Sr. Project Manager

Sr. Project ManagerIT centric PM who is well-rounded and led IT implementation projects within healthcare spaceGraduate degree preferred. Prior health insurance industry exposure, specific experience with successful project implementations.Consulting background would be ideal as wellProject Management:Manages projects, develops, and directs technical project teams through all phases and activities of the project life-cycle process associated with major information technology systems projects. The role may require management of multiple projects simultaneously, depending on the scope and complexities of projects assigned.Determines project goals and priorities with management, program manager and/or project sponsors. Creates all project planning documentation (including updates, status reports, etc.) and follows all project methodologies (PMLC/SDLC). Establish and publish clear priorities among project activities to produce a business plan in accordance with the strategic plan, operating budget, capital planning procedures and agency guidance. Coordinates team activities to meet project milestones.Manage and communicate a clear vision of the projects objectives and motivate the cross functional project team to achieve them; create a project environment that enables peak performance by the entire team. Establishes and publishes clear priorities among project activities. Coordinates team activities to meet project milestones.Directs/leads project teams comprised of subject matter experts, technical specialists, and support staff to produce a business plan in accordance with the strategic plan, operating budget, and capital planning procedures.Oversees the design, development, testing, and implementation of technical and functional specifications of a project technology system. Negotiates Statement of Work/Scope of Services for IT products and services. Develops information systems testing strategies, plans or scenarios.Project Monitoring and Control/Risk Management:Analyze risks, establish contingency plans and identify trigger events and responsibility for initiating mitigating action. Gather stakeholder input, rank the top projects risks in terms of total impact. Accountable for tracking and reporting on progress to plan, cost and schedule reporting and change control. Manage change to preserve business plan commitments; initiate review if projects must change.Communicate risks to stakeholders and business sponsors, escalate issues and risks for mitigation. Manage relationships with project stakeholders, including internal and external clients and vendors, keeping stakeholders informed of progress and issues in order to manage expectations on all project requirements and deliverables. Facilitate regularly scheduled project meetings for the project team, workgroup, executive steering committee, risk planning and change control.Proactively identify changes in work scope and ensure appropriate planning measures are taken with internal and external clients to reassess and amend the scope of work requirement, budget and timeline.Provides input to Executive updates and reports to enable Executives to make informed and strategic decisions on project portfolio.Staff Management:Provides direction, prioritization and motivation to project team staff, comprised of business/systems analysts conducting research and analysis on system integration and implementation, in order to manage allocation of resources to meet work fluctuations and time deadlines in the delivery process. Manages a matrix staff of 5-20, scalable to project or corporate initiative.Coach to clarify assignments and deliverables; mentor others in project management practices; review quality of work and manage the integration of team members work.Manage Vendor relations and procurement related to the projects.Budget Management:Manages the Project Budget with overall budget accountability. Manages project budgets for both expense and capital against the original project budget. Forecast budget via Clarity, maintain forecast through the lifecycle, and manage budget variance.Provides regular updates to project sponsor and stakeholders on the status of the budget. Documents and reports on reasons for budget variances. Maintains current statements of work for all vendors; track and approve contractor invoices in a timely manner. Creates Executive Summaries for all contractor resources required to complete a project.Qualification Requirements:Required: This position requires a four-year degree in CIS/MIS or equivalent experience of 2-4 years of related project management experience in a large scale, cross functional, multi-system environment. Out of the 5-7 years required, at least 4 years in a combination of the following:Progressive broad-based Project Management experience (which could include consulting) is desirable; knowledge and implementation experience in new computing architectures and networked computing structuresExperience as Project Manager, with working knowledge of Systems development lifecycle and the Project Management LifecycleAbilities/Skills:Ability to lead dynamic, energized, and highly creative multidiscipline high-performance work teams in learning and applying new skills/techniques to respond to business needsLeadership skills including: coaching, organizing, integrating, directing, controlling and motivatingAbility to effectively adapt to rapidly changing technology and apply it to business needs.Experience managing and delivering Business and IT centric projects using (where appropriate) leading-edge technology, and older legacy systemsSolid teamwork and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate and persuade customers, employees, and management at all levels and thrive in a cross-functional environmentExcellent oral and written communications; an ability to present and discuss technical information in a way that establishes rapport, persuades others, and gains understandingExceptional project management skills, effectively arranging resources and managing small to moderate projects in a cross-functional environment, work flow balancing, activity scheduling, problem resolution and flexibilityAbility to analyze project needs and determine resources needed to meet objectives, possess good technical skills including scheduling, estimating and costingStrong analytical, problem-solving, and conceptual skillsKnowledge of local systems and experience with hardware, software and high level programming is desired in order to understand the effect a new project will have throughout all related systemsMS Office proficiencyPreferred: Graduate degree preferred. Prior health insurance industry exposure, specific experience with successful project implementations.