Technical Project Manager
About The Position
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is seeking a creative, mission-driven Technical Project Manager to focus on Merlin, eBird and services supporting the Macaulay Library media archive and delivering data products to conservation practitioners. This role will join a team that shares the mission of connecting people to nature and conservation through birds. As part of a team of software engineers, content creators, machine learning researchers, and conservation scientists this role will be the lynchpin in translating new ideas for how to serve a global community in participating in watching birds into features and data products for conservation practitioners. The data collected through eBird and associated apps is directly tied to data products used in conservation decision-making and positive environmental outcomes. Join us to shape the next generation of tools and data resources for the birding and conservation community. The Technical Project Manager is responsible for overseeing complex software projects from start to finish, providing direction, guidance, and motivation to Agile/Scrum teams of software engineers and project staff, managing deliverables, and ensuring successful delivery of new software to the community. This role includes: 1) project planning, resource allocation, implementation, communication, coordination, tracking, and reporting; 2) working with engineers and project leadership to define scope and coordinate activities between technical teams and other collaborators; 3) advising and assisting senior staff and/or other clients with the formulation of project budgets, and with project financial management; 4) communicating project scope, goals and responsibilities to the project team; establishing and maintaining clear stakeholder expectations and managing these expectations as projects evolve. While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others. The work location is Ithaca, New York with the possibility of a hybrid work schedule that would be determined by the supervisor. The university reserves the right to modify, suspend, revoke or terminate the hybrid work arrangement at any time.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in software development management, biological sciences, information sciences or other relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Three (3)+ years of relevant work experience in project management and coordinating software engineering teams.
- Experience watching birds and/or working on projects to advance bird conservation.
- Exceptional project management skills to coordinate multiple groups working towards the same deliverable and timeline for public launch.
- Experience managing complex technical projects across multiple teams and cross-functional groups.
- In depth technical knowledge of software development and modern web application development techniques, including experience with frontend user interfaces and with integrating these into complex enterprise systems involving APIs and web services.
- Experience using software development project management tools (e.g. Jira, GitHub).
- Strong communication skills (written and oral) to clearly articulate vision and plans, and provide instruction effectively to all levels of management, staff, new partners, funding agencies, project participants, and visitors.
- Strong interpersonal skills to develop trust with external collaborators and encourage participation in projects.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of management and staff internally and externally.
- Ability to value teamwork and be able to stimulate cooperation between all employees and partners.
- Provide high level of initiative to anticipate needs of the project and fulfill project objectives with general guidance.
- Ability to prioritize activities and exercise sound judgement in discussions with external collaborators.
- Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion , and wellbeing.
- Must have a demonstrated ability for working collaboratively and inclusively in a diverse, dynamic, creative, and multi-disciplinary environment.
Nice To Haves
- Advanced degree preferred.
- Deep understanding of the birding community and/or conservation practitioner community.
- Experience using analytics tools (such as Google Analytics and Firebase).
- Software engineering skills and working knowledge of programming web-based applications using technologies such as Python, Java, Spring, Nuxt, Vue, and JavaScript.
- Technical experience with major cloud providers such as AWS or Azure.
Responsibilities
- Project planning, resource allocation, implementation, communication, coordination, tracking, and reporting
- Working with engineers and project leadership to define scope and coordinate activities between technical teams and other collaborators
- Advising and assisting senior staff and/or other clients with the formulation of project budgets, and with project financial management
- Communicating project scope, goals and responsibilities to the project team
- Establishing and maintaining clear stakeholder expectations and managing these expectations as projects evolve
- Fostering a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.
Benefits
- Comprehensive health care options
- Generous retirement contributions
- Access to wellness programs
- Employee discounts with local and national retail brands
- Health and personal leave
- Three weeks of vacation
- 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1.
- Two additional floating holidays
- Tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program
- Tuition aid for external education
- Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
