Seán O'Hanlon
Omeath,Ireland
Summary
I am an experienced leader specialising in PMO governance and change delivery, particularly within financial services. With a strong initial grounding in project and programme management, I have consistently experienced success in delivering change via effective PMO design and leadership for a variety of blue-chip organisations. I count my stakeholder management skills and ability to deliver change on a foundation of strong relationships, based on accountability and credibility to be my greatest strengths.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
7
7
years of post-secondary education
Work history
PMO Lead - European Central Bank
for Deloitte UK
Belfast
2021.07 - Current
- PMO Lead at the European Central Bank ('ECB') responsible for increasing the effectiveness and maturity of the internal PMO function, servicing all 'change the bank' projects within the ECB. Key responsibilities included:
- Development and implementation of a target operating model, aimed at optimising PMO Services to the Directorate General Information Services
- Design of ‘best practice’ project management standards to improve project quality against agreed KPIs
- Working with senior stakeholders, up to the Executive Board of the ECB to escalate and proactively address project portfolio risks and issues
- Design and implementation of PMO governance structures and processes;
- Implemented a benefits realisation process
- Design and implementation of an end to end risk management process for the portfolio
- Designing, piloting and implementing a quality assurance structure for the portfolio
- Design and implementation of a new procurement process for projects requiring external vendor support
- Upskilling ECB project managers on ‘best practice’ methodologies via dedicated training;
- Improving MI via new reporting dashboards (mainly via Tableau); and
- Ownership of audit actions from the ECB Internal Auditors Committee
PMO Lead - Abrdn
for Deloitte UK
Belfast, United Kingdom
2020.01 - 2021.06
- Engagement with Standard Life Aberdeen (now Abrdn) as PMO Lead, leading a team of eighteen PMO resources to support numerous major transformation programmes. Key responsibilities included:
- Authored a PMO Service Catalogue and worked with the client to agree services to be provided;
- Design and implementation of supporting PMO governance structures;
- Primary point of contact for C-suite stakeholders on progress of major projects and programmes;
- Development of MI dashboards in Tableau;
- Development and implementation of 'best practice' project data quality and reporting standards; and
- Design and implementation of a ‘Project Health Check’ service to help projects with quality issues
Manager
BDO Eaton Square Consulting
Dublin
2017.03 - 2019.12
- Acting as lead contact to all clients for Project Management services
- Responsible for relationship management, business development and all C-Level reporting.
- Acted as lead PM on multiple implementations of a leading cloud based HRIS. Have successfully delivered for key clients such as Google, Target and American Express
- Leading on long term strategy / business change projects with Diageo and Bord Iascaigh Mhara
- Managed a team of project managers – acting as Programme Manager and liaising with clients at Steering Group level
- Responsible for financial management of all BDO Eaton Square projects
Change Lead
Linklaters LLP
London
2016.08 - 2017.03
- Delivered a global internal project to streamline the firm's internal processes across four key workstreams, the ultimate output pf which was a five-year Target Operating Model.
Consultant
Deloitte LLP
Belfast
2015.08 - 2016.08
- Engaged as a Project Manager on a global programme with HSBC to re-engineer internal processes, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
Business Analyst
PricewaterhouseCoopers (UK)
Belfast
2014.01 - 2015.08
- Project Manager on a long-term KYC project for a prominent Irish bank
- Junior project manager on a KYC project with Standard Chartered Bank in New York, USA
Tax Specialist
PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ireland)
Dublin
2012.10 - 2013.11
- This role largely involved the provision of tax compliance and consultancy services to a variety of clients.
Education
Prince2 Practitioner -
Master's in Legal Science (MLegSci) - undefined
Queens University, Belfast
2010.01 - 2012.04
Business Information Technology (BSc Hons) - undefined
Queens University, Belfast
2006.01 - 2010.04
Skills
- Extensive experience of C-level engagement and stakeholder management
- Business operating model design
- Risk management
- Leadership of cross functional teams
- Broad depth of experience across all PMO activities such as planning; RAAID management; budget management, reporting, communications etc
- Extensive experience using tools such as Planisware, ServiceNow, SalesForce, Jira and Confluence
- Track record delivering software implementations via the full software lifecycle
- Process mapping / design (from requirement assimilation through to delivery)
- Training and development
Custom
My main interests outside work are undoubtedly reading and sport, specifically Gaelic football, which I commit a large amount of my free time to. My greatest achievement outside of my professional life has been representing the Armagh senior football team for a number of years.
Affiliations
Outside my working life, my main interests are farming and sport. Although now retired from playing, the GAA has played a huge role in shaping my character and I have been lucky enough to represent county Armagh as a senior footballer for a number of years.
Timeline
PMO Lead - European Central Bank
for Deloitte UK
2021.07 - Current
PMO Lead - Abrdn
for Deloitte UK
2020.01 - 2021.06
Manager
BDO Eaton Square Consulting
2017.03 - 2019.12
Change Lead
Linklaters LLP
2016.08 - 2017.03
Consultant
Deloitte LLP
2015.08 - 2016.08
Business Analyst
PricewaterhouseCoopers (UK)
2014.01 - 2015.08
Tax Specialist
PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ireland)
2012.10 - 2013.11
Master's in Legal Science (MLegSci) - undefined
Queens University, Belfast
2010.01 - 2012.04
Business Information Technology (BSc Hons) - undefined
Queens University, Belfast
2006.01 - 2010.04