IT Project Manager

Manage large and complex projects with high performance risk, driving project(s) to completion. May manage more than one large project simultaneously. Work is typically comprised of 80% time contribution towards project leadership and 20% as a technical contributor.

Core Duties

• Perform the full range of project management cycle: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Independently lead and direct projects requiring high levels of functional integration and involving multiple disciplines to be managed. This includes: (1) Facilitating project goals and deliverables definition; (2) Leading meetings including preparing agendas, leading discussions, and ensuring meeting results are documented and communicated to project team and sponsors; (3) Tracking project deliverables using appropriate tools; (4) Monitoring and reporting on project progress to all stakeholders; (5) Conducting project evaluations and results assessment.
• Direct development of an action plan, and estimate requirements for resources, including management, labor, materials, and time required to complete project. This includes: (1) Defining project tasks and negotiating resource commitments, ensuring all project participants are aligned with the project goals and understand the criteria for success; (2) Integrating and managing offshore vendors; (3) Managing project budget and spending.
• Facilitate discussions and negotiations to drive recommendation consensus. This includes: (1) Providing direction and support to the project team in whatever capacity is necessary; project-based needs, technical, or interpersonal needs; (2) Motivating team members and managing project team dynamics; acting as liaison, problem solver and facilitator; cultivating appropriate group values, norms, and behaviors.
• Develop and help execute comprehensive change management strategy and communication plan relative to project scope and stakeholders; orchestrate and lead change management methodologies underlying project success. This includes driving initial requirements gathering and obtaining commitments to the requirements from all project stakeholders.
• These elements typically delineate the project management involved at this level: charter origination or scope identification and shaping, scope definition; # of disciplines /stakeholders to manage is across- university impact, and city, county constituents; risk-manage, control and report on risk associated with more complicated projects, affecting division or program as it relates to their project portfolio and risk sharing and control is skewed further to the project manager; project complexity involves synthesizing complex technical data and driving decisions; primary university relationship is at the senior associate/administrative dean, faculty and directors level; cumulative budget/scope from $250k to $600K.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in a related field and five years of related experience in management of projects with extensive size/complexity and moderate performance risk, including project planning, scheduling, tracking, and budgeting, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Highly effective written and oral communication skills to address a wide variety of audiences.
• Ability to productively assemble, engage, and lead cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated project management ability to employ integration, scope time management, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, and procurement components.
• Ability to balance customer expectations with project reality.
• Demonstrated resilience, diplomacy, influence, relationship building, and problem solving skills in a variety of situations.
• Keen grasp of interpersonal and impact awareness.
• Depth of knowledge in technical discipline/domain needed to deliver projects.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Proven experience with Agile and Waterfall project management methodologies strongly desired.
• Knowledge of project management tools and software development lifecycle (SDLC) strongly desired.
• Proven experience in developing and maintaining complex and integrated project plans with proper work breakdown structure (WBS) strongly desired
• Proven experience in people, change, risk, and conflict management strongly desired.
• Proven ability to build relationships and motivate cross-functional teams to achieve results in a consensus driven environment strongly desired.
• Ability to lead and direct a team of internal and external technical and business staff, and align technical needs with business goals strongly desired.
• Solid leadership, negotiation, persuasion, and facilitation skills strongly desired.
• Ability to navigate stressful situations and make/negotiate decisions on complex problems strongly desired.
• Solid experience with MS Office tools (Word, Excel, Project, PowerPoint, Visio) strongly desired.
• Knowledge and understanding of University operations, administration and community desired.
• Experience with University Advancement systems desired.
• Knowledge of quality assurance and testing practices such SQA, CMM or ISO 9000 desired.
• Knowledge of data integration across different technical platforms desired.
• Understanding of Web application architecture and the technology tiers that support them, system architectures, application integration, and object oriented languages desired.

Certifications and Licenses

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certified completion of a Project Management Certificate program, or certification in process. 
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) completion or certification in process is preferred.

Physical Requirements*

• Frequently sit, perform desk based computer tasks, and grasp lightly/fine manipulation and lift/carry /push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
• Occasionally stand/walk, write by hand.
• Rarely use a telephone, kneel, crawl, climb ladders, twist/bend/stoop/squat, reach/work above shoulder, grasp forcefully. 

* Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.