Senior technology Leader - Certinia

Company:

Oliver Wyman

Description:

Director – IT Product Management

Oliver Wyman Technology organization is seeking a senior technology leader to own Certinia, the platform that underpins our global Finance and Human Capital functions. Certinia is a combination of a vendor-provided SaaS solution and a substantial custom enterprise build on Salesforce. It supports the full operating lifecycle of our consulting business: project and opportunity management, resource management and staffing, time entry and billing, financial management, integrations, and security and access management.

In this role, you will ensure Certinia operates reliably today while evolving to meet the firm's strategic ambitions of tomorrow. As a management consulting business, our ability to plan, staff, deliver, and account for client engagements depends directly on the integrity and capability of this platform. You will own it end to end: setting the roadmap, running a multi-disciplinary delivery organization that spans global time zones, partnering with senior business and IT stakeholders to translate evolving needs into pragmatic solutions, and stewarding the vendor and partner ecosystem around it. You are equally accountable for the platform's next chapter — moving toward a standardized product posture, embedding AI and agentic capabilities into core workflows, and building a durable, high-performing team.

You will lead an organization of 30+ professionals spanning product management, solution specialists, platform engineering, and several agile delivery squads.

We will count on you to:

· Own the multi-year vision and roadmap for Certinia, balancing reliable operations with deliberate investment, and drive a shift toward a more standardized product posture that reduces custom-build debt while preserving genuinely differentiating capability.

· Lead and develop a 30+ person, multi-disciplinary organization across product management, solution specialists, platform engineering, and agile delivery squads, working across global time zones; set and uphold engineering, quality, and delivery standards.

· Serve as the senior technology partner to executive sponsors and stakeholders in the US and UK time zones — including the CIO, COO, FP&A leadership, Human Capital leadership, and peer IT functions — translating evolving business priorities into a defensible delivery plan and communicating trade-offs, risks, and progress credibly at senior levels.

· Own the strategic relationship with the Certinia SaaS vendor and manage implementation and delivery partners with clear performance expectations, structured governance, and a deliberate posture on knowledge transfer and long-term internal capability; lead contract negotiations, renewals, and SOWs in partnership with Procurement and Legal.

· Own DevOps, release management, and environment management for the platform end to end, including CI/CD, branching and deployment strategy, sandbox and UAT lifecycle, and incident, problem, and change management.

· Be accountable for the platform's regulatory and compliance posture, including internal and external audits, data privacy, access controls, and segregation of duties, partnering with Information Security, Internal Audit, and IAM.

· Own the platform's annual operating and investment budget, including vendor and partner spend and internal capacity, and provide accurate and timely financial reporting and forecasting to IT and Finance leadership.

· Champion the integration of AI and agentic capabilities into core platform workflows, partnering with the firm's broader AI and data communities to bring emerging capabilities into the platform safely, responsibly, and in ways that deliver measurable business value.

· Collaborate closely with peer IT functions — Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, Data, Infrastructure, and IAM — and ensure the platform's integration estate across upstream and downstream systems is well-architected, observable, and resilient.

What you need to have:

· 12+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, including 5+ years leading multi-disciplinary delivery organizations at meaningful scale (20+ people, multiple teams).

· Demonstrated success owning a business-critical enterprise platform end to end — strategy, delivery, operations, and stakeholder management — in a global, matrixed environment.

· Proven ability to operate as a credible senior technology partner to C-suite and senior business stakeholders, including CIO, COO, FP&A, and HR / People function leadership.

· Executive presence and communication skills suited to a professional services environment; able to translate technical complexity into clear, structured business terms in writing and in the room..

· Track record of building, developing, and retaining high-performing teams across geographies and time zones; thoughtful on talent strategy, succession, and inclusion.

· Strong judgement under ambiguity, with a bias for pragmatic action and the ability to hold multiple competing priorities in balance.

· Integrity, intellectual honesty, and a service mindset — comfortable being accountable for outcomes that matter to the Firm.

· Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline; advanced degree or equivalent leadership / delivery experience.

· Willing to work in a hybrid model with regular in-office presence and to travel internationally on an occasional basis.

· Direct experience leading delivery on Salesforce-based platforms at enterprise scale, with a working understanding of Salesforce concepts (data and security model, declarative versus programmatic build, Apex, Lightning, integration patterns, sandbox and org strategy, release management).

· Deep familiarity with PSA platforms (Certinia or equivalents) across project and opportunity management, resource management, time entry and billing, and project financials.

· Strong grasp of enterprise integration patterns — APIs, event-driven architectures, middleware — and the realities of integrating with ERPs, HRIS (Workday), identity providers, data and integration platforms (Informatica IICS and/or DataBricks), and downstream finance and reporting systems.

· Robust understanding of modern DevOps and release engineering on the Salesforce platform, including CI/CD, source-driven development, environment strategy, and deployment automation.

· Working knowledge of IT general controls relevant to financial systems, including SOX-style frameworks, access management, segregation of duties, change management, and audit evidence practices.

· Familiarity with data privacy and security frameworks (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2) as they apply to enterprise SaaS and custom platforms.

· Practical understanding of agile delivery at scale — product management, backlog discipline, team topologies, and outcome-based delivery metrics.

· Minimum 12 months experience as Associate Director/Director

· Should have at least “On track” or above in last appraisal

· Should not be under any Performance Continuity Plan, or had any official Disciplinary action within the last 3 months

· Should not have applied for any other IJP within Marsh McLennan in the last 3 month

What makes you stand out:

· Prior experience in management consulting, professional services, legal, or another people-and-project-centric firm, with an appreciation for how the engagement lifecycle (sell, staff, deliver, bill, close) shapes platform requirements.

· Experience leading a complex platform through a deliberate shift from heavy customization toward a more standardized product posture.

· Demonstrated success embedding AI, machine learning, or agentic capabilities into enterprise workflows in production — beyond proofs of concept.

· Experience leading a major SaaS vendor relationship — influencing roadmap, negotiating commercial frameworks, and managing implementation partners with clear performance and knowledge-transfer expectations.

· Prior accountability for a regulatory or audit-relevant platform (SOX, financial reporting, or equivalent) with successful audit outcomes.

· Experience operating in a global, federated, multi-business environment where platform decisions must work across business units, geographies, and operating models.

· Salesforce certifications (e.g., Application Architect, System Architect, or Technical Architect track) and / or Certinia certifications.

Marsh (NYSE: MRSH) is a global leader in risk, reinsurance and capital, people and investments, and management consulting, advising clients in 130 countries. With annual revenue of over $27 billion and more than 95,000 colleagues, Marsh helps build the confidence to thrive through the power of perspective. For more information, visit corporate.marsh.com, or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Marsh is committed to embracing a diverse, inclusive and flexible work environment. We aim to attract and retain the best people and embrace diversity of age, background, caste, disability, ethnic origin, family duties, gender orientation or expression, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, parental status, personal or social status, political affiliation, race, religion and beliefs, sex/gender, sexual orientation or expression, skin color, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Marsh is committed to hybrid work, which includes the flexibility of working remotely and the collaboration, connections and professional development benefits of working together in the office. All Marsh colleagues are expected to be in their local office or working onsite with clients at least three days per week. Office-based teams will identify at least one “anchor day” per week on which their full team will be together in person.