Department: IT Admn Sys Ofc Portfolio Mgmt
Salary/Grade: ITS/82
Job Summary:
The Sr. Project Manager is responsible for the successful delivery of high-priority projects using the standard project management framework and tools. The projects are often complex in nature and require multiple cross-functional resources to plan and deliver integrated solutions. The Sr. Project Manager will oversee the project from conception through implementation and may work with cross-functional teams and other areas of Northwestern IT, business partners, vendors, and end users to achieve the needed project objectives and defined success criteria. The Sr. Project Manager will be responsible for understanding project objectives; managing project expectations, project approach, and timeline; and providing timely and regular communications for project status, decisions, and risks & issues with the appropriate project stakeholders.
The ideal candidate will be highly effective in planning, managing, and delivering projects. The Sr. Project Manager will be effective with monitoring and managing project performance for resource utilization and delivering on time. They will have the ability to form working relationships with project stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have excellent organizational, planning, project leadership, team building, problem-solving coordination, and communication skills.
Specific Responsibilities :
Project Management
• Manages the initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/controlling and closing of Information Technology (IT) projects in support of organizational area’s strategic objectives and ongoing operations.
• Interacts with project leadership to determine and document project objectives, scope, functional requirements, metrics, key performance indicators and stakeholders.
• Collaborates with functional and/or technical lead to determine resource requirements, budget, and deliverables.
• Coordinates projects for selected clients; manages and maintains project management tools, facilitates planning, estimating, and scheduling project work, and supports monitoring and reporting project performance and progress.
• Collaborates with Project Sponsor and project team to establish project timelines and scope, in cooperation with project leadership.
• Communicates project status, decisions, approved changes, risks and issues to all stakeholders facilitating decision-making, project performance, and project progress.
PPM Administration
• Creates, enhances, and maintains project management tools, including the Project Management Framework and tool set.
• Champions PPM processes and provides assistance (as needed) with using tools to plan, estimate, schedule, and report project work.
• May analyze and interpret PPM data for trends and anomalies. Makes recommendations to OPM leadership.
• Train, mentor, and/or coach other project managers.
Development
• Performs research for future potential IT services and applications; investigates and compares alternative applications and vendors.
• Develops and maintains organizational area’s document repository.
Miscellaneous
• Performs other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications:
• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor’s or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 4 years managing Information Technology (IT) and related virtual and physical infrastructure projects or other relevant experience required.
o Enterprise Applications
• PPM Tool (Daptiv)
o Infrastructure
• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)
• Microsoft SharePoint
Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)
• Strong knowledge of project portfolio management practices, including demand management and resource management.
• Proven knowledge of structured project management, including common principles, methodologies, and tools used by practitioners.
• Ability to analyze portfolio, resource, and project data.
• Ability to plan and schedule projects, including estimating time and resources, with an ability to track, manage, and report on projects as they are executed, adjusting as needed based on project experience.
• Strong ability to identify, analyze, track, and manage project risks.
• Ability to build and lead diverse cross-functional project teams, including both functional and technical staff, as well as communications, training, and infrastructure staff, together with business owners and business users, toward delivering projects on time, in budget, that meet requirements.
• Ability to present ideas, both orally and in written form to analytical, functional, and technical staff as well as customers and to manage expectations related to project timelines and deliverables.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a diverse portfolio of projects.
• Customer service and collaboration skills.
• Ability to work independently and provide appropriate status reporting to all relevant parties; ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks effectively.
• Understanding of PPM and/or project management tools and their application to project work, such as Daptiv, Microsoft Project, or similar tools.
• A basic understanding of technical design and the technical build processes.
• Strong understanding of software testing.
Preferred Qualifications:
• 4 years experience managing IT projects as a project manager.
• 1+ years experience managing a team of IT staff, providing coaching & mentoring, and participating in hiring and supervision.
• 4 years experience working with enterprise level business application systems and with their constituencies.
• Experience working with Agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches to software development.
• Experience in a higher education institution or other non profit organization.
Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)
• PMP certification
• Agile certification (Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Agile, etc)
Target hiring range for this position will be between $109,000-$129,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.
Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life’s challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.
Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you’re interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.
Northwestern strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters for people who can obtain them as a critical tool for minimizing severe illness. More information can be found on the COVID-19 and Campus Updates webpage.
The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.
Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Click for information on EEO is the Law.