Telecom Project Manager

Actalent is currently seeking a qualified Telecommunications Project Manager for a position in Vancouver, WA.

This position is located within the Transmission Infrastructure Asset Management (TIP) organization, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which executes and delivers most of the BPA's Transmission Capital Projects. The position will be responsible for managing the integration and execution of Transmission capital projects, such as telecommunication projects along with Non-Electric Facilities (NEF) and Security expenses/capital projects. This is an emerging area for TIP, with a focus on workload planning and integration in conjunction with the transmission capital project process. The position will physically reside in Portfolio Project Management (TIPF) under the TIP organization.

Responsibilities Include:

• Plan, initiate, and facilitate Transmission projects from inception to conclusion and in accordance with BPA and industry project management principles and standards.

• Facilitate complex large-sized, multi-year projects. Many of these projects are high visibility projects to Senior Management, requiring monthly project status updates.

• Responsible for coordination from the Scoping Phase of the project through documented Close Out procedures.

• Assist BPA management with implementing project tasks on a daily basis (may include multiple projects) with regards to time, budget, schedule and quality. Provide updates and findings to BPA manager.

• With oversight and approval from the BPA manager, coordinate activities for designated project(s) to verify that goals or objectives of the project are accomplished within the prescribed time frame and funding parameters.

• Provide recommendations regarding project expectations, approach, road maps, work plans, deliverables and goals.

• Collaborate with BPA manager and internal stakeholders to facilitate the tasks and activities of project team(s) and to properly understand related business needs, dependencies on other initiatives, and how best to effectively deploy end products.

• Work with appropriate BPA manager / personnel to facilitate resolution of conflicting priorities and requirements, as well as conflicting team positions to build consensus among stakeholders and project team members.

• Issue project status reports on a regular or as requested basis.

• Collaborate with the BPA manager (or assigned designee) to define the frequency and content of status reports from the project team; review and analyze results, troubleshooting concerns or problem areas and provide mitigation options and weighted recommendations.

• For large projects, may coordinate and guide other Projects Managers that are managing sub-projects. Draft monthly executive summary report.

• Interact and collaborate with external stakeholders, often navigating complex business relationships.

• Maintain consistent communication with project sponsors, performance managers, and stakeholders on the progress of the project compared to the work plan.

• Work with appropriate BPA managers / personnel to facilitate resolution of conflicting priorities and requirements, as well as conflicting team positions in order to build consensus among stakeholders and project team members.

• Maintain consistent communication with project sponsors, performance managers, and stakeholders on the progress of the project compared to the work plan.

• Identify and request resources and resolve resource allocation issues with business units and performance managers. Alert BPA staff of any resource allocation issues and recommend solutions (see note above).

• Forecast and recommend / request appropriate project resources to fulfill project needs; recommended resource requests must be submitted to, coordinated with and provided by appropriate BPA performance managers.

• Alert BPA manager of and obtain appropriate authorization for any potential changes to project cost, schedule or performance.

• Organize, coordinate and facilitate the work of project teams and serve as liaison between business and technical aspects of projects, including recommending project stages and assessing business implications for each stage.

• Work with appropriate BPA managers / personnel to facilitate resolution of conflicting priorities and requirements, as well as conflicting team positions in order to build consensus among stakeholders and project team members.

• Assist the BPA manager in building and coordinating an effective team and provide recommendations for allocating team members to project tasks (see note above).

• Actively engage with the business to properly understand the business needs, identify dependencies, project expectations, milestones, resources and other initiatives, and assist the BPA manager in deploying the solution.

• Collaborate with business units and BPA performance managers to help resolve resource allocation issues.

• Support the project team through the project management process (creating and implementing the project management plan); schedule and facilitate team meetings and coordinate activities of sub-teams.

• Facilitate "kick-off" meetings with sponsors, stakeholders, and partners and validate approval/buy in of project plans and commitment of resources.

• Schedule and facilitate project team meetings and coordinate activities of sub-teams.

• Draft project plans, resource strategies and funding estimates required to advance each assigned project / defined effort.

• Monitor progress of assigned projects to track timelines, milestones, deadlines, standards and targets, alerting appropriate BPA manager / personnel of any obstacles / potential delays to project timelines, targets or success; provide corrective action recommendations.

• Issue project status reports on a regular or as requested basis.

• Participate in monthly group level project manager meetings.

• Participate in TIP group level project manager meetings.

