Senior Data & Analytics Program Delivery Manager

Job Description

Job Description:

Royal Canin is rapidly transforming into a business powered by data. Our Data & Analytics team is growing rapidly as an Agile product organization, and we are looking for a driven and experienced Program Delivery Manager to join our team.

Leveraging an expertise of Agile Governance and Product methodologies, you will help our team develop and run consistent governance, communication, and reporting at the program level. You will be accountable for providing transparent, smooth program operations so that individual D&A product squads can deliver with greater speed and quality, whilst supporting key functions of foundational capabilities.

What will be your key responsibilities?

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of Agile-aligned governance frameworks for the Global RC Data & Analytics organization, ensuring they scale appropriately across teams and initiatives.

• Own program-level reporting across RC D&A, providing transparency into progress, blockers, resource allocation, and delivery/squad health. Work with the Analytics Delivery Director and Product Delivery Managers to align key performance metrics and definitions of delivery success.

• Hold accountability for program business case process; ensure they are created to quality, tracked through the governance lifecycle, and have associated value realization and resource plans.

• Possesses the ability to craft executive-level presentations, insights and deliver updates to senior management and stakeholder groups.

• Hold specific financial accountability for our foundational capabilities in data science and engineering. Build and utilize mutual vendor partnerships to empower these teams to focus on what they do best.

• Facilitate annual execution planning (AEP) activities at a program level, including data preparation, initiative tracking, and meeting coordination.

• Partner with Product Delivery Managers on cross-team delivery initiatives, including tool usage and internal reporting mechanisms. Ensure these are managed effectively, including management of any identified risks or dependencies, with intent to empower data-driven decision making.

• Foster strong working relationships across delivery, product, and business leadership to ensure shared understanding of priorities and outcomes.

• Support effective inter and intra-team communication. Act as a liaison between the D&A organization and the wider Digital Technology division, ensuring delivery activities remain aligned to strategic priorities.

This role operates at the intersection of execution, governance, and communication. It is a role requiring partnership over policing, so not to reduce the flexibility and speed of delivery that Agile empowers.

A successful candidate will be able to operate alongside other Agile roles (e.g. Scrum Masters, Product Managers) to enhance and standardize their day-to-day operations without absorbing responsibilities or generating non-value add activities. It may require challenging squad’s status quo, in pursuit of improving delivery in the long term and meeting enterprise-level requirements. You will help connect the dots between teams and present a common way of operating to stakeholders outside the team itself. As such your ability to navigate organizational dynamics, anticipate challenges, and broker different approaches (e.g. speed to value against process/governance rigor) will be crucial to your success.

What are we looking for?

• 5–7 years of experience in a PMO, Delivery Operations, or Project Portfolio role within an Agile or hybrid organization. Direct experience of product execution is beneficial, but not essential.

• Strong finance acumen, understanding of delivery in Agile frameworks (e.g. Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and how they scale across teams and programs.

• Proven ability to operate in complex organizational structures, working across product, development, and financial teams.

• Experience managing delivery governance, planning cycles (including annual execution planning), risk management, and stakeholder engagement at a program level.

• Familiarity with benefit/value tracking or Lean Portfolio Management.

• Advanced skills in PPM and overall reporting tools (e.g. Jira, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, Power BI).

• Strong presentation skills, with experience preparing executive-level content.

• Confident communicator with the ability to engage senior stakeholders and influence without direct authority.

Education/Qualifications

• Batchelor's degree in Management, Business Administration, STEM subject or similar.

• Advantageous: PMO or Agile certifications (e.g. Scrum, SixSigma, PMI-ACP, PMO Practitioner)

• Advantageous: PowerBI certification, Change management qualification (e.g. PROSCI)

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.

• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.

• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.

• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

#TBDDT