Director, IT Governance & PMO

Hayward Holdings Inc. (NYSE "HAYW") is one of the leading manufacturers of residential swimming pool equipment in the world, with a significant presence in the commercial pool market that is continuously growing. Hayward designs, manufactures, and markets a full line of residential and commercial pool and spa equipment including pumps, filters, heating, cleaners, salt chlorinators, automation, lighting, safety, flow control and energy solutions at our company owned facilities. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hayward also has facilities in Tennessee, Arizona, and Rhode Island, Georgia, as well as Canada, Spain, France, Australia, and China. 

Position Summary:

The Director, IT Governance & PMO serves as a strategic and operational partner to Hayward’s Chief Digital & Information Officer, driving IT governance, enterprise technology planning, portfolio management, and excellence execution. This role ensures IT investments are aligned with business priorities and deliver measurable value through disciplined planning, prioritization, financial stewardship, and organizational governance.

The Director leads the technology PMO, IT budget management, demand intake, investment prioritization, technology value realization, strategic initiatives, technology-related M&A activities, strategic vendor governance, IT competencies and talent strategy, executive performance reporting, and operating review and KPIs. The position translates business strategy into actionable technology roadmaps and supports successful execution across the IT organization.

Responsibilities:

IT Strategy & Planning

• Partner with the Chief Digital & Information Officer to develop and execute the enterprise technology strategy.
• Facilitate annual and multi-year strategic planning activities across the IT organization and business functions.
• Develop technology roadmaps aligned with business objectives, transformation priorities, and growth plans.
• Monitor industry trends, competitive insights, and emerging technologies to inform strategic planning.
• Support executive communications, leadership presentations, and performance reporting.

Portfolio & Demand Management

• Lead enterprise IT demand intake, evaluation, prioritization, and governance processes.
• Partner with business leaders to assess, prioritize, and sequence technology investments.
• Establish portfolio management disciplines that balance strategic initiatives, operational requirements, technical debt, risk, and resource constraints.
• Provide visibility into project health, risks, dependencies, capacity, and investment outcomes.
• Ensure technology initiatives adhere to enterprise architecture, security, and privacy standards and policies.

Technology PMO Leadership

• Lead the technology Project Management Office and establish clear accountability for portfolio execution.

• Define project and program management methodologies, stage gates, governance, and reporting.

• Develop executive dashboards and performance metrics for technology programs and portfolios.

• Drive consistency across project delivery, resource planning, budgeting, risk management, and program oversight.

• Monitor strategic initiative performance and partner with leaders to resolve barriers to execution.

IT Financial Management

• Lead the IT budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes in partnership with the Finance department.
• Monitor operating and capital expenditures to support alignment with approved budgets and priorities.
• Partner with Finance and business leaders to develop business cases and funding recommendations.
• Track technology spending, vendor investments, financial risks, and cost optimization opportunities.
• Establish financial governance and reporting processes across the IT organization.

Mergers, Acquisitions & Business Integration

• Lead technology due diligence for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic partnerships.
• Coordinate integration planning and execution across applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, and end-user technology.
• Assess technology risks, costs, dependencies, contracts, and resource requirements associated with transactions.
• Develop post-transaction technology integration roadmaps, governance, and value capture plans.
• Partner with business and functional leaders to support effective technology transitions and integrations.

IT Vendor & Partner Management

• Support strategic vendor evaluations, negotiations, and governance in partnership with the Procurement department.
• Monitor key technology partnerships, service performance, financial commitments, and contractual outcomes.
• Identify opportunities to improve vendor effectiveness, service quality, risk management, and cost efficiency.

IT Capability & Team Development

• Lead and develop project and product management professionals.
• Identify future technology capabilities and workforce needs and support plans to build or acquire those capabilities.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, continuous improvement, and excellence.
• Mentor team members and strengthen succession and development pipelines.

Governance & Value Realization

• Establish enterprise technology governance frameworks, decision rights, and escalation processes.
• Facilitate steering committees, governance councils, operating reviews, and executive decision forums.
• Define and monitor KPIs that measure technology performance, delivery, adoption, and business value.
• Ensure benefits realization is defined, tracked, and reported for major technology initiatives.

Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or a related field required.
• Master's degree in Technology, Business Administration, or a related discipline preferred.

Experience

• 12+ years of progressive experience in technology strategy, PMO leadership, product or portfolio management, IT governance, and technology transformation.
• Experience leading a portfolio in a complex or global organization.
• Experience partnering with executive leaders and translating business priorities into technology plans.
• Experience managing technology budgets, investment portfolios, business cases, and performance reporting.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, integrations, divestitures, or enterprise transformation initiatives.
• Working knowledge of enterprise applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data and analytics, cloud, and digital transformation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence outcomes without direct authority.

Preferred Certifications

• Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent portfolio management credential.
• ITIL, Agile, Scrum, Lean Six Sigma, or Prosci Change Management certification.
• Relevant financial management, strategy, or technology governance credentials.

#LI-KF1