Project Manager Sr

At ERCOT, our diverse and dynamic work environment provides a platform on which employees can work together to build the future of the Texas power grid and wholesale market utilizing the latest technologies and resources. We encourage you to join our talented, dedicated workforce to develop world-class solutions for today and tomorrow’s energy challenges while learning new skills and growing your career. ERCOT is committed to fostering inclusion at all levels of our company. It is the cornerstone of our corporate values of accountability, leadership, innovation, trust, and expertise. We know that individuals with a wide variety of talents, ideas, and experiences propel the innovation that drives our success. An inclusive and diverse workforce strengthens us and allows for a collaborative environment to solve the challenges that face our industry today and in the future. JOB SUMMARY Manages projects in accordance with established project governance. Plans, directs and coordinates activities of assigned projects for designated IT or Business area, to ensure that goals and approved scope are accomplished within the prescribed time frame and funding parameters. Develops, manages and coordinates project plans of different degrees of complexity. Manages a detailed work breakdown, resource commitments, budget, risks, and communication for each phase of the project, as required by project governance. Partners with the project Business Owner and Technical Lead on project delivery strategy, providing focus on transparency and project controls. JOB DUTIES Understands and applies principles, theories and concepts related to the profession and ERCOT's culture. Exercises judgment within defined procedures and practices to determine appropriate action. Impact is generally limited to specific assignments or projects. May respond to inquiries and/or provide assistance and/or guidance to lower level workers. ADDITIONAL JOB DUTIES Leads multiple medium/high complexity projects simultaneously, maintaining deep engagement across all workstreams and resource pools, under supervision of PMO management. Partners with the project business owner, and technical lead to determine the delivery strategy, provide direction to the project team, and drive stakeholder awareness. Provides concise executive-level communication and recommendations to sponsors, steering committees, and senior leadership. Manages complex team dynamics, effectively facilitates conflict resolution, conducts negotiations, and achieves organizational objectives through strategic influence absent formal authority, with support from PMO management. Actively engages the project team to drive delivery by facilitating decisions, resolving blockers, identifying risks, issues, and mitigation plans, and maintaining momentum across workstreams, project team members, vendors, and stakeholders. Navigates a matrixed resource environment, negotiating resource commitments with resource and project managers across competing project priorities. Manages external dependencies across teams, systems, and delivery timelines to maintain schedule integrity and risk management. Identifies and manages cross-project and cross-program dependencies that may impact scope, schedule, cost, or business outcomes. Escalates issues appropriately and facilitate timely decision-making among stakeholders when priorities or requirements conflict. Conducts deep scope analysis to develop and maintain a detailed, accurate work breakdown structure throughout the project lifecycle. Maintains a current and accurate project plan at all times, reflecting real resource assignments, actual progress, and updated forecasts. Maintains reasonable variance between cost forecasts and actuals, with timely explanations for deviations. Coordinates vendor procurement, engagement, delivery and performance in alignment with project objectives, as applicable. Partners with business stakeholders to support organizational readiness, adoption planning, and implementation activities. Maintains timesheet compliance across the project team, including reviewing and approving or rejecting weekly time submissions. Utilizes existing and emerging technologies to drive efficient and effective project operations, including collaboration and productivity tools, AI, data analysis, and PPM tooling. Operates effectively within a highly regulated, audit-conscious environment, ensuring project documentation, compliance artifacts, and reporting meet organizational and regulatory standards. Supports PMO continuous improvement initiatives, as assigned. Supports PMO sponsored projects or other initiatives, as assigned. Fosters a project culture aligned with ERCOT’s core values. EXPERIENCE Minimum 5 years related work experience managing projects, product or workstream delivery, in excess of degree requirements (Required) Experience as a project manager within a formal enterprise PMO, including structured phase-gate governance and tollgate approval processes and accountability for executive engagement. Experience managing medium/high complexity projects with cross-functional resource pools. Experience working within a matrixed organization, including resource negotiation and shared-service delivery models. Experience operating in a highly regulated, audit-conscious environment with formal documentation, compliance, and reporting requirements. Experience managing projects using traditional waterfall and hybrid methodologies within a structured phase-gate governance framework. Working experience at an ISO/RTO, ISO/RTO stakeholder, or Electric Utility environment (Preferred) Proficiency in a Project Management scheduling tool such as Microsoft Project, as well as practical experience using a project ticketing and workflow system such as JIRA. (Required) Proficiency in AI prompt design. (Preferred) Additional preferred experience depending upon the hiring team and project demands. Digital & ERP Projects - IT infrastructure projects, including data center refresh, compute and storage