Context

Smart is a Belgian cooperative that enables self-employed workers to carry out their activity independently, while benefiting from the social protection of salaried employment. Our members are employees of the cooperative: we handle invoicing, declarations, debt collection, and administrative and legal support.

Smart has just defined its 2030 strategy. One of its strategic objectives is to develop a smooth, high-quality, and secure user experience across all its channels, both human and digital. The modernization of the tools our members use daily is part of this framework.

The goal is not a simple technological migration: the modernization is business-oriented and carried out domain by domain, in order to simultaneously improve the service provided to members, operational efficiency, and the sustainability of the information system.

The technological aspect is nonetheless significant. The application landscape has been built layer upon layer: several distinct applications share the core business, the same domain is often handled in multiple places, and the number of technologies to maintain is high. Our developments are mainly based on Microsoft technologies. The modernization will impact both the backend and the frontend, will involve the gradual decommissioning of technologies, and will require orchestrating the transitions during the coexistence of the two systems.

The definition of the target architecture and technology stack is already well advanced: it is led by the architect, with senior developers and tech leads. The role of the project manager is not to define this target, but to facilitate its definition, then plan and orchestrate its implementation and adoption by the teams.

The project is approved and its framing is being finalized. We are now looking for the person who will bring it to life and coordinate it—a project that will span several years.

Your Role

You ensure the overall coordination of the project. You act as the link between business teams, analysts (business, functional, or technical), developers, and the architect, to guarantee a shared understanding of the stakes, coherent prioritization, and controlled execution.

You are responsible for progress, coordination, and the quality of implementation, without substituting for business or technical experts.

You report to the senior project managers team within the Strategy and Development Department—a transversal team, outside of IT—and work closely with the IT director, project lead.

Responsibilities

Project Management

• Participate in defining the project brief and breaking it down into phases, each concluded by an actual production release
• Participate in defining the project organization: budget, resources, governance
• Build and maintain the roadmap, and update it with each scope decision
• Coordinate activities and dependencies, including with other ongoing initiatives
• Identify risks and propose action plans
• Prepare and facilitate the steering committee and governance bodies
• Ensure reporting to management

Coordination with IT Teams

• Work daily with developers, tech leads, business analysts, and the architect
• Understand technical constraints and their impacts on the schedule
• Facilitate trade-offs between technical challenges and business needs
• Ensure effective collaboration between different IT teams

Business Framing and Facilitation, in tandem with the business analyst

• Organize and facilitate workshops with business stakeholders
• Ensure clarification of needs and business objectives
• Facilitate decision-making and prioritization
• Contribute to the formalization of target processes and user journeys
• Ensure that proposed solutions address business challenges

Change Management

• Foster stakeholder buy-in, both on the business and IT sides
• Contribute to communication and change management actions
• Support the adoption of the domain-based approach, which is new to the organization
• Ensure overall coherence between different initiatives

First Expected Deliverables

• The implementation schedule and resource estimation
• Establishment of the rhythm and materials for the various project bodies (kickoff, sync, steering committee, etc.)
• Framing of the first modernization phase in the chosen domain

Who You Will Work With

A steering committee bringing together the CEO, IT management, member experience management, head of product and development, and the PMO

A project team: the architect, a business analyst, the business owners of the relevant domains, and the IT development teams

Stable internal teams with in-depth knowledge of Smart's business

Profile Sought

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience managing application or digital transformation projects, including at least one end-to-end application modernization
• Demonstrated experience in IT environments with internal or external development teams
• Experience working directly with architects, tech leads, and product teams
• Significant experience facilitating workshops with business stakeholders

IT Understanding

We are not looking for a technical expert, but for someone able to:

• Understand the main principles of application architecture
• Understand challenges related to technical debt and modernization
• Communicate effectively with developers and the architect
• Challenge estimates, risks, and dependencies
• Knowledge of Microsoft technologies is an asset

Business Orientation

• Strong listening skills and excellent facilitation ability
• Analytical skills, and ability to turn sometimes vague discussions into clear and actionable needs
• Sense of prioritization and value creation

Leadership

• Ability to unite diverse profiles
• Clear and structured communication
• Diplomacy and pragmatism
• Ability to drive topics forward in a complex and cross-functional context

Languages

• Fluent French is essential, good level of English as well. Dutch is a plus.

What Will Make the Difference

• Sufficient credibility with technical teams
• Ability to independently facilitate business workshops
• Experience with application modernization projects—not just maintenance or infrastructure
• Ability to thrive in an environment where needs are gradually developed
• A balance between pragmatism, structure, and results orientation

Terms

Nature: consultancy assignment
Duration: 18 months, with possible extension depending on project progress and organizational priorities
Location: Saint-Gilles (Brussels)
Start date: as soon as possible
On-site presence: three to four days per week, including Tuesday and Thursday. Increased presence is expected during the first two months, to build relationships with business and IT teams.