Project Director

At Houston Methodist, the Project Director position is responsible for managing multiple projects throughout all lifecycle phases, leading projects which span across departments which may be of a highly confidential nature and of extremely high strategic value to senior management. This position is responsible for organizing and monitoring of successful development, and the successful implementation of all project controls for projects as assigned, including projects related to the strategic initiatives of the Houston Methodist (HM) System. The Project Director position presents pertinent and actionable strategic level information, facilitating and directing implementation of evidence-based practice using data and performance improvement methodologies. This position must be results-oriented with a strong commitment to project execution, overseeing and designing the review, analysis, and integration of data in the workflow design to support organization and department mission and goals. The Project Director position interacts with all levels of the organization, from front-line clerical and clinical personnel to senior management and medical staff and possesses strategic vision, excellent communication skills, proven facilitation skills, proven motivational capabilities.

FLSA STATUS

Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Master’s degree

EXPERIENCE

• Seven years of experience in related discipline. May consider HM employee with six years’ experience which include at least four years in a role with progressive leadership responsibilities where the emphasis has been focused on organizational operations. Houston Methodist Fellowship plus two years of demonstrated progressive responsibility satisfies all experience requirements

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

Preferred

• PMP - Certified Project Management Professional (PMI)

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
• Mature management skills demonstrated by calm and thorough review of situations
• Strong communication and presentation skills. Ability to conduct effective presentations
• Ability to establish and maintain positive Sponsor, project team member and internal relationships
• Demonstrates strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills
• Ability to independently manage projects in culturally diverse settings – knowledge of different cultural sensitivities
• Advanced spreadsheet skills (i.e. creating pivot tables, performing v-lookups, and managing large data sets). Intermediate word-processing and presentation software skills
• Strong project and time management skills
• Initiative - Exhibits resourcefulness, independent action and judgment that are position appropriate. Evaluates, selects and acts on various methods and strategies for solving problems and meeting objectives
• Adaptable – flexible in handling change, able to juggle multiple high priority demands, able to adapt to new situations with innovative ideas or approaches. Can maintain focus on goals and easily adjust to how they are achieved
• Professional handling of exposure to confidential/sensitive information
• Demonstrated success in consulting effectively with senior level management, the ability to influence others without direct position responsibility and to earn credibility and client trust

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Uses strategic influence, analytical thinking, tactical planning, attention to detail, time management, and conflict resolution skills to effectively facilitate projects and analyses. Maintains customer confidence and protects operations by keeping information confidential.
• Builds and gains consensus of stakeholders for strategic initiatives. Proactively tailors work products, communications, and style to leadership and a broad range of specific audiences. Presents information to management to support decision-making.
• Role models healthy relationships in the work environment such as mitigation of conflict, leading problem solving and resolution efforts. Provides proactive and creative recommendations on how to meet goals and handle identified risks and deviations. Recommends initiatives to improve department scores for employee engagement on department scorecard.
• Collaborates with key stakeholders to champion change throughout the organization, incorporating lessons learned into future projects to ensure desired results.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provide leadership, decision analysis, subject matter expertise, and recommendations for various initiatives throughout department. Provides consultative services, manages and implements multi-faceted strategic and business-related initiatives.
• Develop and deliver executive presentations and dashboards and communications that may be distributed system-wide.
• Serves as support to interprofessional workgroups throughout all HM entities. Assists during internal audits and other audits as appropriate. Works in collaboration with other entity operations staff to ensure synergy in duties and reporting.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Responsible for the completion and management of strategic projects associated with system structure, education, analytics, data management and any other project for HM systems available to the departments, as assigned. Proactively identifies and resolves project issues; manages project/program deliverables and mitigates project risks.
• Synthesizes data from various internal and external sources to make informed decisions. Critically evaluates information gathered from multiple sources, reconcile conflicts, decompose high-level information into details, abstract up from low-level information to a general understanding, and distinguish user requests from the underlying true needs.
• Ensures project documentation (agendas, minutes, project plans, presentations, etc), some of which may be of a highly confidential nature, is complete, timely, accurate, and in accordance with standards and policies, in order to ensure a successful project outcome.
• Develops and monitors department quality objectives, milestones and benchmarks, effective tools to measure performance against these standards, providing documentation, and reporting on all plans, priorities, schedules, staff assignments, programs and the current status of the project and assignments.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Interprets financial results, generates reports, identifies market trends, and recommends courses of action to executive. Composes clear and concise summaries, written/oral presentations, business plans, trends, and data analysis utilizing a variety of software in order to present recommendations to leadership/project sponsors.
• Provides input into utilization of human, financial and physical resources within constraints of operating indicators. Assists in the preparation, tracking, and projection of annual operating budget.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Leads development of strategies for creative and futuristic planning for delivery of services. Offers innovative solutions through participation in performance improvement projects and activities. Follows up on action items to ensure completion of assignments.
• Identifies and assumes responsibility of own learning needs, consults with healthcare team experts and seeks continuing education opportunities to meet those needs. Completes and updates the individual development plan (IDP) on an on-going basis. Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: No
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No

*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

ON-CALL*

• On Call* No

TRAVEL**

**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Master’s degree

EXPERIENCE

• Seven years of experience in related discipline. May consider HM employee with six years’ experience which include at least four years in a role with progressive leadership responsibilities where the emphasis has been focused on organizational operations. Houston Methodist Fellowship plus two years of demonstrated progressive responsibility satisfies all experience requirements

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

Preferred

• PMP - Certified Project Management Professional (PMI)