• Support Transmission managers in planning and building new high voltage substations and upgrading existing substations, including:

• Assisting with NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review

• Assisting with land rights review

• Assisting with access road planning

• Identifying required equipment for procurement

• Assisting with design and construction activities.

• Note: actions noted above must be reviewed and approved / accepted by appropriate BPA manager / personnel with the authority to do so.

• Actively engage with the business to properly understand the business needs, identify dependencies, project expectations, milestones, resources and other initiatives, and assist the BPA manager in deploying the solution.

• Coordinate activities for BPA manager-assigned projects that enable goals or objectives to be accomplished within the prescribed time frame and funding parameters, escalating concerns to appropriate BPA manager / personnel.

• Facilitate the implementation of the project on a daily basis (may include multiple projects) with regard to scope, budget, schedule and quality. Provide updates and findings to BPA manager. (see Note above)

• Maintain consistent communication with the project sponsor, performance managers, and clients on the progress of the project versus the plan.

• Prepare and monitor the budget for the project (monitors project funding and overall budget). Provide data to the BPA manager for review and approval. Alert the BPA Manager of any budget concerns.

• Facilitate and monitor/track project budgets (project funding and overall budget

• Facilitate project requirements, milestones, and project expectations and monitor the project schedule.

• Allocate time in the project plan for the project team to attend all recommended training.

• Take a proactive stance regarding risk management by alerting the BPA manager to areas of risk.

• Anticipating and identifying potential areas of risk and obtaining guidance from appropriate BPA manager or Contracting Officer.

• Tracking, monitoring and facilitating resolution of issues and risks identified within the projects, as well as compliance related dependencies.

• Maintaining issue, risk, and/or action logs.

• Developing, drafting and recommending contingency plans to minimize / eliminate risks on an ongoing basis for review and approval / acceptance by appropriate BPA manager / personnel.

• Maintain issue, risk, and/or action logs and develop contingency plans and status reports to manage risk.

• Alert the BPA Manager of any obstacles or work with the sponsor or performance managers and provide recommendations to remove roadblocks so that the team can complete the project. (see Note above).

• When necessary, obtain authorization for changes to the project scope, cost, schedule, or performance.

• Issue regular status reports, issue final reports or deliverables and generate and act on lessons learned. All final documents will be reviewed and approved by BPA federal staff.

• Conduct project postmortems and create a recommendations report in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.

• With approval from the BPA Manager, organize site visits with the project team members, as necessary for the project. Most projects will require at least three site visits. Large projects may require multiple site visits. Site visits may require overnight travel.

• Support and facilitate the following functions:

• Written and verbal sponsor communication.

• Project team communications and coordination.

• Inter-project team communications and coordination.

• Team meeting and sponsor meeting management.

• When necessary, facilitate the successful transition of a project or program of projects to another project manager including any training, documentation, or meeting coordination required to bring the new PM fully up to speed on all critical aspects of the work and introduce them to executive sponsors and key stakeholders.

• Provide background information, technical input, options and recommendations that facilitate project decision-making. This may include, at management request, arranging, attending and facilitating decision-making sessions/meetings with BPA management, executives and key stakeholders, including drafting agendas, answering technical questions, and presenting information, options and recommendations for decision-maker consideration.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Business Administration or Management, Organization Development, Computer Science or other closely-related technical field is preferred.

• With an applicable Bachelor's degree, 10 years of experience is required.

• With a Bachelor's degree not in applicable fields, 12 years of experience is required.

• Without a Bachelor's degree, 14 years of experience is required.

• Experience should include project management experience on projects relating to some or all the following: (Utility Physical Security and Compliance; High Voltage Substation; Telecommunication Systems).

• 5+ years of demonstrated project management experience on projects using industry standard methods and tools for managing schedules, dependencies, resources, funding and developing technical specifications and project plans.

• Experience accurately assessing and estimating project costs.

• Experience writing and understanding functional and technical specifications

• Experience with developing project schedule timelines to reflect major tasks (planning, design, procurement, construction, testing)

• Experience with SharePoint or similar program.

• Experience with Visio or similar program.

• Experience with MS Project

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Vancouver, WA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $64.00 - $69.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: - Medical, dental & vision - Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital - 401(k) Retirement Plan - Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available - Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) - Short and long-term disability - Health Spending Account (HSA) - Transportation benefits - Employee Assistance Program - Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a hybrid position in Vancouver,WA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Jul 17, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email View email address on click.appcast.io for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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