Director of Business Initiatives

As a leading regional bank, SouthState has been providing financial solutions to individuals, families, and businesses in the Southeast for more than 100 years. SouthState team members strive to create remarkable experiences while building meaningful and lasting relationships. We are proud to be a reflection of the communities we serve, and our team members share core values that make SouthState a great place to bank, and a great place to work.

SUMMARY/OBJECTIVES

It is the responsibility of the Director of Business Initiatives to take ownership of all tasks and challenges that they encounter in the operation of their assigned position. EPMO Directors are responsible for assisting business leaders with developing strategic plans, leading the execution of due diligence processes for projects approved via Strategic Planning, and serving as a program and/or project manager on the most complex approved enterprise initiatives.

The Director of Business Initiatives is responsible for providing coaching, thought-leadership and guidance to EPMO Business Consultants to provide value to each line of business and ensure there are clear options for roadmap sequencing to optimize resources, and time to market considerations for the enterprise. This strategic business partner position guides collaborative engagement with targeted lines of business in consideration of cost/benefit trade off options with their roadmap and tactical plans to support the enterprise.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

DELIVERY AND PROCESS

• Lead the execution of complex projects, working with business partners and third parties to deliver on project scope, schedule, resource, and business outcome objectives.
• Guide EPMO Business Consultants through the process of consolidating selected line of business roadmap plans to execute business value trade off discussions impacting the enterprise
• Work with business stakeholders to categorize and 'map' each initiative for traceability to executive level strategic plans and, where applicable, facilitate line of business discussions to evaluate 'what if' scenerios to include various lines of business' plans.
• Coach the EPMO Business Consultants on how to best influence their line of business initiatives impact to the enterprise for the line of business' Roadmap items.
• Partner with the business executives and leader to influence how to engage in the strategic analysis to support business trade off decisions based on value to the enterprise, while simultaneously maintaining a balanced consideration for the individual line of business near term plans and commitments
• Cultivate a partnership with leadership teams and business owners to create a 'pull demand' for Enterprise level consulting expertise/talent and influence the culture of the organization to recognize, support, and promote value propositions and initiatives that exist beyond one's specific domain and department
• Lead the EPMO Business Consultants to ensure adherence to existing EPMO services/methodologies and their corresponding processes/standards.
• Work with EPMO peers to successfully plan and execute both corporate and business partners' annual strategic plan.
• Lead the EPMO Consultants and business partners in adopting new processes and services as part of the EPMO best practices.
• Continuously enhance knowledge/expertise in own area and keep current with bank profitability education and understanding to include a thorough grasp of how the programs/projects within the enterprise portfolio of projects are expected to impact the bank's balance sheet and income statement

BUSINESS

• Leads discovery meetings and works closely with South State's executive leadership teams to evaluate project sequence, prioritization, and time to market value for the enterprise by bringing together information that allows cost / benefit conclusions and business trade off decisions to be challenged, discussed, or shifted based on current information
• As a trusted business advisor, assist in the identification of opportunities to minimize cost, provide recommendations and/or deliver corresponding strategic solutions to support cost effectiveness and to enhance stakeholder experience. This may include: evaluation of tools and utilities that boost productivity, refactoring / redesign of existing modules for performance and scalability, or process improvements
• Develop/maintain expertise of system deployment methodologies, IT implications for systems/technologogies and impact on business solutions

PROFESSIONAL

• Lead and influence the team of EPMO Business Consultants to provide creative and innovative change agents and championing new cost effective ideas and opportunities
• Lead and influence others to provide the positive results impacting the enterprise and provide leadership to aggressively drive clear communication regarding alignment between enterprise strategy and line of business programs
• Build and nurture an environment and culture that inspires others to aspire to serve and bring people together around common goals and objectives
• Assist selected lines of business to identify and develop opportunities to enhance productivity and efficiency
• Establish effective, trusting, and mutually respectful relationships across the bank's mid to senior level management leadership team
• Possess and demonstrate superior and effective communication skills/habits, both written and verbal
• Create a positive atmosphere of inspiration for others that aligns with South State Bank's community and corporate values

OTHER DUTIES

• Accepts other duties as assigned.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

COMPETENCIES

• Superior knowledge of project organization, planning, execution, and reporting.
• Superior communication and negotiating skills
• Superior knowledge of the bank's strategic planning and line of business planning processes
• Superior knowledge of bank's Lines of Business and Support Areas
• Advanced knowledge of tools (e.g., MS Office, Visio) within own area
• Advanced understanding of businesses supported
• Extensive experience in leading cross functional teams and enterprise level programs for the achievement of business objectives.

Qualifications, Education, and Certification Requirements

• Education: Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience is required. MBA is preferred
• Experience: Relationship Management, Program/Project Management, Management, Leadership, Organizational Change Management 15+ years of experience within the financial services industry or comparable experience in similar role within service-oriented industry sector. 10 years of merger/acquisition experience with projects is required.
• Certifications/Specific Knowledge: Business/Support Area (Tech, Ops) Relationship Management.

TRAINING REQUIREMENTS/CLASSES

Examples: Required annual compliance training; New Employee Orientation

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Examples: Must be able to effectively access and interpret information on computer screens, documents, reports, and cash denominations, and identify customers. This position requires a large amount of time in front of a computer. This can be done sitting or standing with use of the right desk. This position requires lifting boxes and coin on a daily basis. This position may require bending and reaching.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

For telecommuters or hybrid: Telecommuting roles no matter if hybrid or 100% full time telecommuting must have a secure home office environment that is free from background noise and distractions. They must also have a reliable private internet connection that is not supplied by use of cellular data (hot spot). Cable or fiber connections are preferred. Requirements are subject to change, as new systems and technology is delivered. Travel may be required to come to meetings as needed.

Benefits | SouthState Careers