The new ‘Chief Project Officer’ (CPO) role and implications for Banks

February 10, 2023

Kuljeet Chahal

Since Harvard Business Review write this article on the ‘The Rise of the Chief Project Officer’ , the CPO has become a hot topic in boardrooms and business conferences. What exactly is the new CPO role and what will are the implications for the Banking sector specifically?

A Chief Project Officer (CPO) is a senior executive responsible for overseeing the management of projects within an organization. The CPO is responsible for ensuring that projects are executed effectively, efficiently, and in accordance with the organization’s goals and objectives.

The implications for banks of having a Chief Project Officer can be significant. Banks are complex organizations with multiple lines of business, and the successful delivery of projects is essential for the bank to achieve its goals and remain competitive. By having a CPO, banks can ensure that projects are managed in a consistent, centralized manner, resulting in improved efficiency and reduced costs.

Additionally, the CPO can play a key role in managing risk and ensuring that projects are delivered on time and within budget. This is particularly important in the banking industry, where projects can have significant financial, operational and regulatory impacts. The CPO can also help to align projects with the bank’s overall strategy, ensuring that the bank is making the most of its investment in projects and delivering the desired business results.

Within most banking groups, the Head of Projects or Head of Change & Transformation usually reports into the COO or CTO. As the author of the HBR article notes, the CPO is likely to co-exist alongside the COO in future, however the CPO role is predicted to overtake the COO in terms of power, prestige and seniority. Let’s see if this prediction plays out by 2030 as Project Management continues to embrace innovation such as AI, machine learning, robotics, and the metaverse. In addition the continued adoption of agile methodologies by the banking sector continues to accelerate and is quickly catching up with global Tech firms. As Agile continues to be shown to be more successful than traditional forms of project management for many projects, the CPO’s role is expected to fully implement agile ways of working in banks to a maturity level in line with the global Tech firms.

In summary, having a Chief Project Officer can bring significant benefits to banks, including improved efficiency, reduced costs, better risk management, and alignment with the bank’s overall strategy. By investing in effective project management, banks can ensure that they are well positioned to succeed in today’s complex and competitive business environment.

NKC Digital are specialists in Program and Project Management within the Banking and Financial Services sector. If your business is considering a new project or program, hiring a Program / Project Manager or CPO or launching a new service or product, please get in touch with us below for a free consultation. Perhaps we’re right for your business or if not perhaps we may have the connections to lead you in the right direction…