Senior Project Manager – OMS/PMS Selection & RFP

Senior Project Manager – OMS/PMS Selection & RFP

6-Month Initial Contract | Investment Management | Hybrid – London

We are looking for an experienced Senior Project Manager with strong Investment Management and front-office technology experience to lead a strategic programme to select a new Order Management System / Portfolio Management System (OMS/PMS).

The organisation is looking to replace its existing investment management platform with a more robust and scalable solution capable of supporting its future operating model.

This is not simply a like-for-like technology replacement. The programme will consider future requirements across portfolio management, trading and execution, derivatives, straight-through processing, integrations and operational efficiency.

The successful candidate will take ownership of an accelerated RFP / vendor selection process, working closely with senior investment stakeholders, technology teams, SMEs and prospective OMS/PMS vendors.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end OMS/PMS RFP and vendor selection process, from initial requirements through to recommendation and selection.
• Develop and manage the overall project plan, governance, milestones, dependencies, risks and deliverables.
• Work closely with Portfolio Management, Trading, Operations, Risk, Technology and other stakeholders to define current and future-state requirements.
• Coordinate the creation of functional and non-functional requirements for the new OMS/PMS platform.
• Ensure requirements reflect the organisation's future operating model, rather than simply replicating the existing platform.
• Manage vendor engagement including RFP documentation, Q&A, demonstrations, workshops and evaluation sessions.
• Establish an objective vendor evaluation and scoring framework covering functionality, technology, integration, scalability, implementation approach and strategic fit.
• Coordinate product demonstrations, proof-of-concepts and vendor workshops with business and technology stakeholders.
• Support assessment of front-office capabilities including portfolio management, order management, trading, execution, compliance and investment workflows.
• Ensure appropriate consideration is given to derivatives and broader instrument coverage, execution workflows and straight-through processing.
• Work across related programme workstreams and manage dependencies with areas such as collateral management/optimisation and execution.
• Produce clear recommendations and decision papers for senior stakeholders and governance forums.
• Support commercial discussions, implementation planning and transition into the subsequent implementation phase.
• Provide strong project governance while maintaining momentum through an accelerated selection process.

Required Experience

• Strong Project/Programme Management experience within Asset Management / Investment Management.
• Previous experience leading or playing a significant role in an OMS/PMS selection, RFP, implementation or replacement programme.
• Strong knowledge of investment management front-office processes and technology.
• Good understanding of the investment lifecycle across Portfolio Management, Trading/Execution, Compliance, Risk and Operations.
• Experience working with major OMS/PMS platforms such as thinkFolio, Charles River, Aladdin, Bloomberg AIM, SimCorp Dimension or comparable investment platforms.
• Experience of vendor evaluation and selection, ideally including RFP/RFI processes, vendor demonstrations and scoring.
• Strong understanding of integrations between OMS/PMS platforms and market data, execution venues, middle/back-office systems and data platforms.
• Knowledge across multiple asset classes including Fixed Income, Equities, FX and Derivatives.
• Strong requirements gathering, process analysis and target-state definition experience.
• Ability to bridge the gap between senior investment stakeholders, business SMEs, technology teams and software vendors.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to operate at senior management level.

Highly Desirable

• Previous involvement in replacing a legacy investment management platform.
• Hands-on experience with thinkFolio and/or Charles River would be particularly relevant.
• Experience of OMS/PMS vendor demonstrations, functional assessments and gap analysis.
• Understanding of FIX/electronic execution, STP, collateral and derivative workflows.
• Experience working with investment organisations operating across multiple asset classes.
• Consulting experience within Asset or Investment Management would be advantageous.