Sr. Strategic Project Manager-Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development (ORIED)

Research Foundation for SUNY•Albany, NY

About The Position

The Senior Strategic Project Manager will join the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development (ORIED) Data Strategy Unit at the Research Foundation for SUNY. The role will help direct systemwide expansion of the SUNY AI Platform and other research infrastructure, including SUNY Research Connect and a Research Data Repository. The SUNY AI Platform is a SUNY-managed technology environment intended to advance research, discovery, and innovation and provide researchers with access to AI services and tools. Serving as the initiative’s primary operational leader, the Senior Strategic Project Manager will drive strategic growth, support financial and operational governance, and maximize value for researchers across the SUNY system. The role works with the Director of Research Data Strategy and complements a team that includes a Director, Associate Director, and Senior Data Strategist. It may also collaborate with an AI Solutions Architect. The position leads platform roadmaps and deployments, coordinates complex cross-campus initiatives, translates stakeholder use cases into technical deployment plans, and manages vendor relationships. It also oversees platform operations and cloud budgets, produces financial visibility and showback reporting, develops researcher training and onboarding, and evaluates impact and return on investment. The role works in a fast-paced team environment and may need to multitask according to project plans and business priorities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as social science, information science, computer science, or a related field.
At least 5–7 years of proven project management experience, preferably in technology, grant administration, or a research-focused environment, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Demonstrated experience managing projects with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities in a higher education setting.
Excellent communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
Ability to collaborate with technical and non-technical teams to achieve project goals.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a relevant field, such as public policy, information science, social science, computer science, or a related field.
Project Management Professional (PMP), Agile (CSM), or equivalent professional certification.
Experience in higher education institutions and/or academic research environments.
Seven or more years of senior-level project management experience across multiple organizations, ideally in a complex higher education, state, or academic research environment.
Familiarity with AI and machine learning concepts and cloud computing platforms, especially administrative work related to Google Cloud Platform.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Director of Research Data Strategy to establish long-term roadmaps and prioritize technical deployments for the SUNY AI Platform and other research infrastructure.
Direct the rollout of new AI agentic workflows intended to automate administrative tasks and modernize research operations across the SUNY system.
Serve as the primary liaison for cross-campus collaborations, manage multi-campus research cohorts, and design shared technical environments.
Lead the technical design lifecycle through matrix management, translating academic and stakeholder use cases into actionable deployment plans.
Guide technical teams in moving projects from ideation to launch and proactively mitigate technical, operational, and financial risks.
Manage technology-vendor relationships to direct service improvements, plan enterprise deployments, and support industry best practices.
Oversee the operational integrity of the platform and provide solutions to operational or process issues.
Monitor Google Cloud Platform consumption and manage cloud computing budgets.
Develop and present executive-level financial visibility reports and showback dashboards to SUNY Central leadership and campus CIOs, identifying cost-saving measures and resource allocation strategies.
Plan for and expand showback-to-chargeback models with system and campus partners.
Design and oversee training and onboarding frameworks for systemwide researchers.
Develop and implement metrics for impact evaluation and return-on-investment reporting.
Gather, record, and share researcher use cases through marketing and communication materials for executive leadership and external stakeholders to encourage adoption and demonstrate impact.
Multitask in a fast-paced team environment as required by project plans and business priorities.