Country: United States of America
Closing date: 14 Dec 2018
Background/IRC Summary:
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and in 22 US cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.
The IT department supports the organization’s work by providing reliable and scalable applications and infrastructure for the IRC’s offices in the US and around the world, including many technologically challenging locations. Services that the IT department provides include application development & integration, system deployment, user experience and change management, quality assurance & testing, and overall Project Management in an effort to help the organization determine and implement the best solutions for its business needs.
Job Overview/Summary:
The Senior Project Manager, Technology for Programs will lead overall project management, governance, prioritization, and implementation activities related to technology that is specifically used by program staff and our beneficiaries in International Programs, US Programs, and the Program Quality Unit. Projects will include the implementation of technology to better support Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) / Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) and other measurement and data management initiatives within our programs. The Sr. Project Manager will work with the Director of Project and Portfolio Management, the Deputy Director of Technology for Programs and various business owners to successfully execute these projects.
The person in this position will develop and manage existing project documentation, including project schedules, weekly and monthly status reports, presentations, risk logs, action logs, issue logs, etc. The Sr. Project Manager works proactively to gather information required for analysis of project cost, resources, time and other project supporting deliverables.
Major Responsibilities:
• Drives Decision Making: Facilitates proper project governance and drives strategic decision making.
• Creates and Maintains Project Plans: Develops, and continually updates, detailed project/program management plans. Develops work breakdown structures based on the project objectives and scope. Ensures PM methodology is adhered to.
• Manages Project Status Reporting: Prepares status reports to convey project scope, goals, milestones, budget, risk, status, change requests, and critical issues to the client and project team.
• Develops and Maintains Project Schedules: Incorporates regular updates from each functional team.
• Leads Project Cost Estimation and Ongoing Budget Tracking: Provides budget information to Project Managers. Assists in developing costs estimates and analyzing data.
• Performs Project Resource Management: Provides work direction and leadership to assigned projects, including scheduling, assignment of work and review of project efforts. Identifies project resource requirements and staff assignments. Checks for staff availabilities. Updates the project plan with work assignments.
• Conducts Risk Management: Maintains documentation for identified risks and mitigation strategies. Proactively gathers and updates risk status and documentation as needed.
• Supports Stakeholder Management: Works with technology and business owners to analyze stakeholder expectations for projects based upon approved project requirements.
• Conducts Project Business Analysis: Works with project team members and stakeholders to anticipate and manage changes to projects, such as but not limited to, technical and functional requirements, business requirements and milestone schedule
• Provides Overall Project Administration: Participates in program team meetings, proactively documents meeting minutes, track issues, decisions and action items, and follow-up between meetings to drive issues to closure.
• Conducts Other Tasks as Needed: Performs other duties or special projects as required or as assigned
Key Working Relationships:
• Maintain a productive working relationships with business owners, project sponsors, system users, and vendors.
• Interacts with project owners, senior technical personnel, senior executives, and other functional or support organizations.
Position Reports to: Director of Project and Portfolio Management
Position directly supervises: N/A
Indirect Reporting: Deputy Director, Technology for Programs
Other Internal and/or external contacts:
Internal:
Headquarters & Global Offices Teams – multiple departments
Project Business Owners, business project team members outside IT, and wider stakeholders
Project Sponsor and Steering Committee members
External:
Vendors and Consultants
Job Requirements:
Minimum Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
• 6+ years of experience managing project efforts
• Understanding of program Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (M&E, MERL)
• Strong understanding of custom software development and solution design
• Expertise utilizing and championing Project Management software and tools
• Knowledge of best practice Project Management methodologies
• Experience with cross-functional project coordination
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (i.e. day-to-day discussions, team meetings, presentations, written status updates, project documentation, etc.), as well as, an overall ability to be clear and concise in all communications
• Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time
• Strong analytic problem solving skills
• Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional global team structure
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite, strong proficiency in project tracking software (i.e., Clarizen, MS Project, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels
• Ability to manage and work through change
Preferred Additional Requirements
• Previous experience in a technology solution design role
• Previous experience with Monitoring and Evaluation as part of US Government, European, or Multilateral grant management
• Previous experience with technology in a development context (ICT4D) and or technology in a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning context (MERL Tech)
• CAPM or PMP certified; or actively working toward certification
Working Environment:
• Standard office working environment
How to apply:
https://rescue.csod.com/ats/careersite/jobdetails.aspx?site=1&c=rescue&id=2186