Senior Project Manager, DIBI

About the Opportunity

The Defense Industrial Base Institute is looking for a skilled Senior Project Manager to join its execution team of researchers, students, staff, and faculty. The Senior Project Manager will advise, consult, and guide the project management process for multiple large-scale, complex, cross-organizational projects within a research portfolio funded by federal agencies such as the Navy, Air Force, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Senior Project Manager will work closely with each project’s stakeholders to define project charters and schedules and ensure compliance with budgets (or amendments). This role oversees the entire project lifecycle to deliver comprehensive solutions that are well thought out, innovative, and repeatable, while excelling in scope, time, and budget management. The Senior Project Manager adapts, reacts, and adjusts quickly to changing conditions, identifies risks, and recommends solutions.

Responsibilities are broad in scope and encompass a wide variety of activities that require rapid shifts in priorities.

This position is a one-year appointment tied to federal funding. US citizenship is a requirement of the federal sponsor.

1. Project Management (50%)

• Lead the definition of project scope and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility
• Organize complex projects into structured phases and sprints to prioritize speed, improvements, and enhancements
• Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation, including the project charter, communication plan, Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (RACI) matrix, risk register, and process maps to document needs
• Develop detailed, comprehensive project plans to monitor and track progress
• Manage changes to project scope, schedule, and costs using appropriate verification techniques
• Assist Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs), and project teams in analyzing progress, making decisions, prioritizing, and assessing and mitigating risk
• Perform risk management to minimize project risks
• Manage relationships with clients and all stakeholders
• Meet with clients to take detailed ordering briefs and clarify the specific requirements of each project
• Coordinate internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of projects, ensuring resource availability and allocation
• Delegate project tasks
• Measure and track project performance using appropriate tools and techniques, specifically to analyze the successful completion of short- and long-term goals
• Report and escalate to management as needed

2. Project Management Service Development (25%)

• Contribute to ongoing service development, including the design, development, and maintenance of a library of standardized project management templates
• Lead efforts to identify new applications of project management principles, drive adoption of these practices and templates, and mature these capabilities
• Assist with the development of an internal project status dashboard
• Serve as a mentor to others and may act as a resource for staff assigned to informally lead projects on behalf of their respective departments

3. Leadership

• Select, onboard, and continually develop employees in a way that creates an environment that inspires them to do their best work
• Set clear goals and expectations and delegate work effectively
• Provide timely feedback about performance throughout the year before conducting a final performance review

• Knowledge and skills normally acquired through completion of a Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 5–7 years of experience leading complex projects
• Experience working in a defense, market agency,…