IT Project Management – Journey

State of Washington•Thurston County – Olympia, WA

4d•$7,508 - $10,098•Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has an exciting opportunity within our Information Technology Division, Project Management Office (PMO). This is a Journey Project Manager position that provides IT project, portfolio, and procurement activities, as well as IT consulting services, to the agency for IT projects or initiatives with a heavy IT component. This position works within the PMO to establish frameworks and standards for IT project management best practices, establish IT project management templates, guidance, and consulting services throughout the Agency. This position is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing medium- to large-scale, high-visibility application development and IT acquisition projects, including resource management. This position’s services help ensure that critical IT projects are planned, managed, and completed to achieve results that meet the business needs of the department as effectively and efficiently as possible. This position reports to an IT Project Manager Senior/Specialist (Supervisor) in the PMO.

Requirements

Bachelor's in information technology, computer science, or related field AND four (4) years of relevant, professional IT experience; OR an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
Experience managing technical projects.
Completion of a project management training program.
Experience managing vendor contracts.
Experience drafting budget proposals and recommending budgetary changes when necessary.
Experience managing the procurement and usage of internal and external resources and the creation of project deliverable timelines/roadmaps.
Familiarity with traditional PM and office productivity tools at a professional level: MS Project, Excel, Word, Visio, and PowerPoint
Strong leadership, diplomatic, and motivational skills, including the ability to motivate and direct up, across, and down multiple business and technology organizations.
Work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment, demonstrating teamwork, innovation, and excellence.
Ability to effectively communicate with project partners and involved entities through consistent professional communication and presentation skills, both verbally and in writing, to technical and non-technical staff, and to all levels of management
Able to work collaboratively with technical and non-technical staff on a project team
Able to conform to shifting priorities, demands, and timelines, and provide analytical problem-solving while remaining flexible
Commitment to fostering and supporting an environment that honors diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice practices.
Perform assigned duties in a manner consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and public records retention, and follow requests.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree involving a major study in information systems technology.
Experience leading and motivating various project business team sizes through important project decisions relating to internal and external resources while holding the team accountable for performance.
Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Experience with ITIL.
Experience with LEAN management principles.
Public sector information technology management and contracting experience.
Experience with Agile/Scrum and SDLC / Waterfall methodologies.
Experience influencing and gaining buy-in from executive sponsors, team members, partners, and peers.

Responsibilities

Serve as an agency professional with working knowledge of IT project management. Successful completion of tasks results in agency IT projects being completed on time, on budget, and with customer acceptance.
Ensure adherence to all WaTech policies and standards. For projects under WaTech oversight, comply with Gated Funding requirements, WaTech lifecycle management, and the completion of a project’s investment plan.
Ensure adherence to the Office of Cybersecurity (OCS) IT Cybersecurity Policies and Standards through the application development lifecycle.
Provide leadership in IT project management by fully understanding and implementing projects using Project Management Institute (PMI) best practices.
Develop IT project plans and charters, set and manage project schedules, manage product backlog, develop and implement communication strategy and plan, and other project management artifacts to ensure business needs are met.
Monitor, track, and control outcomes to resolve issues, conflicts, dependencies, and critical path deliverables using IT analytical approaches.
Facilitate requirements-gathering meetings and workshops across ITD and Business. Know the questions to ask, define problems, determine needs, and solve problems to facilitate the collection of business requirements to ensure end-user requirements are met.
Consult with managers, staff, and external partners to analyze technological needs and problems; analyze and resolve highly complex problems involving system integration issues.
Procure adequate resources to achieve IT project objectives in planned time frames.
Provide status reporting regarding IT project milestones, deliverables, dependencies, risks, and issues, communicating across leadership.
Participate in and/or drive IT feasibility studies, IT vendor selections, and IT proposals for evaluation by appropriate key partners.
Manage ongoing quality control and participate in quality issue resolution.
Manage IT project and program expectations while delegating and managing deliverables with team members and partners.
Maintain the project schedule and report against actual versus baseline, and maintain project costs.
Lead project teams, manage projects in accordance with PMI and project management best practices; support and understand WaTech oversight processes and deliverables, and ensure project partners are communicated with and understand the project scope, schedule, cost, and risks.
Serves as a Journey Project Manager in the IT Project Management Office. Successful completion of duties results in an organization that benefits through the standardization and methodical use of IT project management policies and best practices.
Continually assess and evaluate evolving best practices and adjust agency IT project management policies, procedures, and methods accordingly.
Understand emerging trends in technology and guide the organization in the development and adoption of technology standards and processes.
Develop templates, policies, tools, and partnerships to expand and mature IT project management best practices within the organization.
Manage multiple related IT projects to ensure the overall program is aligned to and directly supports the achievement of strategic objectives.
Ensure program- and project-level “lessons learned” activities are conducted with a focus on continuous service improvements within the Project Management Office, IT organization, and supporting service areas.
Provide IT project management knowledge and skills to support projects distributed throughout the agency.
Serve as a Journey Project Manager providing IT business analysis services to agency business programs. Successful completion of these tasks results in the identification of the best technical solutions to address business problems.
Work with business programs to identify and clarify the problem they are trying to solve.
Work with business programs to identify and clarify business requirements.
Inform and educate business programs regarding existing IT policies and standards.
Conduct IT market research and identify existing “best-of -breed” product offerings when applicable.
Collaborate with the business programs to identify potential solutions and acquisition options.
Demonstrate a functional acumen to support how solutions will address client goals while maintaining alignment with the industry's best practices and agency standards.
Collaborate with key partners to identify necessary resources.
Identify and communicate potential resource constraints, risks, and issues.
Provide results of the consultation to the business program and assist with decision-making as to next steps.
Support the development of IT contracts. Successful completion of these tasks results in quality, productivity, and compliance for IT contracts.
Help define the IT Statement of Work and Specifications for the requested goods and services.
Adhere to the IT procurement processes consistent with state and agency policies and procedures.
Maintain contractual records and documentation, such as receipt and control of all IT contract correspondence, customer contact information sheets, contractual changes, status reports, and other documents.
Monitor transaction compliance (milestones, deliverables, invoicing, etc.)
Oversee IT Service Level Agreement Compliance.
Ensure contract close-out, extension, or renewal.
Assist in dispute, negotiation, arbitration, or litigation, as needed.
Support formal/informal schedules to manage the engagement contract.

Benefits

Commitment to organizational health and wellness
Work/life balance
DNR Employee Resource Groups (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, Women’s Employee Resource Group, Veterans Employee Resource Group, etc.)
Statewide Employee Business Resource Groups
Leadership that empowers and supports employees
Professional development opportunities
Educational and career development aid
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Eligibility
Opportunities to participate in wildland fire suppression assignments
A comprehensive benefits package includes employer contributions toward health insurance, paid holidays, retirement plans, sick leave, and vacation days.