upgrades, network modernization, or fiber expansion Enterprise application implementations, migrations, or end-of-life system replacements Cybersecurity or compliance-driven initiatives, including security assessments, endpoint protection, or regulatory standard alignment Identity and access management (IAM) projects, including governance, provisioning, or access control implementations Enterprise data, AI, or toolchain modernization initiatives, including data governance, platform migrations, or developer tooling Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Treasury, and Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) projects ERCOT ISO Operations & Regulatory Projects: Commercial operations or market systems projects, including customer registration, forward and real-time wholesale market, wholesale settlement, and retail market applications Grid system interconnection, planning, and operations projects, including forecasting, network modeling, and energy management systems and tools External stakeholder and customer platform projects, including websites and user portals EDUCATION Bachelor’s Degree: Business, Management, Engineering, IT, or related field (Required) Or a combination of education and experience that provides equivalent knowledge to a major in such fields is required CERTIFICATION PMP Project Management Professional (Preferred) Agile and Scrum certifications (Optional) Organizational Change Management certifications (Optional) Lean Six Sigma certifications (Optional) The foregoing description reflects the minimum qualifications and the essential functions of the position that must be performed proficiently with or without reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. It is not an exhaustive list of the duties expected to be performed, and management may, at its discretion, revise or require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This job description is not intended to create a contract of employment with ERCOT. Both ERCOT and the employee may exercise their employment-at-will rights at any time. ERCOT is firmly committed to equal employment for all qualified persons without regard to race, sex, medical condition, religion, age, creed, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, ancestry, veteran status, genetic information or any other protected category under federal, state or local law. Expected Salary Range: $112,000 - $154,000 The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 27 million Texas customers - representing about 90 percent of the state's electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 54,100 miles of transmission lines and 1,250 generating units. ERCOT also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. ERCOT's members include consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities (transmission and distribution providers,) and municipal-owned electric utilities. ERCOT offers an excellent benefits package, which includes health, dental, vision, life insurance, long/short-term disability insurance, long-term care insurance, Section 125 Flexible Spending Account, and a Retirement Savings Plan. The medical, dental, vision, and quality-of-life benefits offered by ERCOT are second to none. Full-time employees are eligible to enroll in benefits on the first of the month following the date of hire. Additionally, 401(k) plans are available to help employees plan for the future. The ERCOT Internship Program provides college students the opportunity to develop their skills in a professional work environment. Each intern will receive unique projects and assignments that aim to solve real challenges facing the electric industry. ERCOT internships provide professional learning experiences that offer meaningful, practical work related to each student's desired career path. Eligible candidates should be enrolled in an academic bachelors or post graduate degree program maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The ERCOT Engineer Development Program (EDP) is a 12- to 16-month, self-paced program geared toward entry-level engineers looking to start a career in the power industry. Through the program, an EDP Engineer receives one-on-one mentoring, specialized training, and exposure to the work performed by each of the engineering groups at ERCOT. The program allows engineers to develop the fundamental skills necessary to reach their full potential while gaining an understanding of the types of engineering work ERCOT has to offer. EDP management supports participants each step of the way as they progress through the program. Upon completion, graduates are placed as full-time engineers within one of ERCOT’s engineering groups. The GMS Development Program (GDP) is designed to provide entry-level and early career professionals with the skills necessary to become successful Power System and Computer Engineers. The program, which is based in ERCOT’s Grid and Market Solutions (GMS) Department, will provide experience in day-to-day work and instruction in the fundamentals of electric power systems engineering, grid and market applications, software programming, and IT service and operations management. The GDP offers one-on-one mentoring, training, field trips, and special assignments. These assignments allow GDP engineers to become knowledgeable and familiar with the various business areas at ERCOT. The GMS leadership team prepares GDP engineers for a future career at ERCOT in power systems and computer engineering. The System Operator Development Program (ODP) is intended to combine real-time daily operations in an exciting work setting to prepare participants with the vital skills necessary to be successful in such a critical position — providing 24x7x365 on-demand support to manage the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers. If you are new to the industry, this program introduces you to the Bulk Electric System by combining introductory courses with the NERC Certification Exam Preparation Program in preparation to pass the NERC Certification Exam.