Senior Project Manager – Life Insurance Platform Modernization (#587)

We are seeking an experienced Project Manager to lead a key stream within a major Life Insurance Platform Modernization Program in Japan. The Project Manager will work closely with business stakeholders, technology teams, vendors, and regulatory stakeholders and will report to the Senior Program Manager responsible for the overall Life Platforms Modernization Program.

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership & Planning

• Lead the planning and execution of a major stream within a complex life insurance platform modernization program.
• Define project scope, objectives, milestones, deliverables, resources, and dependencies.
• Establish and maintain project governance, schedules, budgets, and delivery plans.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across business, technology, operations, and external partners.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and in line with agreed quality standards.

Migration & Process Simplification

• Lead the simplification and optimization of existing commission and compensation processes.
• Identify opportunities to eliminate unnecessary complexity, improve process efficiency, and enhance data accuracy.
• Drive the migration of applications and workloads from legacy mainframe environments to modern cloud platforms.
• Develop and execute migration strategies, including assessment, planning, testing, cutover, and stabilization.
• Support the successful decommissioning of legacy mainframe applications while ensuring business continuity.

Monitoring, Reporting & Governance

• Monitor project progress, milestones, risks, issues, dependencies, and financial performance.
• Provide regular status reports and executive-level updates to senior management.
• Establish appropriate KPIs and project governance mechanisms.
• Escalate critical risks, issues, and decisions in a timely manner.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships with business leaders, technology teams, operations, compliance, and other key stakeholders.
• Facilitate effective communication between technical and non-technical teams.
• Manage expectations, resolve conflicts, and drive alignment across multiple functions.
• Present complex technical and business topics clearly to senior stakeholders.

Change Management & Training

• Develop and implement change management strategies to support the adoption of new processes and platforms.
• Coordinate user communication, training, and organizational readiness activities.
• Ensure impacted business teams are adequately prepared for new processes and technologies.

Vendor & Partner Management

• Manage relationships with external technology vendors, system integrators, and other implementation partners.
• Monitor vendor performance against contractual commitments, milestones, and quality expectations.
• Coordinate third-party activities and ensure alignment with overall program objectives.

Risk, Quality & Compliance

• Identify, assess, and proactively manage project risks and dependencies.
• Establish appropriate mitigation and contingency plans.
• Ensure delivery complies with internal governance, security, risk, and quality standards.
• Work closely with compliance and regulatory stakeholders to ensure alignment with applicable Japanese insurance regulations.
• Ensure appropriate controls are incorporated throughout the migration and modernization lifecycle.

Required Skills & Experience

Professional Experience

• 8+ years of project management experience in complex IT or business transformation environments.
• At least 3 years of experience managing large-scale IT transformation projects within the insurance, banking, financial services, or similarly regulated industries.
• Proven experience leading complex technology transformation initiatives involving multiple business and technical stakeholders.
• Experience with mainframe-to-cloud migration projects is highly desirable.
• Experience within the life insurance industry is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects involving legacy system modernization, application migration, or legacy platform decommissioning.

Technical & Business Knowledge

• Strong understanding of insurance systems and business processes, particularly commission and compensation processing.
• Good understanding of application modernization and cloud migration methodologies.
• Familiarity with at least one major cloud platform such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Understanding of migration planning, testing, data migration, cutover, and application decommissioning.
• Knowledge of IT governance, information security, risk management, and quality assurance.
• Good understanding of the Japanese regulatory environment, particularly regulations and compliance requirements relevant to insurance and financial systems.

Language Requirements

• Fluent Japanese with strong business-level communication skills.
• Proficient English, with the ability to communicate effectively with international stakeholders and multicultural teams.