Senior Project Manager

Job Summary

The Office of the CIO (OCIO) has an extensive list of investment requests for IT-enabled projects from across the University. The execution of the portfolio of projects extends out over at least the next five years, and new projects are being added to the pipeline on a regular basis. The execution of each project within the portfolio is approximately one year and the resources from each project will transition from one project to the next upon completion of the delivery of each project. These projects will be managed within the Program Delivery office. The Program Delivery office is seeking a Senior Project Manager.

The Senior Project Manager manages all aspects of the development and implementation of large, multi-faceted projects and takes projects from original concept through to final implementation. The incumbent directs and coordinates a cross-functional team and manages inter-project dependencies and communication. The incumbent develops and oversees project plans, schedules, resources, and budgets and establishes metrics to monitor the quality of deliverables and the level of customer satisfaction. The Senior Project Manager works collaboratively with key stakeholders, including University senior management.

Organizational Status

The Senior Project Manager works within the project team including Solution Architects, Business Analysts, Developers, Operations Teams, functional experts, and other project specialists, and reports directly to Senior PMO Operations Manager, Program Delivery, OCIO, and takes day-to-day direction from, the Senior PMO Delivery Manager on all aspects of project delivery, while working closely with technology professionals across the UBC community as well as senior leadership and staff in other administrative and academic units. The Senior Project Manager will ensure that formal project management methodologies established by UBC IT's Program Delivery Office (PMO) are followed.

Work Performed

Specific Duties:

• Manages complex enterprise-level projects with multiple large-scale functional areas to further develop and implement aspects of work related to information systems and business processes that involve the greater UBC community.

• Leads areas of responsibility including project management, Functional, Solution Architecture, Change Management, and User Experience and will be responsible to ensure consistent application of project management principles established within the Office of the CIO (OCIO).

• Provides senior-level expertise and direction into the approach for system development and deployment, package implementation, system scalability and performance, and University-wide systems integration.

• Maintains and manages risk, action, issue, and decision (RAID) logs.

• Leads and manages the definition of scope, sequencing, scheduling, and budgeting of the implementation plan with input and support from the workstream teams.

• Develops, maintains, and communicates an overall Implementation Plan, ensuring resource optimization.

• Manages procurement in collaboration with UBC Procurement and UBC Legal Counsel to develop compliant and effective procurement documentation, processes, and evaluation methods.

• Conducts post-implementation reviews to ensure continuous improvement and learning.

• Oversees deliverables associated with the Project Delivery Team; monitoring for consistent and predictable system and tool performance.

• Collaborates with technical and other professionals on Enterprise Strategic Initiatives to share best practices and identify and resolve cross-program impacts.

Core duties:

• Initiates projects following appropriate project management methodology including gathering and defining comprehensive project requirements, ensuring strategic alignment, developing project charters, project plans, budgets, and schedules, determining staffing requirements, and forming cross-functional project teams.

• Defines and follows project management methods, procedures, and quality objectives, including metrics for assessing progress.

• Balances workload, and provides technical and analytical guidance and work direction to project team, including scheduling, assignment of work, review of project efforts, and removal of roadblocks that inhibit project success.

• Ensures that all team members have the tools and training required to perform effectively, and provides the team with constructive feedback as it pertains to project performance.

• Assesses variances from the project plans, budgets, and schedules, develops and implements changes as necessary to ensure that the project remains within the specified scope and is within time, cost, and quality objectives, and keeps management aware of the situation.

• Evaluates and ensure sponsor/client satisfaction at project completion.

• Drafts contracts and Service Level Agreements and manages RFIs/RFPs for evaluation, selection, and procurement of products and/or services from vendors.

• Identifies potential areas for improvement in current methodologies and provides coaching to project managers.

• Develops and maintains a productive working relationship with project sponsors, vendors, and key clients.

• Maintains appropriate professional designations and up-to-date knowledge of current information technology techniques and tools.

• Performs other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

Information Technology plays a key role in enabling the University to achieve its goal of becoming one of the world's leading universities. The Senior Project Manager plays a significant role in the implementation of enterprise-wide systems and processes. Should these projects not be completed successfully or the results not support the activities of the University, this would compromise the University's ability to achieve its strategic goals and vision. The inability of systems and processes to support the University's needs could seriously compromise daily business and activities at the University.

The Sr Project Manager must assume responsibility for project decisions that could have a significant financial impact on the University and be able to foresee potential problems before they occur and take corrective action.

