Project & Change Manager - Finance Transformation

at  Ontic

Ontic, a leading licensor and manufacturer of complex engineering parts for the global aerospace and defence industries, are now recruiting for a Project & Change Manager - Finance Transformation to join our ROW (Rest of World) Finance team based at our Bishops Cleeve site.
Ontic is a more than just a business, we’re a community of innovators who pride ourselves on fostering a culture where talent thrives, ideas flourish, and careers are built. We’re committed to excellence, driving us to continuously improve and adapt, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of our industry.
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The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced senior Project and Change Manager, -Finance Transformation, to lead and oversee transformation projects within the Finance function globally. As the Project Manager, you will play a crucial role in driving strategic initiatives, managing project execution, and ensuring successful delivery of transformative programmes. Responsibility will be across all key pillars of a project, including people, process, and technology. Transformative programs are strategic to the overall health of the business and are commissioned that highest level of the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Project Leadership: Provide overall leadership and direction for transformation projects, aligning them with the company’s strategic objectives and vision.
• Strategic Planning: Collaborate with executive stakeholders to define project goals, objectives, and success criteria. Develop and implement a comprehensive project roadmap, including timelines, milestones, and resource allocation.
• Project Governance: Establish effective governance mechanisms to monitor project progress, mitigate risks, resolve issues, and make timely decisions. Establish project governance structures, including steering committees and working groups. Define roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes, and escalation paths. Ensure adherence.
• Stakeholder Management: Engage and collaborate with stakeholders at various levels, including senior leadership, function heads, and cross-functional teams. Build strong relationships and establish effective communication channels. Understand stakeholder needs, expectations, and concerns. Ensure stakeholder engagement and alignment.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for process optimization and operational efficiency. Collaborate with stakeholders to analyse existing processes, identify pain points, and develop improved workflows. Implement best practices and process enhancements to drive productivity and quality.
• Project Delivery: Drive the execution and delivery of transformation projects, ensuring alignment with project objectives, quality standards, and agreed-upon timelines. Monitor progress against deliverables and facilitate timely decision-making to keep the projects on track.
• Budget Management: Develop project budgets and manage financial resources effectively. Monitor program expenses, track budget utilization, and ensure cost control.
• Resource Management: Identify resource requirements. Coordinate with business managers to ensure adequate staffing and resource allocation. Monitor resource utilization and implement strategies for optimization.
• Risk and Issue Management: Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks and issues. Develop risk management plans and ensure timely resolution of issues. Monitor project performance metrics and take proactive measures to address deviations. Implement effective contingency plans and ensure business continuity during periods of change.
• Training Deployment: Implement training programme for existing finance functions to ensure system and process changes are effectively understood and followed through within the function
• Change Management: Develop and implement change management strategies to drive adoption and ensure smooth transitions during project implementation. Engage stakeholders and provide guidance to manage organizational change.
• Continuous Improvement: Conduct project evaluation. Foster a culture of continuous improvement within the project team. Identify lessons learned, capture best practices, and implement process enhancements to optimize project delivery.
• Reporting and Communication: Develop and execute a comprehensive communication strategy for the project. Communicate program objectives, progress, and outcomes to stakeholders and senior leadership. Prepare clear and concise project reports, presentations, and dashboards, ensuring transparency and accountability. Conduct project-related meetings, workshops, and presentations as needed.

About you:
At Ontic, our culture is integral to making sure we enjoy our work and deliver for our customers. While we look for the right skillset, we’re also looking for someone who will thrive within our recognition and empowerment culture.

To be successful in this role you’ll need to have

• Minimum 5 years of project and program related experience, with at-least 3 of those years having responsibility at manager level.
• Experience managing transformational type programs, and complex integrations within the business software industry.
• Experience with project tools including, financial and project management, scheduling, requirement management, and resource management.
• Project / Program management methods.
• Software development and testing.
• Leadership and team management skills.
• Strategic thinking, analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to engage and influence stakeholder.
• Understanding of software industry trends and technologies.
• Understanding of change management fundamentals.
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies.
• Systematic process improvement methods.
• Understanding of Risk management.

You will:

• have exposure to senior management and leadership of the organisation.
• be well supported by the Head of Operational Finance and the wider finance team.
• have increasing autonomy to be an integral partner to the businesses and expand your industry knowledge, as well as the licence to improve processes and suggest improvements to drive growth and performance.
• be supported in completing finance qualifications, if applicable

Why Apply?
This is a fantastic opportunity to work for a Private Equity backed business with a strong leadership team driving growth globally. In this role you will be fully supported to ensure your success. You will be able to progress your career by working closely with a group of highly experienced and talented stakeholders and build your reputation working in one of the success stories of the aerospace sector and alongside a leading name in Private Equity.
Benefits
At Ontic we care about your financial, physical, and mental wellness so we offer a range of benefits to support this, we care about what matters to you and have a valued culture of recognition and empowerment, accompanied by benefits that support work/life balance.

