Program / Project Manager

Matrix Systems & Technologies - Baltimore, MD

Full-time - Senior

Remote - Baltimore, MD

About the position

The Program / Project Manager will oversee the planning, development, and operation of a modernized childcare tracking system, ensuring effective project management and stakeholder coordination. This role requires expertise in information technology, particularly in Child Care, and involves managing project life cycles, risk, resources, and schedules for government agency projects. The position is remote with occasional travel required.

Responsibilities

• Oversee planning, development and operation of the modernized childcare tracking system.
• Evaluate complex situations accurately and identify viable solutions that create successful outcomes.
• Develop and maintain lessons-learned inputs in the project repository for utilization on future projects.
• Monitor daily system operations to plan, anticipate and prevent problems and to direct immediate corrective action when issues arise.
• Provide both verbal and written communications regarding project status, risks, and issues, and make recommendations on project decisions to DEC point of contact.
• Manage allocation of resources within the program(s) to meet work fluctuations and budget and time constraints in the delivery process.
• Serve as subject matter expert, providing technical and analytical guidance to the program and project teams.
• Use agile project management methods, such as Scaled Agile, to prioritize, define, execute and deliver system enhancements and corrections.
• Manage the system engineering workload to assign priorities and track work through delivery.
• Coordinate with multiple state agencies to ensure optimal use of the MD Think platform.
• Lead team in identifying the root cause of problems and implementing durable solutions.
• Coordinate task assignment and system quality for all teams supporting the system including security, networking, hosting, system administration, database administration, level 2 help desk, development, testing, and implementation.
• Approve the deployment of code release packages for user acceptance test, training and production environments.
• Conduct weekly status calls with the internal and contractor teams to communicate objectives, monitor progress, and resolve issues.
• Work with the Division to provide support and coordination and to ensure seamless adoption of the new system and business processes.
• Assist with managing contracts and vendors assigned to delegated initiatives included in the assigned projects.
• Co-Facilitate monthly meetings of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC).
• Perform the duties of a Senior Project Manager for significant development initiatives classified as Major IT Projects.
• Prepare Project Charter, Technical Roadmap, Roles and Responsibility matrix and other project planning documents consistent with DoIT policies and procedures.
• Translate generalized customer business goals and objectives into concrete strategy and tactical plans.
• Brief MSDE and DoIT Executives on the project goals, approach and status throughout the project.
• Execute the project utilizing PMI and agile project management methods, such as the Scaled Agile Framework.
• Prepare and disseminate the DoIT Quad Report to summarize progress in multiple dimensions.
• Work on complex problems where analysis of situation or data requires an in-depth evaluation of various factors to achieve best results.
• Exercise judgment within broadly defined policies and practices to develop and implement methods and techniques.
• Work effectively with internal and external clients, third party vendors and Senior Management in accomplishing project objectives.
• Evaluate complex situations accurately and identify viable solutions that create successful outcomes.
• Plan and manage budget, schedule, scope and resources to achieve project goals.
• Collaborate with the Finance Department and various functional managers to ensure project budgets are properly estimated and controlled; provide overall financial recommendations and develop controls and measurements to monitor progress.
• Provide monthly accruals and forecasts by the due date established.
• Maintain current statements of work for all contractors; track and approve contractor invoices in a timely manner.
• Provide regular updates to designated DEC personnel, project sponsor and stakeholders on the status of projects and the budget. Document reasons for budget excess or shortfall.
• Develop a comprehensive Risk Management Plan at the Program Level within the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Framework.
• Proactively identify risks and opportunities of both business and technical plans; identify Risk Mitigation Strategies and Contingency Plans for all identified Risks. Maintain the Program Level issue and risk matrix log.
• Provide a detailed plan of how the risk will be managed or eliminated. Provide a weekly Program status report with major risk factors when mitigation approach impacts the project timeline, budget or objectives.
• Coordinate the Risk Management Plan and Risk Mitigation Strategy across all projects within the Program and manage the execution within the individual projects.
• Provide input on procurements for hardware, software, networking or other services related to Child Care Systems.
• Estimate budget for technical services for the DEC Finance Officer.
• Identify technical resources necessary to meet DEC objectives and recommend methods to obtain resources. Participate in MSDE technical planning as requested by the CIO.
• Coordinate Child Service System management with other MSDE and State systems to minimize costs and improve system control and quality.
• Monitor emerging technology trends to identify and recommend strategic technical investments that will benefit DEC.
• Coordinate with Functional Analysts in the analysis and documentation of features, capabilities and user Stories.
• Coordinate DEC Product Owners in defining system goals, functional requirements and user stories.
• Ensure that requirements are traceable through product owner approval and user acceptance.
• Coordinate with DEC Product Owners on deployment schedules.
• Oversee system security and compliance with audit recommendations.
• Participate in DEC strategic planning to ensure that the technical roadmap is consistent with Agency priorities.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, or other related discipline.
• Current Project Management Institute (PMI) Certified Project Management Professional.
• At least 12 years of relevant industry experience in the discipline.
• Five years of experience managing project life cycles, risk, resources, schedules, and oversight of Internet and intranet software operation and support projects.
• Three years of experience managing Internet projects for government agencies in a multi-tier environment.
• At least ten years of combined new and related older technical experience in the IT field directly related to the required area of expertise.
• Experience with the CCATS application required.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required.

Nice-to-haves

• Masters degree or project management certification is preferred.
• PhD is preferred.
• Experience with Maryland State procurement a plus.
• Experience drafting Fit Gap Analysis a plus.
• Prior experience preparing and delivering informative, well-organized presentations.

Benefits

• Paid time off