Senior Planning and Delivery Manager

Job Details

Job title

Senior Planning and Delivery Manager

Reports to (job)

Director Business Connectivity, Fixed Networks

Team

Business Connectivity, Fixed Networks

Location

Birmingham, London, Ipswich

Job Dimensions

Senior Planning and Delivery Manager responsible for project delivery across Platforms (Internet / IPVPN / Mobile Backhaul) and Ethernet / Optical Services.

Hours

37.5 (full time)

No. Direct Reports

5-10

Career Level

C

Why BT Group?

BT Group was the world’s first telco and our heritage in the sector is unrivalled.  As home to several of the UK’s most recognised and cherished brands – BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet, we have always played a critical role in creating the future, and we have reached an inflection point in the transformation of our business.

Over the next two years, we will complete the UK’s largest and most successful digital infrastructure project – connecting more than 25 million premises to full fibre broadband.  Together with our heavy investment in 5G, we play a central role in revolutionising how people connect with each other.

While we are through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, meaning we can reward our shareholders for their commitment and patience, we are absolutely focused on how we organise ourselves in the best way to serve our customers in the years to come.  This includes radical simplification of systems, structures, and processes on a huge scale. Together with our application of AI and technology, we are on a path to creating the UK’s best telco, reimagining the customer experience and relationship with one of this country’s biggest infrastructure companies. 

Change on the scale we will all experience in the coming years is unprecedented.  BT Group is committed to being the driving force behind improving connectivity for millions and there has never been a more exciting time to join a company and leadership team with the skills, experience, creativity, and passion to take this company into a new era.  

Why this job matters

This senior role is accountable for delivering projects across Ethernet, Optical and Mobile Backhaul services, and internal projects on UK Internet Peering / IPVPN and Mobile Backhaul platforms. For context these products generate significant revenues for BT, and the platforms c40% of UK internet, all of BT’s private IPVPN and a significant proportion of the Mobile Backhaul connectivity within the UK.

What you’ll be doing – your accountabilities

The skills you’ll need to succeed

·        Operates as an Subject Matter Expert in Planning & Delivery management, setting the development, implementation and maintenance of projects across the portfolio.

·        Mentors, coaches, and manages a team to develop current and future team capabilities and ensure performance.

·        Manages the overall delivery roadmap for the team, ensuring alignment with BT’s strategic plan and  interlock with stakeholders both within Fixed Networks and across Business / Digital / Openreach.

·        Manages the overall financial budget (Capex and Opex). Manages the teams submission into the Annual Investment Plan, Mid Term Plan (MTP). Ensures interlock with Business and Digital.

·        Manages the teams Total Labour Resource (TLR) / Total Labour Cost (TLC) and input into finance resource trackers (PFT), ensuring all team members are correctly allocated to projects and Capex / Opex.

·        Coaches team in Agile methodologies and supports them to deliver projects on time, to required quality and budget.

·        Manages overall project/programme risks, mitigating and adjusting as necessary and obtaining buy-in from senior management for critical project plans, commitment and changes.

·        Responsible for ensuring regular updates to Programme Boards and Senior Stakeholders across the business.

·        Ensures understanding of stakeholder goals and expectations, addresses misalignments, monitors programmes to meet/exceed the agreed expectations and communicates with concerned stakeholder groups.

·        Envisions strategies for control and governance structures to ensure desired outcomes across projects.

·        Leads the implementation of continuous improvement opportunities to improve Planning & Delivery processes

·        Significant experience and expertise in managing a portfolio of projects to deliver to time, quality and budget. Project Management / Technical Delivery / Product Owner experience.

·        Good technical understanding of the products (Wholesale Ethernet, BTnet, Mobile Backhaul, IP/Ethernet Connect) and Platforms, and the ability to communicate clearly the Business outcomes for the project / roadmaps

·        Stakeholder requirements gathering, management and prioritization.

·        Ability to use Agile methodologies and JIRA to manage portfolio of projects to achieve aims. Big Room Planning / Quarterly Wave Planning workshops to agree and set quarterly priorities across the portfolio / stakeholders.

·        Financial and resource planning, budgeting and reporting.

·        Risk management and mitigation. Finding options to achieve the “Path to Green” (getting back on track!). Assessment of risk and agreement of changes.

·        People management and leadership; proven ability to motivate, inspire and lead (local and remote) teams in a complex environment and through periods of change. Talent, succession and coaching for performance experience.

·        Proven ability to build strong working relationships with stakeholders inside and outside the team at all levels of the organisation, including those with different priorities from your own.

·        Excellent communication skills and proven ability to influence others at all levels and functions within the business to agree solutions which maximise value for BT Group. Conflict / issue resolution.

Leadership accountabilities

Experience you’d be expected to have

·        Builds inclusive team that values diversity of thought / approach.

·        Implements a learning culture, where risks and issues are shared openly, and learning is taken across the wider team.

·        Works as One BT transparently with colleagues in Business / Digital / Openreach / Networks in order to meet strategic goals.

·        Prioritises roadmap and resources according to Business / Customer / Networks impact, looking for win:win outcomes.

·        Aligns roadmap to BT Group priorities (Build / Connect / Accelerate) – ensures alignment across teams. in the context of wider BT Group strategy.

·        Encourages an Agile “fail fast” mentality in order to take learning and generate momentum.  Schedules regular “Show and Tell” sessions in order to keep alignment between stakeholders and push for outcomes.

·        Project / Programme Management including evidence of managing multiple large complex projects

·        Product Owner experience (Agile)

·        JIRA for managing deliverables and risks

·        Communication and Stakeholder Management

·        Quarterly Wave Planning / Big Room Planning / Prioritisation

·        Requirements Management / Gathering

·        Issue resolution / conflict management / influencing

·        Budget management and PFT (resource allocation / tracking)

·        Team management

·        Business Connectivity knowledge, particularly Ethernet / Internet / IPVPN

·        OSS knowledge / understanding

·        Commercial understanding e.g impact of late delivery of milestone

Key decisions

The BT way

·        Recommends priorities within the Roadmap

·        Recommends launch Go / No Go decision.

·        Recommends approach to risks / mitigation

·        Agrees budgets and manages across projects

·        Performs regular tracking of delivery to roadmap

·        Inputs to the Annual Investment Review and Mid Term Plan. Also inputs to resourcing decisions.