Senior Project Manager - Delivery Operations & Strategy (SN Digital)

About US

The company

Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians, and other professionals. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals, platforms, and technology solutions reach millions of people. For over 175 years our brands and imprints have been a trusted source of knowledge to these communities and today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood, and used by our communities – enabling them to improve outcomes, make progress, and benefit the generations that follow.

About SN Digital

Over the past few years, Springer Nature has grown rapidly and as a result, the Discipline and Domain structure was introduced in SN Digital, in a matrix fashion. The aim of the Domain structure is to address scalability issues by uniting teams with a similar goal or focus to work together, whilst Disciplines work as Communities of Practise that allow our colleagues to collaborate on developing their craft.

Domains operate as a “network of teams” with a high degree of empowerment, strong communication, and rapid information flow. Teams within the Domain still have the same autonomy and responsibilities but are part of a wider ‘network of teams with a shared responsibility to collaborate and pull in the same direction. The team is not only working towards the betterment of the team’s products or services, but in doing so they are also working towards achieving the goals of the Domain.

Purpose of the Role

We are seeking a Senior Project Manager to manager programmes of work across Delivery Operations and Strategy. This role will focus on initiatives that are aligned with our technology strategy, drive operational excellence, and provide frameworks for teams to deliver effectively and consistently. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in working on complex programmes of work.

You will be responsible for understanding complex projects and working with a cross-functional team to understand business needs aligned to technology solutions. Often this will be working across different domains within SN Digital and must be able to collaborate and align teams towards targeted outcomes.

This role also acts as a bridge between delivery teams and senior leadership. They will ensure that the priorities, resources and expertise of the teams are in line with the organisational goals to deliver successfully across our portfolio.

The job can be based in any of our main Digital locations (London, Lisbon, Berlin, Dordrecht, Pune), and you will work remotely at times with colleagues in many of our global offices including Lisbon, London (UK), Pune (India), Dordrecht (The Netherlands) and Berlin (Germany). Some travel will be required as appropriate.

About you

You’re an experienced project manager who has supported complex, multi-portfolio programmes from start to finish. With over seven years working at programme or portfolio level you know how to work with high-performing, psychologically safe teams that consistently deliver.

You will work collaboratively with solutions architecture, business analysis and senior leadership to ensure roadmaps, budgets and resources are aligned with strategic priorities. You combine strategic vision with operational discipline and are comfortable working at whatever level programmes require, whether it’s with senior executives or delivery teams.

You can communicate effectively, and your approach is collaborative, focuses on unblocking teams and aligning people towards shared goals. You have in-depth knowledge and experience of agile, Lean and hybrid delivery methodologies and can use delivery tooling and dashboards to enhance transparency. Above all, you have a drive to create a culture of continuous improvement to foster teams that learn fast, adapt quickly and deliver outcomes that make a measurable impact.

Project Delivery Excellence

• Successfully initiate, plan, govern, and deliver complex cross-domain programmes of work
• Establish clear project objectives, success measures, governance structures, milestones, and stakeholder engagement plans for assigned initiatives.
• Ensure projects achieve intended business outcomes and realise anticipated benefits beyond implementation.

Risk & Issue Management

• Proactively identify, assess, escalate, and manage project and portfolio risks before they impact delivery outcomes.
• Facilitate timely resolution of issues and competing priorities through structured decision-making.
• Embed risk management practices into project and initiative governance.

Stakeholder Management & Communication

• Build trusted relationships with business stakeholders, technology leaders, and delivery teams.
• Provide clear, concise, and actionable communication that supports informed decision-making.
• Maintain stakeholder alignment and buy-in throughout project lifecycles.

Demand & Strategic Planning

• Support demand intake, prioritisation, and planning activities to ensure resources are focused on strategic objectives.
• Align projects and programmes to strategic priorities and outcomes
• Work with sponsors to define clear outcomes, requirements, constraints, and success criteria.

Continuous Improvement & Change

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve processes, governance practices, delivery frameworks, and reporting effectiveness.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement and accountability across project teams.
• Drive adoption of best practices within SN Digital
  

What’s expected
First 3 Months — Learn, Establish & Build Credibility

Organisational Understanding

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of Springer Nature Digital processes, governance structures, strategic priorities, and key stakeholders.
• Understand the current project portfolio, demand pipeline, risks, dependencies, and reporting mechanisms.

Stakeholder Relationships

• Establish strong working relationships with sponsors, delivery teams, technology leaders, and business stakeholders.
• Become a trusted point of contact for assigned projects and initiatives

Governance & Delivery Foundations

• Review existing project governance frameworks, reporting standards, outcomes, and portfolio management processes.
• Take ownership of assigned initiatives and establish clear project controls.

What’s expected
First 6 Months — Deliver, Influence & Improve

Project Delivery

• Lead multiple projects through planning, execution, governance, and delivery.
• Ensure objectives, scope, risks, dependencies, and resources are actively managed.

PMO Effectiveness

• Improve visibility of project and portfolio health through effective reporting and governance.
• Support demand intake and prioritisation activities to increase delivery predictability.

Strategic alignment

• Work with leaders and sponsors to ensure delivery activities align with departmental objectives and key results.
• Track and communicate progress against agreed outcomes.

What’s expected
First 12 Months: Deliver Strategic Value & Drive Maturity

Strategic Delivery Impact

• Successfully deliver major projects and initiatives that contribute to departmental and organisational objectives.
• Demonstrate measurable business value through delivered outcomes.

Portfolio Leadership

• Be recognised as a trusted delivery expert across the organisation.
• Contribute to improved governance maturity and portfolio performance.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead improvements to delivery processes, reporting, demand management, governance, or planning practices.
• Foster stronger alignment between technology delivery and business goals.

Organisational Influence

• Support senior stakeholders in prioritisation, investment decisions, risk management, and strategic planning.
• Enable more effective cross-functional collaboration across global teams.

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