Professional
Senior Project Manager,
Enterprise Delivery Leader
I focus on delivering outcomes that solve real problems, improve experiences, and create lasting value, leading complex, cross-functional initiatives across HR, finance, marketing, business development and IT in global enterprise environments.
Over fifteen years and dozens of projects, ranging from small office relocations to multi-year, multi-country system implementations, across HR, finance, IT and M&A integration portfolios. My time earlier in my career as a project coordinator and project controls specialist laid a solid foundation for the project management skills I rely on today.
Chris van der Leer
The short version
Fifteen-plus years turning complicated programmes into delivered outcomes.
I'm a project leader who brings people together and creates the conditions for technical teams to do their best work, through clear, fair and collaborative leadership. Over the past decade I've worked remotely with global teams, mainly based in North America, at Stantec and, before that, MWH Global, across HR, finance, IT, business development and M&A integration portfolios.
I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, then travelled and worked in a number of different places before settling in Christchurch, New Zealand, which I've called home for years now. That background probably has something to do with why I'm comfortable running projects across time zones, cultures and regions: North America, the UK, Australia, India, Taiwan and the Philippines, among others.
Where I've focused
Selected work
Four projects, four different problems.
A handful of recent programmes from across my time at Stantec and MWH Global that show the range: crisis turnarounds, global rollouts, system builds and multi-region expansion.
Cardno Acquisition, Employee Migration
Stantec acquired Cardno's North America and Asia Pacific engineering groups in October 2021. The Asia-Pacific integration program was in serious trouble: the business was losing a significant amount of money every month from delayed employee onboarding. I picked up this project when it was not doing well and turned it around, taking over the Australia/New Zealand IT migration: 2,000 employees, multiple offices, an aggressive schedule, and no margin for further delay.
I led the Microsoft 365 migration and historical-records archive across the US and Australia, coordinating data migration, ISO remediation, network and desktop migration, software licensing and change management, pulling together Stantec and Cardno knowledge into one plan.
Global Employee Recognition Program (Awardco)
Stantec's existing recognition platform had functional, technical and vendor challenges. I led the requirements gathering, vendor management, design and rollout of a single replacement platform spanning Global Career Milestones, retirement, peer-to-peer recognition, onboarding and birthdays.
Phase 1 replaced the legacy service-award and retirement programs; later phases added peer-to-peer, onboarding and birthday recognition. The platform went live across more than 20 countries, from Argentina to the UAE, each with their own local nuances to account for.
Global Compensation Toolkit
Stantec needed one compensation system for every global office: standard practice everywhere, local currency everywhere it mattered. The legacy tool was an Excel-and-SQL hybrid with no formal support, and it was breaking down during annual reviews.
I led delivery of the new Global Compensation Toolkit on Oracle ADF, replacing the legacy tool in time for the October rate-review and Short-Term Incentive Plan cycle, the single highest-stakes annual process the tool needed to support.
Online Employee Change Form (ECF)
Employee changes such as separations, leave, and salary adjustments used to mean a paper form, a manual signature chain and a service ticket. I led the design and build of a web-based Employee Change Form for North America, then expanded it to the UK and India, each with its own HR processes, approval matrices and compliance needs to fold into one coherent system.
From initial process analysis and screen-flow mock-ups, through proof of concept and stakeholder sign-off, to phased regional rollout with training and change management at every stage. The next step is to expand the platform further, into Australia and New Zealand.
A closer look
How the ECF rollout actually went
One of the four projects above, laid out in the order it happened, because this one really was a sequence of complex pieces, not just a list.
Charter, analysis and proof of concept
Built the project charter and resourcing plan, then analysed existing paper-based HR processes and workflows. Created screen-flow mock-ups, got stakeholder sign-off, and built a basic proof of concept before committing to full development.
Build, pilot and release
Developed the full application with integrated SCSM workflows, piloted with a small group, then released to North America employees in a targeted rollout with training and business communications.
Adapt and extend
Re-analysed UK-specific employee processes and approval workflows, then adjusted and extended the existing platform, rather than rebuilding from scratch, to meet UK requirements.
Requirements, pilot, regional rollout
Ran demos and requirements-gathering sessions for India's specific HR processes, configured the necessary system templates, piloted the India-specific employee events, then released with a dedicated communications and training plan.
Planned expansion
The next step for this platform is extending it to Australia and New Zealand, following the same pattern of regional analysis, adaptation and phased rollout used for the UK and India.
What colleagues say
A few words from people I've worked with.
"Chris was always on top of his game. I was impressed with how he could easily juggle multiple complex IT projects at the same time, and still deliver on time."
"Having Chris on your team means quality project management with a personable touch. He brings innovation, common sense, and that calm demeanor that gets your team through troubled waters."
"Chris is an enthusiastic employee who is always willing to take on any challenge, and skilled in many areas. All that he produces is high quality and often exceeds expectations."
"Chris is always customer focused and always manages expectations and delivers when promised. He explains things so people can understand and sorts out issues in a professional and efficient manner."
"I always enjoyed working with Chris as he has a great outlook on things and always came to meetings prepared. Chris has a gift for documentation and I appreciated what he brought to our projects."
"Chris is highly motivated and fun to work with. My belief is that he would be a strong and steady asset to any company he worked at."
Working on something I might be able to help with?
I'm a friendly person to talk to, and always happy to chat about delivery, process, or the occasional project disaster recovery story.
Get in touch