Project Director

Job description

The project director deals independently with the overall supervision of projects entrusted within an identified production range or the management of a specific complex project using an approach adapted to each customer.

He/she guarantees the fulfilment of business aims for customers and optimum income and margins for companies. He/she anticipates the resources required for projects in line with the requirements notified by the project managers.

He/she is also in charge of answering calls to tender and providing support in collaboration with the sales force.

Main tasks

• Taking part in the drafting process to propose the best technical and organizational solution to meet the customer’s needs.
• Determining long-term aims and major campaigns resulting in the completion of the project, including risk analysis,
• Coordinating contractual elements and the financial balance of the project: The project director is responsible for coordinating one or more projects. He/she works with the project managers. He/she complies with requirements in terms of costs, resources, deadlines and project quality,
• Anticipating and managing discrepancies: he/she assists the project manager in analysing project risks to identify project deviations in terms of functional and technical aspects, deadlines and costs. He/she assists the project manager in negotiating these discrepancies with the customer,
• Coordinating resources: He/she ensures that the necessary project resources are available to fulfil the intended aims. He/she connects with other project directors and the DBU to allocate resources to the project and anticipate reductions or increases in workload,
• Leading project managers and monitoring business indicators and reports,
• Completing internal reports for the management of the entity.

Knowledge

• Degree level qualification in IT with evidence of significant experience as a project manager and/or project director,
• A good understanding of the technical and functional environment of the project/projects (technical skills and an ability to learn about new technical and functional environments),
• A good understanding of negotiation techniques,
• In-depth knowledge of the software integration market, including trends and competitors, is an advantage.

Skills

• Ability to influence and guide others: Displaying leadership skills, motivating team members by constantly sharing necessary information,
• Managing and supporting teams,
• Listening and communication skills particularly in customer relations,
• Contractual knowledge (private/public) and negotiation skills,
• Creativity and innovation: To stand out from the competition, it’s often necessary to come up with innovative solutions. The ability to think creatively and suggest original ideas is a valuable asset,
• Writing skills: A business proposal must be clear, well-written and convincing. Excellent writing and communication skills are essential to be effective,
• Presentation skills: The project manager will often have to present the business proposal to clients or internal stakeholders. Presentation skills are needed to communicate convincingly and persuade audiences.

Abilities

• Good listening and communication skills: Circulating information, defending the corporate policy and convincing contact partners,
• Perseverance: Developing winning proposals can be a difficult and a challenging process. It takes perseverance and resilience to overcome difficulties and win the client’s trust,
• Ability to work as part of a team: Developing business proposals often involves working with a variety of internal teams, including sales, marketing or technical teams. The ability to work effectively with these teams is essential,
• Managing time and priorities: Developing a business proposal can be a time-intensive process. It’s important to be able to manage your time effectively, meet deadlines and prioritize tasks according to priority,
• Summarising skills, perspective.

Career prospects

The project director may move up to a position of responsibility within our structures, may become a director of a production centre / division and eventually a Business Unit director.