Director, Enterprise Project Office

Hancock Whitney•New Orleans, LA

About The Position

The Director of the Enterprise Project Office (EPO) leads a team of relationship managers, project managers, and business analysts responsible for governing, prioritizing, and delivering strategic initiatives across the Bank. This role ensures consistent project execution, strong business and technology partnership, disciplined prioritization, and measurable value delivery. The Director also introduces emerging best practices—such as enhanced intake processes, value‑focused prioritization, modern tooling, and continuous improvement—to mature the Bank’s delivery capability while preserving essential governance, regulatory control, and execution stability.

Requirements

Master’s degree or equivalent experience; 8–10 years of relevant project/portfolio leadership experience
Financial services background required
Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to engage all levels of management
Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) and project management tools
Ability to read and interpret complex technical, financial, and regulatory materials
Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills; ability to make sound recommendations
Understanding of project management and intake tools (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, or similar)
PMI and ITIL Foundations certifications highly desired

Nice To Haves

Experience maturing an EPMO/EPO or introducing improved intake, prioritization, and portfolio practices
Familiarity with value‑based prioritization, benefits realization, or outcome‑driven planning
Exposure to Agile or hybrid delivery models (Scrum, Kanban) in a regulated environment
Understanding of modern collaboration and work‑management tools (Jira, ADO, Smartsheet, M365)
Experience enhancing transparency with dashboards or flow‑based insights
Knowledge of cloud, SaaS, vendor management, or modern delivery tooling (not required)
Experience leading incremental change and supporting organizational adoption

Responsibilities

Oversees the enterprise project portfolio, ensuring alignment to corporate strategy, revenue optimization, risk reduction, operational improvement, and regulatory priorities.
Chairs Project Committee and Project Steering Committee; provides clear, consistent visibility into project status, risks, capacity constraints, and resource needs.
Maintains and continuously improves project management methodology, introducing lightweight, modern practices such as enhanced intake, risk‑based prioritization, and benefits realization.
Partners with business and technology leadership to ensure the portfolio is prioritized based on value, risk, regulatory need, and capacity.
Develops and executes a three‑year EPO strategy aligned to corporate goals, incorporating modern delivery concepts (e.g., outcome measures, increased transparency, streamlined processes).
Acts as a key liaison between business units and technology teams to ensure clarity of needs, alignment of priorities, and delivery of business value.
Plays a primary leadership role in merger and acquisition integration to ensure timely, controlled conversion with minimal customer impact.
Provides leadership across project planning, coordination, and execution, ensuring predictable delivery of scope, schedule, and budget.
Implements modern intake and prioritization practices (e.g., problem statements, value framing, risk/urgency mapping) to strengthen decision‑making.
Introduces incremental enhancements to delivery processes—such as improved dashboards, flow‑based metrics, or cadence reviews—without disrupting established practices.
Supports adoption of more data‑driven reporting, including project health dashboards, resource views, and portfolio insights.
Partners with senior leadership on capital planning for strategic initiatives; contributes to budgeting and forecasting processes.
Ensures value delivery is monitored, documented, and communicated; introduces lightweight benefits realization where appropriate.
Tracks and reports Playbook action items and strategic progress.
Ensures project practices incorporate regulatory, audit, cybersecurity, and operational risk requirements.
Maintains governance structures that are thorough yet adaptable as the organization modernizes; ensures evidence‑ready documentation and traceability.
Manages managers overseeing a team of 15–30 associates.
Responsible for hiring, coaching, performance management, workload balancing, policy/procedure documentation, and career development.
Builds capabilities in project management, business analysis, communication, and emerging practices such as structured intake, value framing, and change management.