Project Manager Senior

CRIF; Bologna; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

CRIF in Italy is seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead complex customer projects end-to-end from initiation to closure. You will coordinate cross-functional teams across business analysts, technical groups, product specialists and management, ensuring milestones, quality and contractual commitments are met.

The role requires 7+ years of project management experience, fluency in English, and strong capability in governance, reporting and stakeholder management.

Qualifications

• Typically 7+ years of project/program management experience with ownership of complex customer-facing projects.
• Strong experience managing international and cross-functional teams.
• Solid understanding of project financial management, including budget, forecast, cost and margin.
• Strong customer-facing, negotiation and conflict-management skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in high-pressure and escalation situations.
• Excellent executive communication and presentation skills.
• Fluent professional English for international project environments.
• Knowledge of PMI/PMBOK, PRINCE2, Agile or hybrid delivery models is valuable.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Project Delivery from initiation through go-live, stabilization and closure.
• Define and maintain project plans, milestones, deliverables and dependencies.
• Coordinate multiple workstreams and geographically distributed teams.
• Act as primary project interface with the customer and establish governance.
• Manage risks, issues and change control with clear options for action.
• Lead Steering Committees and executive project reviews.
• Oversee project economics, budget, forecast, costs and margins.
• Provide timely, accurate project reporting and governance.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Budget & forecasting

Stakeholder management

Executive communication

Job description

Role Purpose

The Senior Project Manager is accountable for the successful end-to-end delivery of complex customer projects, ensuring alignment with contractual commitments, business objectives, quality standards, timelines, and financial targets. The role acts as the primary coordination point across customers, delivery teams, technical functions and management, proactively managing risks, dependencies, escalations and project economics.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Project Delivery
• Own project execution from initiation through go-live, stabilization and closure.
• Define and maintain project plans, milestones, deliverables and dependencies.
• Ensure delivery against agreed scope, schedule, quality and contractual commitments.
• Coordinate multiple workstreams and geographically distributed teams.
• Customer & Stakeholder Management
• Act as the primary project interface with the customer.
• Establish effective governance with customer and internal stakeholders.
• Manage expectations and ensure transparent communication on status, risks and decisions.
• Handle critical situations and escalations with a solution-oriented approach.
• Prepare and lead Steering Committees and executive project reviews.
• Financial & Commercial Management
• Own project economics and continuously monitor effort, costs, revenues and margins.
• Identify budget or margin deviations early and define corrective actions.
• Control scope and ensure that additional customer requests are handled through appropriate change management processes.
• Support commercial discussions related to project changes, extensions and additional services.
• Risk & Issue Management
• Proactively identify delivery, technical, organizational and commercial risks.
• Maintain structured risk, issue, action and decision tracking.
• Define mitigation and recovery plans where required.
• Escalate critical issues early, providing management with clear options and recommended actions.
• Team Leadership
• Coordinate cross-functional teams including business analysts, technical teams, product specialists and other project stakeholders.
• Establish clear ownership, priorities and deadlines.
• Drive accountability while facilitating collaboration across different functions and locations.
• Support and mentor less experienced Project Managers.
• Governance & Reporting
• Ensure accurate and timely project reporting.
• Provide management with a clear view of project health, including milestones, economics, risks and customer status.
• Maintain project documentation and governance in accordance with company standards.
• Ensure lessons learned and improvement actions are captured and transferred to future initiatives.

Essential Knowledge And Requirements

• Typically, 7+ years of project/program management experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex customer-facing projects.
• Strong experience managing international and cross-functional teams.
• Solid understanding of project financial management, including budget, forecast, cost and margin.
• Strong customer-facing, negotiation and conflict-management skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in high-pressure and escalation situations.
• Excellent executive communication and presentation skills.
• Strong analytical, planning and problem-solving capabilities.
• Fluent professional English for international project environments.
• Knowledge of established project-management methodologies such as PMI/PMBOK, PRINCE2, Agile or hybrid delivery models is valuable.

Seniority Expectations

• Independently manages complex/multi-stream projects.
• Handles senior customer stakeholders autonomously.
• Accountable for budget, forecast and project margin.
• Anticipates problems rather than only reacting to them.
• Manages critical situations and recovery plans.
• Recognizes scope changes and protects project economics.
• Leads SteerCo and executive-level communication.
• Drives cross-functional teams without relying on hierarchical authority.
• Brings options and recommendations, not just problems.
• Coaches junior/mid-level Project Managers.

Success Measures / KPIs

• Delivery: milestone and go-live achievement.
• Financial: budget adherence and project margin.
• Customer: customer satisfaction and escalation management.
• Quality: defects, rework and acceptance of deliverables.
• Governance: forecasting accuracy, risk management and reporting quality.

We offer a safe and inclusive environment where colleagues are encouraged to think outside the box. CRIF is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive work environment and promoting equal opportunities throughout the employee life cycle. We aim to attract and retain the best people and embracing gender, age, culture, religion and disability diversity

Workplace: Bologna, or Milan office.

What we offer:

Type of contract: permanent

The Annual Salary for this position starts from €55.000 gross per year.

The level of classification will be determined during the selection process based on the candidate’s profile and in accordance with the National Collective Labour Agreement (CCNL) for the Tertiary, Distribution and Services sector. The final compensation package, including any variable components (such as MBO) or additional benefits, will depend on the assessment of the candidate’s profile against the role requirements.

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679(“GDPR”), candidates are hereby informed that their personal data will be processed exclusively for purposes related to the management of their application and the selection process. For further information on the processing of personal data and on the exercise of their privacy rights, candidates are invited to consult the full privacy notice available at the following Link , in the “Terms of Use” section.