Sr. Project Manager, Information Technology

Background/IRC Summary:

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and in 22 US cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

The IT department supports the organization’s work by providing reliable and scalable applications and infrastructure for the IRC’s offices in the US and around the world, including many technologically challenging locations. Specific services include application development & integration, system deployment, user experience and change management, quality assurance & testing, and overall Project Management to help the organization determine and implement the best solutions for its business needs.

Job Overview/Summary:

The Senior Project Manager, Information Technology will provide overall project management support for IT projects related to the development of digital technology platforms need to deliver IRC services and operational information systems required to support the IRC’s ongoing operations and growth.

They will support the entire System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) utilizing agile project management approaches to plan and execute tasks related to the design, configuration, development, and testing of integrated technology solutions. This includes coordinating technology architecture design, related business processes, communications and training required for the design and roll out to be successful.

This role requires strong cross-functional project management of both technical and functional business staff. The individual will work in collaboration with Information Technology and Business Leadership to manage technical, functional and change workstreams as well as establish and maintain an integrated approach that ensures all cross-functional areas work seamlessly together. They will develop and manage existing project documentation, including project schedules, weekly and monthly status reports, presentations, risk logs, action logs, issue logs, etc.

This position will champion the use of Agile Project Management best practices to successfully execute these initiatives. This includes supporting the Product Manager to conduct proper product backlog management, and supporting or taking the role of Scrum Master to conduct sprint planning, task management, etc. The Agile Project Manager will work proactively to gather information required for analysis of project cost, resources, time and other project supporting deliverables.

This role reports to the Director Project and Portfolio Management, with a Management in Partnership (MIP) with Technology Product Owners.

Major Responsibilities:

• Creates and Maintains and Integrated Project Plan: Develops, and continually updates, detailed program management plans. Develops work breakdown structures based on the project objectives and scope. Ensures the implementation methodology is adhered to.
• Manages Project Status Reporting: Prepares status reports to convey project scope, goals, milestones, budget, risk, status, change requests, and critical issues to the client and project team.
• Supervises Project Cost Estimation, Ongoing Budget Tracking and Vendor Invoicing: Provides oversight of budget tracking and invoicing. Assists in developing costs estimates and analyzing data.
• Performs Project Resource Management: Provides work direction and leadership to assigned projects, including scheduling, assignment of work and review of project efforts. Identifies project resource requirements and staff assignments. Checks for staff availabilities. Updates the project plan with work assignments.
• Conducts Risk Management: Maintains documentation for identified risks and mitigation strategies. Proactively gathers and updates risk status and documentation as needed.
• Supports Stakeholder Management: Works with technology and business owners to analyze stakeholder expectations for projects based upon approved project requirements.
• Supports the Management of Project Business Analysis Tasks: Works with project team members and stakeholders to anticipate and manage business and technical analysis work done as part of the project, e.g., definition and management of technical and functional requirements, current and future state business process definition, testing, etc.
• Provides Overall Project Administration: Participates in program team meetings, proactively documents meeting minutes, track issues, decisions and action items, and follow-up between meetings to drive issues to closure.

Key Working Relationships:

• Maintain a productive working relationships with business owners, project sponsors, system users, and vendors.
• Interacts with project owners, senior technical personnel, and other functional or support organizations.

Position Reports to: Sr. Director of Project and Portfolio Management
Management in Partnership Reporting: Business Product Owner

Position directly supervises: N/A

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal:

• Headquarters & Global Offices Teams – multiple departments
• Project Business Owners, business project team members outside IT, and wider stakeholders
• Project Sponsor and Steering Committee members

External:

• Vendors and Consultants

Job Requirements:

Experience / Education

• Seven or more years of experience related to systems implementation and operations, with clear demonstration of progressive achievement and growth in program management experience utilizing Agile Project Management practices.
• Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Business Information Systems, or related field required.
• Agile project management certification

Skills / Competencies

• Excellent project management skills, with demonstrated track record of applying Agile program management principles, practices and techniques with a strong results orientation.
• Experience using project management software tools, such as MS Project, Jira, Azure DevOps and other tools, to effectively lead, manage, monitor and control project activities.
• Ability to develop strong partnerships with both the technology and business use communities. Self-motivated and a problem solver who can assess and develop strategies for achieving the needs of the user community.
• Effective verbal, written and interpersonal skills. Ability to speak to technical-level staff and develop written reporting and presentational content with level-appropriate messaging up to and including the senior executive level.
• Ability to manage project team members in line with the goals of the individual project. Encourages and facilitates cooperation, results orientation and collaboration amongst the team.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a matrix environment, particularly in cross-functional teams across multiple lines of business, over whom there may be no direct authority.

Working Environment:**

• Remote work with some international travel required

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

IRC et les employés de IRC doivent adhérer aux valeurs et principes contenus dans le IRC WAY (normes de conduite professionnelle). Ce sont l’Intégrité, le Service, et la Responsabilité. En conformité avec ces valeurs, IRC opère et fait respecter les politiques sur la protection des bénéficiaires contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection de l’enfant, le harcèlement sur les lieux de travail, l’intégrité financière, et les représailles.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement:

In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).