Our benefits package highlights include:

• Up to 37 days paid leave
• 10 hours paid volunteering time
• Annual goal share bonus scheme for all employees
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Discounts and offers from a range of retailers

Best place to work

We are more than the sum of our parts. And we’ve been recognised internally and externally for being so:

• We were ranked #9 in Best Companies’ Q3 leaderboard for Best Manufacturing Company based on our employee feedback
• 72.5% of employees who took part in our 2023 employee satisfaction survey said they are proud to work at Ontic

No day is the same at Ontic; we have doubled in size over the last couple of years and are still in rapid growth. We attribute our success to empowering colleagues to create the opportunity, fostering an environment of autonomy where we ask for forgiveness, not permission.
Our values

Our values are intrinsic to everything we do:

• We share a common sense - we’re a global family of specialists with a shared passion for precision.
• We have the freedom to choose - we’re challengers and innovators with the freedom to think differently and challenge the status quo.
• We create the opportunity - we’re change-makers with a clear direction and can-do spirit.

We are a fast-paced business with ambitious growth plans; so if you are dedicated, enthusiastic and always seeking ways to improve, you’ll enjoy a career with us

Responsibilities:

• Project Leadership: Provide overall leadership and direction for transformation projects, aligning them with the company’s strategic objectives and vision.
• Strategic Planning: Collaborate with executive stakeholders to define project goals, objectives, and success criteria. Develop and implement a comprehensive project roadmap, including timelines, milestones, and resource allocation.
• Project Governance: Establish effective governance mechanisms to monitor project progress, mitigate risks, resolve issues, and make timely decisions. Establish project governance structures, including steering committees and working groups. Define roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes, and escalation paths. Ensure adherence.
• Stakeholder Management: Engage and collaborate with stakeholders at various levels, including senior leadership, function heads, and cross-functional teams. Build strong relationships and establish effective communication channels. Understand stakeholder needs, expectations, and concerns. Ensure stakeholder engagement and alignment.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for process optimization and operational efficiency. Collaborate with stakeholders to analyse existing processes, identify pain points, and develop improved workflows. Implement best practices and process enhancements to drive productivity and quality.
• Project Delivery: Drive the execution and delivery of transformation projects, ensuring alignment with project objectives, quality standards, and agreed-upon timelines. Monitor progress against deliverables and facilitate timely decision-making to keep the projects on track.
• Budget Management: Develop project budgets and manage financial resources effectively. Monitor program expenses, track budget utilization, and ensure cost control.
• Resource Management: Identify resource requirements. Coordinate with business managers to ensure adequate staffing and resource allocation. Monitor resource utilization and implement strategies for optimization.
• Risk and Issue Management: Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks and issues. Develop risk management plans and ensure timely resolution of issues. Monitor project performance metrics and take proactive measures to address deviations. Implement effective contingency plans and ensure business continuity during periods of change.
• Training Deployment: Implement training programme for existing finance functions to ensure system and process changes are effectively understood and followed through within the function
• Change Management: Develop and implement change management strategies to drive adoption and ensure smooth transitions during project implementation. Engage stakeholders and provide guidance to manage organizational change.
• Continuous Improvement: Conduct project evaluation. Foster a culture of continuous improvement within the project team. Identify lessons learned, capture best practices, and implement process enhancements to optimize project delivery.
• Reporting and Communication: Develop and execute a comprehensive communication strategy for the project. Communicate program objectives, progress, and outcomes to stakeholders and senior leadership. Prepare clear and concise project reports, presentations, and dashboards, ensuring transparency and accountability. Conduct project-related meetings, workshops, and presentations as needed

To be successful in this role you’ll need to have

• Minimum 5 years of project and program related experience, with at-least 3 of those years having responsibility at manager level.
• Experience managing transformational type programs, and complex integrations within the business software industry.
• Experience with project tools including, financial and project management, scheduling, requirement management, and resource management.
• Project / Program management methods.
• Software development and testing.
• Leadership and team management skills.
• Strategic thinking, analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to engage and influence stakeholder.
• Understanding of software industry trends and technologies.
• Understanding of change management fundamentals.
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies.
• Systematic process improvement methods.
• Understanding of Risk management