Senior Project Manager

School District of Philadelphia•Philadelphia, PA

About The Position

The School District of Philadelphia is committed to becoming the fastest improving District in the country and transforming the educational opportunities it offers to our city’s more than 200,000 students. The District seeks leaders who have a passion for working with schools and communities who are committed to ensuring all students achieve. Serving a population as diverse as ours requires creativity, commitment and vision. Will you join us? Job Summary This is administrative and managerial project work, overseeing all components of a largescale Facilities, Information Technology, System of Great Schools, Teacher Effectiveness, Chief Academic Support Office, Strategy Delivery Unit, College and Career Readiness, Finance, Office of the Superintendent-Equity Coalition and Equity Partners, Evaluation, Research, and Accountability, Student Recruitment and Enrollment - Internal Partners Program or Leadership Development projects and initiatives, inclusive of project scope preparation, return on investment (ROI) analysis, financial projection, project and life cycle implementation, staffing coordination and/or management, contract administration, and budget oversight. Employees in this class are responsible for facilitating dialogue between internal customers, technology staff, developers, vendors, external agencies, schools and community partners. Work involves meetings with clients to discuss their needs and documenting business rules for various projects and/or identifying and implementing professional learning with central offices, schools and community partners. Serves as a point of contact for clients with projects in progress. Work additionally involves formally employing industry-recognized projects management principles, techniques, and bestpractices, to develop, monitor, report, and coordinate all aspects of a project from inception to post-implementation support. Ensures that actions are strategic and include a plan on the evaluation of progress. Project oversight activities may additionally include coordination of support activities inclusive of training, outreach, and customer relationship management. Ensures that data pertaining to programmatic activities is systematically collected, reviewed and analyzed. Projects in this class are classified as large and complex enterprise-wide information service, application software, technology infrastructure initiatives or administrative educational initiatives characterized by multi-year life cycles.

Requirements

Completion of a bachelor’s degree program from an accredited college or university.
Six years of full-time, paid, professional, experience in either operations, finance, education, or information technology which has included serving as a team lead or project manager.
Any equivalent combination of training and experience determined to be acceptable by the Office of Talent.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated knowledge of: o Current technology, testing methodologies, and project life cycle. o The role of technology and its relation to the enhancement of specific technological outcomes.
Current treads and practices of information resource technologies and ability to easily adapt to newer and expanding IT fields. o Internet technologies and development practices.
Demonstrated ability to: o Understand and apply basic industry recognized project management principles and processes as defined by PMI, PMP, and ISO 9000 structural certifications. o Apply best practice standards to a product’s design, test, and production phases. o Review and comprehend technical documentation.
Demonstrated knowledge of: o The procedures and methods utilized to implement systemic change in a timely, accurate, and effective manner. o Asana Project Management, FileMaker Pro Advanced, Excel or Microsoft Project, Vision and/or other productivity and scheduling tools. o Process improvement and the methods utilized to implement systemic change. o The methods and technique utilized in effective program planning, design and administration. o Principles, practices, and procedures involved in monitoring and reporting processes. o Principles, practices, and procedures underlying coordination of large-scale projects and initiatives. o Accurate record keeping.
Demonstrated ability to: o Manage large or complex projects and/or budgets. o Plan, organize, and direct project activities and allocate staff resources to tasks efficiently. o Analyze and resolve complex problems. o Lead and implement strategic initiatives under aggressive deadlines o Function as an entrepreneurial self-starter, a team leader, a facilitator, and as a member of a team. o Work on multiple projects simultaneously, as evidenced by an ability to balance and prioritize multiple competing priorities. o Formulate solutions to complex problems and develop strategies to address the identified issues based on quantitative and/or qualitative evidence. o Assess the effectiveness of programmatic activities and to make cogent recommendations as needed. o Build and maintain strong, effective working relationships across all levels of an organization. o Coordinate cross-functional teams. o Understand, interpret, and analyze a variety of data sources. o Design and develop systems, tools, and schedules for collecting, maintaining, and reporting on performance data. o Adapt to different situations, particularly when new information is provided. o Use MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint. o Represent a superior at meetings and conferences. o Present ideas effectively, both orally and in writing.

Responsibilities

Develops strategies for appropriate scopes of work.
Participates or directs contract negotiation and/or preparation.
Plans and manages timelines, and monitors progress of various projects and work streams; provides progress updates to project leads.
Works with selected teams on specific aspects of meeting project goals in a timely manner.
Prepares, manages, audits, and maintains direct responsibly for project budgets.
Prepares reports related to project status and projections.
Directly supervises project or department staff as required.
Develops and builds good communications and relationships between Facilities, Information Technology, Teacher Effectiveness, the Chief Academic Support Office or the Office of College and Career Readiness and central offices and schools.
Participates in confidential and/or sensitive matters and/or projects at every level of the enterprise.
Works with in setting priorities for the completion of requested services.
Participates in organizational planning within Facilities, Transportation, Information Technology, Teacher Effectiveness, the Chief Academic Support Office or the Office of College and Career Readiness and other departmental offices.
Assists in various Facilities, Transportation, Information Technology, Teacher Effectiveness, Chief Academic Support Office or the Office of College and Career Readiness projects when needed.
Supports all administrative and managerial project work related to the development and implementation of the Equity Coalition and Equity Partners Fellowship.
Coordinates organized labor and oversees the implementation of trades’ agreements with external unions and labor agencies.
Works with vendors/internal developers to implement software solutions.
Evaluates and recommends technology and software solutions that will satisfy the needs of schools and offices.
Establishes short and long-range goals with respect to hardware, software and development projects.
Coordinates needs of the unit with other Facilities, Transportation or Information Technology offices in the areas of technology implementation.