Delta Denta

Delta Dental of Missouri is seeking a Director, HR Project Management to lead the planning, prioritization, and execution of our enterprise HR project portfolio. This strategic role partners across benefits, compensation, talent management, recruiting, compliance, payroll, and HRIS to deliver high-impact initiatives from concept through successful adoption. The Director will establish project governance, manage organizational change, and ensure cross-functional HR initiatives are completed on time, within budget, and with measurable business results.

Position Summary

The Director, HR Project Management leads the planning, prioritization, and execution of the organization's enterprise HR project and program portfolio. This role serves as the dedicated project management engine for Human Resources — partnering with HR leadership regarding Benefits, Compensation, Talent Management, Recruiting, Compliance, Payroll, and HRIS to move initiatives from concept through successful, sustained adoption. The role owns the HR roadmap, establishes project governance and reporting standards, and ensures that cross-functional HR initiatives are delivered on time, within budget, and with measurable business impact. This role is distinct from, and partners closely with, the organization's generalist HR leadership: where the generalist HR Director owns day-to-day HR administration, employee relations, and policy interpretation, the Director, HR Project Management owns the disciplined planning and delivery of the change initiatives that modernize and improve those functions.

Essential Functions and Job Responsibilities

The duties listed below are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed in this position. They are not to be construed as an exclusive list of all job functions performed in this role.

HR Portfolio and Roadmap Management

• Own and maintain the enterprise HR project roadmap, including intake, prioritization criteria, sequencing, and capacity planning across all HR workstreams.
• Establish project charters that define scope, objectives, timeline, budget, resourcing, risks, and success measures for each approved initiative.
• Facilitate a recurring prioritization and steering process with HR leadership and senior leadership to align the portfolio with organizational priorities.
• Track portfolio-level status, interdependencies, resource constraints, and risk across all active and pipeline initiatives.
• Maintain a single source-of-truth tracking tool or dashboard that gives HR leadership real-time visibility into initiative status and health.

Project and Program Execution

• Lead end-to-end execution of complex, cross-functional HR initiatives, including HRIS and technology implementations, process redesigns, policy rollouts, and compensation or benefits program changes.
• Build and manage detailed project plans, work breakdown structures, timelines, and resource plans for each initiative.
• Coordinate cross-functional project teams, subject matter experts, and external vendors or consultants to keep initiatives on track.
• Identify, track, and mitigate project risks and issues, escalating promptly with clear options and recommendations.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the quality and adoption standards expected by stakeholders.

Stakeholder Engagement and Change Management

• Serve as the primary point of coordination between HR leadership, senior leadership, and other departments for in-flight initiatives.
• Design and execute change management and communication plans that support successful adoption of new programs, tools, and processes.
• Facilitate training, job aids, and adoption support for leaders and employees impacted by HR project deliverables.
• Build stakeholder confidence and buy-in through clear, consistent, and proactive communication of project goals, progress, and outcomes.

Reporting, Governance, and Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain project dashboards, scorecards, and status reports for senior leadership and HR leadership.
• Establish standardized project management methodology and governance processes for HR initiatives.
• Conduct post-implementation reviews and lessons-learned sessions to drive continuous improvement in how HR delivers projects.
• Use data and metrics to evaluate project outcomes, adoption, and return on investment, and to inform future prioritization decisions.

HR Systems and Process Enablement

• Partner with HRIS and IT teams to evaluate, select, and implement systems and technology that support HR initiatives.
• Identify opportunities for automation, process redesign, and efficiency gains across HR functional areas as part of project scoping.
• Support data integrity, integration, and reporting requirements across HR platforms during project execution and post-launch stabilization.

Key Performance Indicators

• Percentage of portfolio initiatives delivered on time, within budget, and within agreed scope.
• Effectiveness of roadmap prioritization, including cycle time from intake to project kickoff.
• Stakeholder satisfaction with project delivery, communication, and responsiveness.
• Adoption and utilization rates for newly implemented programs, tools, and processes.
• Timeliness and quality of executive reporting, dashboards, and portfolio-level updates.
• Number and severity of project risks identified and proactively mitigated before impacting delivery.

Education, Skills, Personal Attributes, and Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, project management, or a related field required.
• At least 10 years of progressive experience in human resources, project/program management, or a combination of both, including experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives from concept through adoption.
• Demonstrated success leading HR-related projects such as HRIS implementations, compensation or benefits redesigns, performance management rollouts, or organizational change initiatives.
• Solid understanding of core HR functional areas, including benefits, compensation, talent management, recruiting, and compliance, sufficient to partner effectively with subject matter experts.
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, facilitation, and executive communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects, competing priorities, and ambiguity while maintaining accountability for results.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, HRIS platforms, and project tracking or reporting/dashboard tools.

This position currently functions as a hybrid role working from both home and in-office environments. Any home office setting must be conducive to all guidelines outlined by the organization. This role is required to regularly attend in-person meetings, the frequency of which is determined by management based on departmental or organizational needs.

Work Conditions

• General office working conditions which may require sitting for extended periods of time.
• Periodic overnight travel may be required for meetings, training, or site visits.
• May involve occasional evening or weekend work to support time-sensitive projects, implementations, or go-live events.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Specific vision abilities require the ability to focus distant and near objects clearly. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to use hands and arms to handle, feel and reach as well as operate a personal computer.

Requires the ability to occasionally lift and carry up to 25 pounds.

Requires visual acuity to inspect facilities and read detailed reports.

Disclaimer

This job description is designed to provide a general overview of the requirements of the job and does not entail a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties, or responsibilities that will be required. The organization reserves the right to modify this job description at any time; including assigning or reassigning job duties.

Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.