Supervision Received
The Senior Project Manager reports directly to Senior PMO Operations Manager, Program Delivery, and OCIO, and takes day-to-day direction from, the Senior PMO Delivery Manager on all aspects of project delivery.

Supervision Given
Manages staff directly and indirectly through subordinates. Plans direct and supervises the work of staff assigned to projects including contractors and vendors.

Minimum Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. A post-graduate degree may be required for specialized positions. Minimum of nine years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience. Supervisory experience may be required. Technical expertise in a highly specialized area is required.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

Project Management Professional designation is an asset.

• Experience with preparing RFPs, and managing RFIs/RFPs for evaluation, selection, and procurement of products and/or services from vendors.

• Experience in change management, budget development, financial management, and risk management.

• Supervisory experience is an asset.

• Project experience in a higher-education environment, policy and regulatory compliance situations is an asset.

• Leadership mindset with a focus on mentoring and coaching team members

• Technical expertise and experience in Information technology project management of large scale, commercial, off-the- shelf (COTS) systems including related experience in managing systems development, enterprise architecture, and business process change as it applies to COTS and custom systems, data migration and systems integration.

• Ability to work independently and assume full responsibility for their decisions.

• Demonstrated ability to:

  • Conduct needs analyses, plan, organize, manage, monitor, complete, and evaluate projects within allocated time and resources.

  • Effectively facilitate groups to achieve appropriate outcome.

  • Develop and deliver effective presentations and workshops.

  • Identify, obtain, and effectively manage organizational resources (e.g., people, materials, assets, budgets).

  • Build relationships, consult with customers and potential customers.

  • Effectively manage multiple tasks and priorities, work in a fast-paced environment, and manage responsibilities and tasks to meet time sensitive, critical deadlines.

  • Effective leadership, consulting, consensus building, conflict resolution, and negotiation and team-building skills are an asset.

• Intermediate knowledge of applications development methodologies, as well as development and implementation best practices, "rules of thumb", and benchmarks.

• An understanding of key trends and players in the IT industry.

Collaboration - Identifies and improves communication to bring conflict within the team into the open and facilitate resolution. Openly shares credit for team accomplishment. Monitors individual and team effectiveness and recommends improvement to facilitate collaboration. Considered a role model as a team player. Demonstrates a high level of enthusiasm and commitment to team goals under difficult or adverse situations; encourages others to respond similarly. Strongly influences team strategy and processes.

Communication for Results - Converses with, writes strategic documents for, and creates/delivers presentations to internal business leaders as well as external groups. Leads discussions with senior leaders and external partners in ways that support strategic planning and decision-making. Seeks a consensus with business leaders. Debates opinions, test understanding and clarifies judgments. Identifies underlying differences and resolves conflict openly and empathetically. Explains the context of multiple, complex interrelated situations. Asks searching, probing questions, plays devil's advocate, and solicits authoritative perspectives and advice prior to approving plans and recommendations.

Problem-Solving - Diagnoses problems using formal problem-solving tools and techniques from multiple angles and probes underlying issues to generate multiple potential solutions. Proactively anticipates and prevents problems. Devices facilitate buy-in, make recommendations, and guide the implementation of corrective and/or preventive actions for complex issues that cross organizational boundaries and are unclear in nature. Identifies potential consequences and risk levels. Seeks support and buy-in for problem definition, methods of resolution, and accountability.

Accountability - Sets enhanced objectives for self and others. Monitors performance trends and identifies opportunities to improve standards. Provides regular feedback and suggests alternative approaches necessary to ensure that organizational objectives and superior standards are achieved. Delegates responsibility and reallocates resources as needed to ensure that priorities are met for initiatives within the area of responsibility.

Analytical Thinking - Determines criteria for assessing issues and opportunities. Establishes clear goals and priorities needed to assess performance. Identifies relationships and linkages between different information sources. Anticipates issues that are not readily apparent on the surface. Identifies root causes and effects. Establishes clear goals and priorities. Anticipates potential problems and develops solutions needed to resolve them. Systemically analyzes relationships between apparently independent problems and issues. Reviews and cross-reviews reports. Identifies trends as well as isolated events. Translates analytical reports into management presentations, and provides guidance to resolve issues. Anticipates the possible outcome of potential solutions. Identifies areas of significant concern or opportunity. Probes and initiates research to identify critical problems.

Business Enterprise Knowledge - Directs and coordinates the development and implementation of process-based solutions that cross organizational lines. Creates business case for investment in process and technological enhancements. Sets clear explanations for the integration and alignment of technology and business functions, focusing on the strategic value provided.