Editing Executive sponsor

{{confused|Project executive}}
{{Redirect|Project champion|the surveillance program|Washwood Heath#Project Champion}}
'''Executive sponsor''' (sometimes called '''project sponsor''' or '''senior responsible owner''') is a role in [[project management]], usually the senior member of the project board and often the chair. The project sponsor will be a senior [[corporate officer|executive]] in a corporation (often at or just below board level) who is responsible to the business for the success of the [[project]].

== Responsibilities ==
The sponsor has a number of interfaces and responsibilities for the project.

=== Board ===
The responsibilities for which the sponsor is accountable to the board are:

* Provides leadership on culture and values
* Owns the [[business case]]
* Keeps project aligned with organization's strategy and portfolio direction
* Governs project risk
* Works with other sponsors
* Focuses on realization of benefits
* Recommends opportunities to optimize cost/benefits
* Ensures continuity of sponsorship
* Provides assurance
* Provides feedback and [[lessons learned]]

=== Project manager ===
The governance activities that take place between the sponsor and the [[project manager]] are:

* Provides timely decisions
* Clarifies decision-making framework
* Clarifies business priorities and strategy
* Communicates business issues
* Provides [[Resource (project management)|resources]]
* Engenders trust
* Manages relationships
* Supports the project manager's role
* Promotes ethical working

=== Project stakeholders ===
In addition to these activities the following activities take place between the sponsor and other [[project stakeholder]]s:

* Engages stakeholders
* Governs stakeholder communications
* Directs client relationships
* Directs governance of users
* Directs governance of suppliers
* Arbitrates between stakeholders

== Impact ==
Due to the problem-solving needs of the role, the executive sponsor often needs to be able to exert pressure within the organization to overcome resistance to the project.  For this reason a successful executive sponsor will ideally be a person with five personal attributes - understanding, competence, credibility, commitment and engagement.<ref>Sponsoring Change: A guide to the governance aspects of project sponsorship, Association for Project Management, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-903494-30-1}}</ref>

A few research studies have been published that not only detail the role of this individual within project management but also provide a way to ensure that the success of a project is increased if this individual plays a more active role.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

==Senior Responsible Officer role==
The [[Government of the United Kingdom|UK government]] treats the role of a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) as distinct from the sponsor's role, referring to projects where the sponsor "may be considered to be at a very senior level or part of a sponsoring group, above the SRO".<ref>{{OGL-attribution|[[Infrastructure and Projects Authority]], [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-role-of-the-senior-responsible-owner/the-role-of-the-senior-responsible-owner The role of the senior responsible owner], published 18 July 2019, accessed 15 November 2022}}</ref> A [[Public Administration Select Committee]] report published in 2011 and critical of UK [[Government procurement in the United Kingdom|government IT procurement]], noted that SRO's had often moved on to new roles during the course of an acquisition project, and this was one of the reasons why problems had been encountered.<ref>House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9-PWY4bG66UC Government and IT - "a recipe for rip-offs": time for a new approach], Volume 1, page 8, published 28 July 2011, accessed 15 November 2022</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Project sponsorship]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080719201220/http://www.projects.uts.edu.au/resources/pdfs/PMINZ2001CrawfordBrett.pdf Exploring the Role of the Project Sponsor]'', conducted by members of the [[Project Management Institute]], in particular, Dr Lynn Crawford and Christine Brett (both at the [[University of Technology Sydney|University of Technology]] in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]]).
* ''[http://www.execsponsorsprogram.com/services.html Top Challenges in managing Executive Sponsor Programs ]'', based on research from the Executive Sponsor Industry Association

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[[Category:Project management]]