Assistant Director of Project Management

University of Chicago • Hyde Park, IL

8d • Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC), a unit in the Office of Research, provides high-end research computing resources to researchers at the University of Chicago. It is dedicated to enabling research by providing access to centrally managed High-Performance Computing (HPC), storage, and visualization resources. These resources include hardware, software, high-level scientific and technical user support, and the education and training required to help researchers make full use of modern HPC technology and local and national supercomputing resources. The Office of Research oversees the conduct of sponsored research, research program development, and contract management functions.

The job uses best practices and knowledge of non-technical (not information technology or construction related) projects from conception to completion. Assembles teams and develops detailed work plans, schedules, project estimates, resource plans, and status reports while being the point of contact for those projects. The Research Computing Center (RCC) is seeking an experienced, hands-on Assistant Director of Project Management to oversee a variety of complex projects, including High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure initiatives, faculty-supported research projects, and internal RCC efforts. This role ensures RCC meets its deliverables timely and provides high-quality customer service. It focuses on prompt execution, managing procurements, deployments, system rollouts, and ongoing coordination across technical teams and faculty stakeholders. Reporting to the Director of the Research Computing Center, the Assistant Director for Project Management will be a strategic partner responsible for driving all assigned projects to successful completion. This is a hybrid position requiring at least 3 days per week onsite.

Requirements

• Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
• Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree.
• Experience managing projects or programs in an academic or research environment.
• Experience with project management software.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) or other project management certification.
• Experience creating reports and documentation.
• Strong organization skills and detail oriented with proven ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities.
• Strong planning skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and deliver results within tight deadlines.
• High degree of project ownership and accountability.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical staff and faculty researchers.
• High level of discretion, integrity, professionalism, and interpersonal effectiveness.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate all aspects of complex projects ranging from research projects to multi-million-dollar equipment acquisitions.
• Oversee cross-functional project teams to ensure accountability and timely progress.
• Lead project management of HPC and AI systems procurement, installation, and deployment including developing and managing project detailed plans, timelines, milestones and task tracking.
• Coordinate systems engineers, data center teams, university vendors, and external partners to ensure smooth delivery and installation.
• Track hardware orders, supply chain timelines and installation readiness.
• Establish the use of effective project management tools to maintain strong project frameworks and supportive reporting systems and tools for RCC staff and partners.
• Monitor progress of all RCC projects, anticipate project-related risks, and proactively take the necessary steps to mitigate those risks. Offers solutions and escalates when appropriate.
• Provide regular, structured status updates to RCC leadership and key project stakeholders, and effectively lead recurring status meetings during project implementation.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of project status, key decisions, and action items, and prepare formal reports as needed for leadership and stakeholders.
• Strategically assess RCC project pipelines continuously seeking new and/or more effective ways of working. Consistently brings these recommendations to leadership.
• Support and serve as an active participant during audits and annual assessments.
• Cultivate partnerships with faculty and staff to ensure quality service and successful collaborations as well as develop strong business relationships with university vendors.
• Develop staff’s project management skills, and encourage group leads to implement project management best practices and tools. including assisting and encouraging team(s) to meet all deliverables sufficiently and on time.
• Act as a resource for a project team and provides analytical guidance.
• Interprets complex project issues and provides analytical guidance to a project team.
• Coordinates the successful integration of vendor tasks and tracks and reviews vendor deliverables.
• Perform other related work as needed.

Benefits

• The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook .

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees