Technical Project Manager

Technical Project Manager

Location: Palo Alto, CA (Onsite) Duration: Contract

The position is hybrid - 2 days on site or more depending on project needs. This contractor position reports to the client's internal team, working with a group of technical project managers assembled into multidisciplinary teams to complete a broad range of critical University-wide technology projects, including Discovery and Implementation projects for enterprise applications and system integrations across domain areas like collaboration or content management, cloud services, data analytics and reporting, research computing, or information security or privacy. The project manager is responsible for managing large and complex technical projects leveraging project management best practices to drive continuous improvement and ensure consistent, high-quality outcomes. The project manager is expected to weigh the interests of multiple stakeholders, act with the highest professionalism, and exercise independent judgment and decision-making.

Core Duties

Project Management (90%)

• Perform the full range of project management cycle: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Independently lead and direct projects requiring high levels of functional integration and involving multiple disciplines to be managed.
• Direct development of an action plan, and estimate requirements for resources, including management, labor, materials, and time required to complete projects.
• Facilitate discussions and negotiations to drive recommendation and consensus.
• Develop and help execute comprehensive change management strategy and communication plan relative to project scope and stakeholders; orchestrate and lead change management methodologies underlying project success.
• Responsibilities include but not limited to: charter origination; scope identification and shaping scope definition; manage stakeholders, constituents and disciplines across Stanford and beyond, including local cities/counties; risk-manage, control and report on risk associated with more complicated projects, affecting division or program as it relates to their project portfolio; project complexity involves synthesizing complex technical data and driving decision.
• Adapt to tools, methodologies, and practices used by the client

PMO Process, Methodology and Tools (10%)

• Assist with administering the internal project intake process and procedures including coordinating project qualifications and demand management, creating resource plans, and evaluating resource constraints.
• Assist with PPM/PMO process improvement initiatives as defined in the PMO roadmap.

Experience

• Bachelor's degree in a related field and five years of related experience in management of projects with extensive size/complexity and moderate performance risk, including project planning, scheduling, tracking, and budgeting, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Required Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities:

• Highly effective written and oral communication skills to address a wide variety of audiences.
• Ability to productively assemble, engage, and lead cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated project management ability to employ integration, scope time management, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, and procurement components.
• Ability to balance customer expectations with project reality.
• Demonstrated resilience, diplomacy, influence, relationship building, and problem solving skills in a variety of situations.
• Keen grasp of interpersonal and impact awareness.
• Depth of knowledge in technical discipline/domain needed to deliver projects.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Proven experience with Agile, Waterfall and Hybrid project management methodologies strongly desired.
• Knowledge of project management tools and software development lifecycle (SDLC) strongly desired.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to details.
• Proven experience in developing and maintaining complex and integrated project plans with proper work breakdown structure (WBS) strongly desired.
• Proven experience in people, change, risk, and conflict management strongly desired.
• Proven ability to build relationships and motivate cross-functional teams to achieve results in a consensus driven environment strongly desired.
• Ability to lead and direct a team of internal and external technical and business staff, and align technical needs with business goals strongly desired.
• Solid leadership, negotiation, persuasion, and facilitation skills strongly desired.
• Ability to navigate stressful situations and make/negotiate decisions on complex problems strongly desired.
• Solid experience with Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides), MS Office tools (Word, Excel, Project, PowerPoint, Visio), Smartsheet, ServiceNow Project Portfolio Manager (PPM), Zoom, and Slack are strongly desired.
• Experience with Oracle E-Business Suite desired.
• Experience with PeopleSoft Student and HR Administration desired.
• Knowledge of quality assurance and testing practices desired.
• Knowledge of data integration across different technical platforms desired.
• Understanding of Web application architecture and the technology tiers that support them, system architectures, application integration, and object oriented languages desired.

Certifications and Licenses

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certified completion of a Project Management Certificate program, or certification in process
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) completion or certification in process is desired.
• ITIL Certification desired

Physical Requirements:

• Frequently sit, perform desk based computer tasks, and grasp lightly/fine manipulation and lift/carry /push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
• Occasionally stand/walk, write by hand.
• Rarely use a telephone, kneel, crawl, climb ladders, twist/bend/stoop/squat, reach/work above shoulder, grasp forcefully.