times to continually optimise process efficiency.

• Strong technical acumen with ability to drive technical discussions and decisions – having led roles in the data & analytics space.

• Experience overseeing project financials – close monitoring of budgets vs actuals – ensuring projects delivered to agreed budgets.

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication/facilitation skills, with the ability to influence and align across business and technology functions.

• External project, programme & agile delivery certifications.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills.

• Fluent in writing and speaking English

DESIRED:

• Previous experience in CPG industry would be ideal.

• Experience at operating in a complex global matrix organisation.

• Understanding of Generative (and Agentic) solutions.

• Advanced technical knowledge within AI & analytics

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