Program Director

Cognizant; Chennai District; Hybrid; INR 3,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Program Director to oversee large, strategic programs with emphasis on budget management, resource optimization, disciplined planning, and execution in a hybrid day-shift environment with no travel.

The role focuses on delivering high-quality outcomes, client alignment, and sustained profitability while coordinating across cross-functional teams and ensuring governance and risk management across programs.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience managing large programs with budget and profit responsibility.
• Proven ability in resource planning and workforce optimization.
• Strong program planning and scheduling with integrated roadmaps.
• Experience communicating with senior executives and client reps.
• Mentoring and developing project teams.
• Certifications include PMP, MSP or PgMP; preferred.

Responsibilities

• Drive integrated program planning aligning scope, timelines, and milestones.
• Manage budgets tracking costs forecast financials and margins.
• Oversee end-to-end execution; coordinate cross-functional teams.
• Coordinate resource management; balance workload and staffing.
• Monitor KPIs across scope, schedule, cost, and quality.
• Engage with client teams to translate needs into roadmaps.
• Implement governance with steering forums and risk reviews.
• Drive continuous improvement by analyzing delivery data.
• Support change management with adoption activities.
• Collaborate with technology and business partners for measurable value.
• Ensure compliance with policies and regulatory guidelines.
• Foster collaboration and accountability in program environment.
• Use wealth management domain knowledge where applicable.
• Drive hybrid work practices with clear ceremonies.

Skills

Large programs mgmt

Resource planning

Scheduling & roadmaps

Stakeholder mgmt

Mentoring teams

Job description

Job Summary

The Program Director will oversee large scale strategic programs with a strong focus on budget management resource optimization and disciplined planning and execution. The role manages complex client facing initiatives ensuring profitable delivery high quality outcomes and alignment with customer experience goals in a hybrid work model with day shifts and no travel requirements.

Responsibilities

• Drive integrated program planning activities to align scope timelines and financial targets while ensuring clear visibility of milestones for all stakeholders
• Manage program budgets by tracking costs forecasting financials and optimizing spend to achieve profit objectives and sustainable margins for the organization
• Oversee end to end program execution by coordinating cross functional teams resolving delivery risks and maintaining adherence to schedule and quality expectations
• Coordinate resource management activities by balancing workload optimizing staffing levels and ensuring critical roles are filled to support program commitments
• Monitor key performance indicators across scope schedule cost and quality to provide timely status updates and actionable insights to senior stakeholders
• Engage with client teams to understand business objectives capture evolving expectations and translate customer experience needs into pragmatic delivery roadmaps
• Implement governance routines including steering forums risk reviews and issue tracking to maintain transparency accountability and timely decision making across the program
• Drive continuous improvement by analyzing delivery data identifying patterns in delays or defects and implementing corrective actions to enhance program efficiency
• Support change management by assessing impact on teams and systems planning adoption activities and ensuring that changes are introduced with minimal disruption to operations
• Collaborate with technology and business partners to ensure that program outcomes are aligned with enterprise strategies and generate measurable value for end customers
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies and regulatory guidelines by embedding required controls and documentation practices into daily program operations
• Foster a culture of collaboration and accountability within the program environment to encourage open communication timely risk escalation and a strong focus on customer value
• Utilize wealth management domain knowledge where applicable to interpret client requirements align solutions with advisory processes and improve outcomes for end investors
• Drive hybrid work practices by defining clear ceremonies communication channels and work agreements that support distributed teams operating in a day shift environment

Qualifications

• Require extensive experience in managing large programs with responsibility for cost control profit realization and financial performance within complex environments
• Require proven expertise in resource planning capacity management and workforce optimization to ensure that critical skills are available at the right time for program delivery
• Require strong capability in program planning and scheduling including creation of integrated roadmaps dependency maps and realistic release plans for multi team initiatives
• Require hands on experience in program execution with accountability for meeting client commitments managing scope changes and maintaining high levels of delivery quality
• Require demonstrated success as a customer experience focused program manager who can balance user needs operational constraints and business outcomes in each release
• Nice to have experience in wealth management or related financial services domains to better understand client journeys regulatory considerations and product operating models
• Require strong communication and stakeholder management skills to interact with senior executives cross functional teams and client representatives in a clear and structured manner
• Require familiarity with hybrid work models and collaboration tooling to effectively coordinate distributed teams ensure clarity of responsibilities and maintain productivity
• Require a track record of mentoring and supporting team members to build program management capabilities encourage accountability and promote continuous improvement across engagements

Certifications Required

Preferred certifications include Project Management Professional PMP or Program Management certification such as MSP or PgMP relevant to large scale program delivery