Project Manager, IT Project Manager, Project & Program Management

About CENIC Join the team that connects California to the world — advancing education and research statewide by providing the world-class computing network essential for innovation, collaboration, and economic growth. Our organization operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity computer network with more than 8,000 miles of optical fiber. The network serves over 20 million users across California, including the vast majority of K-20 students, together with educators, researchers, and individuals at other vital public-serving institutions.

Position Summary Reporting to the Manager of the Program Management Office, the Project Manager plans and sets direction for multiple concurrent projects of varying size, including both small and large-scale projects. This position is responsible for the quality and delivery of CENIC’s service commitments on schedule and within budget, using internal and external resources and following CENIC standard policies and procedures.

The Project Manager must lead all phases of the project, from beginning to end, must manage the activities of all internal and external resources on projects and/or service deliverables. In handling this work, the Project Manager may be accountable for coordinating simultaneously with one or more providers of services and/or goods, as well as multiple internal teams.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:
None.

Essential Functions The following section details the primary responsibilities and duties of the role and is not a comprehensive list. The Project Manager is expected to perform these duties in the normal course of work. Non-essential responsibilities, those considered peripheral, incidental, or a minimal part of the job, are not specified in this section.

• Manage and lead multiple complex projects ranging in size from small to large, through project initiation to close.
• Effectively manage multiple competing projects and shifting priorities.
• Accountable for day-to-day project support for multiple small to large-sized project plans and teams working on the various work areas identified.
• Effectively communicate project status to, and manage expectations of, team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear fashion.
• Review project team deliverables to ensure quality and adherence to internal standards.
• Develop strong relationships with customers to understand their needs, to anticipate obstacles to success, and to advocate internally on their behalf.
• Regularly track projects, manage project risks and the impact of changes, provide mitigation plans, and proactively manage escalation of issues to appropriate stakeholders.
• Run ad hoc reports and develop standard reports in order to establish metrics for teams and to ensure performance against metrics is tracked, measured, and socialized on a regular basis.
• Analyze trends and consolidate data/information for review with primary stakeholders to drive data-based decisions.
• Work collaboratively with all teams to ensure workload is appropriately assigned, and resource constraints are identified.
• Develop, refine, and maintain cross-departmental workflows, leveraging automation to eliminate operational bottlenecks and drive measurable efficiencies across the organization.
• Provide feedback and make recommendations to management on process improvements, technology, training requirements, etc.
• Develop and maintain a productive relationship with CENIC associates, providers of goods and services, and industry partners.
• Work closely with the CENIC Security Team to identify, discuss, and implement software tools and solutions in support of CENIC’s networks, network security designs, and implementations of network security policies, procedures, and technologies.
• Other duties as assigned.

Key Success Factors

• Experience with project management principles
• Experience with vendor management
• Excellent interpersonal and team-building skills, with a strong ability to influence others.
• Ability to work cross-functionally for deliverables across multiple work groups.
• Demonstrably solid analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to use data effectively to drive recommendations.
• Strong…