Project Director, Strategic Initiatives

University of Colorado•Aurora, CO

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Director – Strategic Initiatives is a senior-level individual contributor who partners with campus leaders, administrative units, and cross-functional teams to support and advance strategic projects across Financial Services. Reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Financial Services and Controller, this role acts as a collaborative facilitator and trusted advisor, ensuring that institutional initiatives are thoughtfully scoped, effectively coordinated, progressing as planned and successfully implemented. While this role does not have direct decision-making authority, it plays a vital role in guiding project development, surfacing risks, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring accountability to strategic priorities. The ideal candidate brings experience navigating complex organizations, a deep understanding of financial and research operations in higher education, and the ability to lead through influence with focused commitment to relationships and results-driven work.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, or a related field.
A combination of education and related technical/military/paraprofessional experience may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree on a year for year basis.
At least 8 years of experience in project management, finance, or research administration in a complex organization, including at least 5 years of experience leading projects.
Demonstrated experience and success coordinating large-scale, cross-functional projects.
Applicants must meet minimum qualifications at the time of hire.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship. We are unable to provide work visa sponsorship and employment authorization for this position now or in the future.
Strong knowledge of sponsored research administration, budgeting, and compliance regulations in a public university or research environment.
Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills; proven ability to influence without authority.
Strategic and systems thinking with strong organizational and planning skills.
Ability to translate strategy into executable plans.
Ability to work independently, prioritize competing demands, and manage ambiguity.
Collaborative approach with strong diplomatic skills and a commitment to partnership.
Political and organizational awareness within complex institutions.
Analytical mindset and attention to detail, especially in financial and regulatory contexts.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., MBA, MPA, MPH).
At least 10 years of experience in managing strategic projects in areas of business operations, finance, or research administration in a complex organization.
Demonstrated experience and success coordinating large-scale, cross-functional projects in a higher education or academic medical setting.
Familiarity with research administration systems (e.g., Cayuse, Kuali, InfoEd) and enterprise financial platforms (e.g., Oracle, Workday, PeopleSoft).
Experience working in or with a medical school, health sciences campus, or research-intensive academic institution.
Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma, or equivalent certification.
Prior CU experience, including exposure to internal CU policies, processes and systems.

Responsibilities

Partner with project sponsors and leaders along with team members to provide project management for strategic initiatives and projects. This includes defining and tracking goals, defining actionable plans, resource contributors, timelines, progress and success metrics for key strategic initiatives across Financial Services including, Finance, Fiscal Compliance, Office of Grants and Contracts and Bursar.
Coordinate and facilitate workgroups, task forces, and cross-departmental teams; ensure alignment of roles, responsibilities, and deliverables.
Develop and manage detailed project documentation, including workplans, risk registers, and progress dashboards.
Anticipate and identify potential roadblocks; escalate issues and facilitate resolution in collaboration with project sponsors and stakeholders.
Serve as a bridge between operational teams and leadership, ensuring that project progress and challenges are clearly communicated and documented.
Improve transparency, accountability, and execution of strategic initiatives.
Serve as a champion of organizational culture, influencing culture change to support strategic and operational objectives.
Lead assigned strategic special projects within all areas of Financial Services that are time-bound and leadership sponsored.
Assist on metric and strategic goal tracking and reporting.
Lead in strategic initiative implementations, including process improvement projects.
Provide subject matter expertise to key internal and external stakeholders in response to complex, non-routine business issues related to strategic initiatives.
Work with the Associate Director of Fiscal Compliance and subject matter experts to facilitate and document process improvement initiatives that include analyzing current-state business processes and identifying opportunities for improvement, simplification, or realignment with policy or strategy.
Contribute to measurable improvements in compliance, efficiency, or service delivery.
Collaborate with Associate Director and subject matter experts to design future-state processes that are both compliant and service-oriented.
Assist with change management efforts, including stakeholder readiness assessments, training coordination, and communication planning.