ITS Project Manager

University of New England Career•Portland, OR

About The Position

The ITS Project Manager will lead end-to-end delivery of assigned projects, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and standards. This role involves managing all phases of the project lifecycle, from initiation to post-implementation stabilization, while fostering strong collaboration between ITS and business units. The Project Manager will be responsible for stakeholder engagement, risk management, and ensuring successful adoption of implemented solutions. Additionally, the role requires coordination with vendors and adherence to ITS project management tools, standards, and best practices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in information technology, business administration, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Progressive experience managing technology projects, typically five to seven years, including cross-functional initiatives.
Working Knowledge of project management methodologies, tools, and best practices (for example PMI, Agile, or hybrid approaches).
Demonstrated ability to develop realistic project plans, manage dependencies, and deliver results on schedule.
Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with technical teams and nontechnical stakeholders.
Proven ability to manage risks, issues, and scope changes, and to escalate decisions appropriately.
Experience coordinating vendor deliverables and working with third-party partners.

Nice To Haves

Project management certification such as PMP or equivalent credential.
Experience in higher education or a similarly complex, mission-driven organization.
Experience supporting organizational change management activities, communications, and training coordination.
Familiarity with service management practices (ITIL or ITSM) and with portfolio or project management platforms.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end delivery of assigned projects, including project chartering, planning, execution, go-live readiness, and post go-live stabilization.
Define project scope, requirements, success metrics, and acceptance criteria with sponsors and business owners.
Develop and maintain integrated project plans, including milestones, dependencies, resourcing needs, and critical path activities.
Coordinate work across ITS teams and business units to ensure deliverables are completed on schedule and aligned to standards.
Support release and deployment planning, cutover coordination, and post-implementation review to improve delivery outcomes.
Establish and maintain strong working relationships with executive sponsors, functional owners, technical staff, and external partners.
Develop and execute communication plans appropriate to project scope and risk, ensuring timely, clear updates to stakeholders.
Facilitate project meetings, working sessions, and decision forums; document outcomes and action items and drive follow-through.
Promote partnership between ITS and business units, ensuring solutions are co-designed with users and impacted stakeholders.
Maintain project risk, issue, decision, and action (RIDA) tracking and ensure mitigation plans are developed and executed.
Manage project scope and change control processes, documenting impacts to timeline, budget, resources, and outcomes.
Identify and escalate risks, resource constraints, and decisions required to leadership and governance groups.
Partner with organizational change management and training resources to complete impact assessments, readiness checkpoints, and training and support plans.
Support business process discussions within project scope to ensure implementation aligns with agreed processes and improves the user experience.
Coordinate adoption and go-live support activities, including communications, job aids, and stabilization support as needed.
Coordinate vendor activities, deliverables, and timelines for assigned projects; facilitate vendor status meetings and issue resolution.
Support procurement and contract-related project activities by providing project inputs and ensuring vendor deliverables align with scope and schedule.
Use ITS-approved project management tools to maintain accurate project plans, status reports, and documentation (for example Smartsheet or similar platforms).
Apply ITS templates and standards for project governance, documentation, and reporting; contribute feedback to improve project practices over time.
Maintain accurate project status, financial tracking (as applicable), and forecasting information to support portfolio reporting and resource planning.
Participate in special projects and perform other duties as assigned.