Senior Project Manager

Harvard University • Cambridge, MA

13d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Manager – Network is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of network infrastructure projects across campus, including LAN/WAN, wireless, structured cabling, and data center connectivity work. This role leads project execution for a defined set of Network Services initiatives, coordinating closely with engineering, security, vendors, and campus stakeholders to ensure that projects are delivered on scope, on schedule, and within budget.
This position ensures that network-related projects and initiatives are well-managed, clearly documented, and operationally sound. The Project Manager partners closely with Network Engineering leadership, service owners, campus IT partners, and vendors to translate project requirements into executable plans, track delivery, manage risk, and support consistent, repeatable project practices.
This role is primarily execution-focused, providing structure, coordination, and day-to-day project management rigor that allows technical leads and service owners to focus on design, architecture, and long-term strategy.

Requirements

• Minimum of five years’ progressive project management experience, including experience with IT or network infrastructure projects
• Post-secondary education or relevant work experience
• Proven ability to manage project budgets, schedules, vendors, and resources across multiple concurrent projects.
• Working knowledge of networking concepts (LAN/WAN, wireless, structured cabling, data center connectivity).
• Strong knowledge of ITIL or equivalent service management frameworks.
• Experience developing and reporting on project status, schedules, and budgets for technical stakeholders.
• Exceptional communication, stakeholder engagement, and coordination skills with the ability to work across diverse technical and non-technical groups.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in higher education IT environments strongly preferred.
• PMP certification or equivalent project management credential preferred.
• Completion of Harvard IT Academy Project Management Foundations course (or external equivalent) preferred

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of network infrastructure projects and maintain visibility into project status and milestones across planning, design, implementation, and turnover.
• Manage dependencies between network projects and related Voice, OT, security, and facilities work.
• Manage risks related to budget, schedule, vendor lead times, and site or access constraints.
• Manage resource and capacity constraints across internal engineering teams and vendor/contractor partners.
• Prepare project status reporting tailored to network and infrastructure stakeholders.
• Track decisions, design changes, and follow-ups that affect project scope, cost, and schedule.
• Escalate risks and issues appropriately to service owners and engineering leadership.
• Help ensure network initiatives deliver against agreed scope, timeline, budget, and outcomes.
• Support consistent operational practices for network project delivery.
• Assist in developing, maintaining, and operationalizing standard project processes, playbooks, and checklists for network infrastructure work, from intake through turnover.
• Maintain documentation and reporting standards to ensure traceability of design decisions, changes, and as-built network information.
• Participate in post-project and post-incident reviews, helping track follow-up actions and improvements across future projects.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, clarity, and coordination among engineering, vendors, and project stakeholders.
• Serve as a primary coordination point between network engineering, vendors, service owners, and project stakeholders.
• Coordinate closely with network engineering, security, facilities, and vendor teams to align project plans and schedules.
• Coordinate procurement, installation, testing, and cutover activities with project milestones.
• Support preparation of materials for leadership updates, project reviews, and stakeholder communications.
• Help ensure information flows clearly and consistently across engineering, vendor, and stakeholder teams.
• Build effective working relationships with peers across Infrastructure, HUIT, and external vendor partners.
• Support project stakeholders in maintaining well-managed business operations for network projects, including budget tracking and reporting for assigned network infrastructure projects.
• Ensure cost transparency that clearly connects scope decisions to budget impacts.
• Partner with engineering leads and finance to document assumptions, trade-offs, and funding decisions.
• Support vendor and contract administration, including tracking renewal dates, change orders, and vendor performance.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for status, risks, and issues on assigned network infrastructure projects.
• Maintain a clear project plan and delivery schedule for assigned initiatives, ensuring outcomes meet expectations for availability, performance, security, and usability.
• Ensure network requirements are represented in broader project planning discussions so that scope, sequencing, and resourcing are appropriately managed.
• Define and maintain clear project and service definitions for assigned network work, including scope, ownership, dependencies, and escalation paths.
• Establish and monitor schedule and risk indicators for network projects (e.g., design completion milestones, procurement lead times, site readiness, cutover windows).
• Use project data to drive prioritization, highlight project risk, and communicate transparently with leadership, engineering, and stakeholders.
• Manage and balance discretionary (new build/upgrade) and operational workloads (moves/adds/changes, incident or ticket resolution tied to project activities).
• Help maintain clear security, compliance, and risk management practices for network infrastructure delivered through assigned projects.
• Partner closely with Information Security and related teams to implement appropriate controls and align projects with identity, access, and broader security strategies.
• Ensure compliance controls are operationally feasible for project teams, auditable, and clearly communicated to stakeholders and vendors.
• Surface and help manage trade-offs between usability, security, cost, and compliance in design and implementation decisions.
• Support ongoing coordination of vendor relationships tied to assigned network projects (cabling vendors, network integrators, equipment suppliers).
• Provide input to contract renewals, scopes of work, and vendor evaluations in collaboration with HUIT VMO and Procurement.
• Contribute to budget planning and cost tracking for assigned projects in partnership with finance and engineering leads.
• Coordinate and manage user-visible changes resulting from network projects (e.g., network re-cuts, wireless upgrades, cutovers), balancing innovation with stability.
• Ensure major changes are well-coordinated with schools, departments, and distributed IT, clearly communicated, and supported with appropriate documentation and cutover support.
• Reduce friction between central services and distributed IT organizations by setting clear expectations and integrating feedback into project planning.
• Partner closely with Information Security and Data Privacy teams for the secure design and deployment of network solutions.
• Partner closely with Identity & Access Management for alignment of access and provisioning with new and updated network environments.
• Partner closely with Platform and Infrastructure Services for hosting, automation, monitoring, and operational dependencies associated with network projects.
• Partner closely with Schools and distributed IT leaders across a federated environment to ensure network projects support local needs while aligning with enterprise standards.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off including parental leave
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one
• Retirement plans with university contributions
• Wellbeing and mental health resources
• Support for families and caregivers
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed