IT Project Manager

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Project Manager Position Description

We are seeking an IT Project Manager to join our team. The selected candidate will 100% onsite (local candidates only).

Summary:
Our customer is undertaking a business process modernization effort to develop a new application built with ReactJS and .NET Clean Architecture. This new application will streamline and automate key agency workflows that currently span multiple systems and communication channels, resulting in operational inefficiencies.

Project Purpose:
The selected candidate will serve as the Project Manager for this automation initiative. They will be responsible for leading daily project operations, including planning, scheduling, scope and change management, risk and issue management, and coordination across all team members assigned to the effort.

Role Overview:
The Project Manager will act as the primary point of accountability for project delivery between OWPB Systems Support and the business offices impacted by the modernization effort. Responsibilities include managing the product backlog in Azure DevOps, ensuring alignment between backlog priorities and the project plan, and maintaining clear communication with stakeholders.

Quality Assurance and Testing:
Quality assurance and user acceptance testing (UAT) are critical components of this initiative. The Project Manager will lead UAT planning and execution, including defining entry and exit criteria, establishing test scenarios, managing defect triage, and facilitating stakeholder sign off.

Planning and Stakeholder Engagement:
The Project Manager will guide iterative release planning, support active engagement with subject matter experts and business stakeholders, and ensure the production of all necessary project documentation for both development teams and end users. This includes maintaining schedules, tracking milestones, and managing cross-system dependencies. Regular written and verbal status updates will be delivered to OWPB leadership and executives.

Execution and Team Leadership:
The candidate will have access to existing system documentation and project staff and will be responsible for identifying project gaps and determining all work activities needed for successful implementation. They will lead the assigned project team setting expectations, coordinating work, and removing impediments while providing performance feedback to functional managers. The role does not include formal personnel management authority.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or another related field. Equivalent work experience may be substituted for the degree on a year-for-year basis.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through the Project Management Institute (PMI) is required and must be active at time of submission. Candidates whose PMP certification is "in progress" or expired will not be considered.
• Special consideration will be given to candidates who hold additional certifications relevant to project execution and team leadership, including Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), or Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP).

Experience:

• Candidate must have a minimum of 7 years of Information Technology work experience, including a minimum of 4 years managing projects from initiation through closeout. Project management experience must include responsibility for project planning, scheduling, scope management, risk and issue management, resource coordination, and stakeholder status reporting.
• Experience must include managing software development projects in an iterative or Agile like delivery environment, including coordination of business analysts, developers, and testers across full project lifecycles.
• Preferred environments include workflow automation, human resources systems, position management applications, or state government administrative computing applications. Experience managing projects with cross-system dependencies, multiple business stakeholders, and concurrent release cycles is preferred.
• Candidate will be expected to describe multiple past project management engagements, and how project management methodologies, tools, and techniques were applied to achieve successful outcomes that met customer objectives, including projects delivered on time, within scope, and within budget.

Primary Job Duties / Tasks:
The selected candidate must be able to perform the following duties and/or tasks. Duties of the selected candidate will include, but not be limited to:

• Project Planning and Execution: Develop, maintain, and execute the project management plan for the initiative, including scope, schedule, resource, communication, risk, and quality management plans. Establish project schedules, milestone definitions, and release roadmaps for deliverables, and present plans to management, customers, and technical staff. Manage project scope, schedule, and resource allocation throughout the project lifecycle, applying change control processes for any scope or schedule deviation.
• Team Leadership and Coordination: Lead the day-to-day work of the project team assigned to the workstream, including business analysts, developers, and testers. Assign tasks, set delivery expectations, monitor progress, and provide impediment resolution. Provide performance feedback to functional managers regarding project team members, recognizing that formal personnel management authority (hiring, termination, performance review) resides with the functional managers and not with this position. Facilitate Agile and SCRUM ceremonies within Azure DevOps, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives.
• Backlog and Delivery Oversight: Direct the management of the product backlog in Azure DevOps, ensuring backlog priorities align with the project plan and stakeholder expectations. Oversee the work of the assigned business analyst in epic decomposition, user story authoring, and acceptance criteria definition, working in partnership with the Product Owner from the Budget Office. Ensure backlog readiness ahead of each sprint.
• Quality Assurance and User Acceptance Testing Oversight: Direct the development of testing strategies, data scenarios, and test plans to ensure functional requirements are addressed. Lead User Acceptance Testing cycles with stakeholders, establishing entry and exit criteria, defect triage protocols, and sign-off facilitation. Confer with impacted personnel such as the Budget Office to ensure systems are performing as required.
• Risk, Issue, and Dependency Management: Establish and maintain a project risk register, issue log, and decision log for the initiative. Identify, document, track, and escalate project-level risks, issues, and cross-system dependencies with recommended mitigations. Escalate timeline, scope, quality, or resource concerns to the Solutions Architect and Systems Support Manager.
• Status Reporting and Stakeholder Communication: Prepare and deliver written and verbal status reporting to OWPB and executives on a regular cadence, including project progress against plan, sprint outcomes, open risks and issues, decisions required from the Product Owner, and upcoming release milestones. Coordinate communication across the project team and OWPB Systems Support leadership.
• Process and Documentation Oversight: Direct the production of project documentation including project plans, project schedules, implementation plans, status reports, decision logs, risk registers, and supporting business process documentation. Maintain requirements-to-delivery traceability to support audit readiness, knowledge transfer, and future enhancement planning.
• Solution and Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitate work sessions with subject-matter experts and stakeholders to validate project requirements, scope decisions, and release priorities. Use project management methodologies and best practices to analyze and make recommendations on behalf of the Department for required changes to automations supporting workflow processes. Identify project functionality gaps and coordinate their resolution through the assigned project team.

Job Specific Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs:
The selected candidate must be able to apply common knowledge, skills, and abilities in the following areas:

• Project Management Fundamentals: Extensive knowledge of project management methodologies, practices, and tools as defined by the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Demonstrated ability to develop and execute project management plans including scope, schedule, resource, communication, risk, and quality management plans. Demonstrated ability to apply change control processes for scope and schedule deviations.
• Schedule and Scope Management: Demonstrated ability to develop, baseline, and maintain project schedules in an iterative software delivery environment. Skill in accurately preparing schedule estimates, identifying critical path dependencies, and managing schedule variance. Ability to manage project scope through documented requirements, acceptance criteria, and stakeholder sign-off.
• Team Leadership and Coordination: Demonstrated ability to lead the day-to-day work of a project team comprised of business analysts, developers, and testers, including task assignment, progress monitoring, and impediment resolution, without formal personnel management authority. Ability to provide performance feedback to functional managers regarding project team members. Demonstrated ability to motivate and direct project team members across functional boundaries.
• Agile and SCRUM Delivery: Demonstrated knowledge of Agile project management methodologies and the SCRUM framework. Demonstrated ability to facilitate SCRUM ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives. Demonstrated ability to oversee product backlog management in Azure DevOps, including epic decomposition, user story authoring, acceptance criteria definition, and sprint planning support in partnership with the Product Owner.
• Risk, Issue, and Dependency Management: Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain a project risk register, issue log, and decision log. Ability to identify, document, track, and escalate project-level risks, issues, and cross-system dependencies in a structured format, with clearly communicated mitigation recommendations.
• Quality Assurance and User Acceptance Testing Oversight: Demonstrated ability to direct the development of testing strategies, data scenarios, and test plans. Demonstrated experience leading User Acceptance Testing cycles end-to-end, including entry and exit criteria, test scenario expectations, defect triage protocols, stakeholder sign-off facilitation, and traceability between requirements and test results.
• Status Reporting and Stakeholder Communication: Demonstrated ability to prepare and deliver written status reports and verbal briefings to executive and operational leadership, including project progress against plan, open risks and issues, decisions required, and upcoming milestones. Ability to interpret and communicate technical and functional information related to software applications, both verbally and in writing.
• Project Management Tools: Demonstrated proficiency with Azure DevOps for project tracking, backlog management, sprint planning, and reporting. Advanced skills with Microsoft products: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and Project.
• Organizational and Domain Knowledge: Ability to work effectively with users, project sponsors, project team members, and senior leadership to support the maintenance, enhancement, or development of computer application systems. Experience working with workflow automation or government administrative computing applications.

Preferred (but not required) KSAs:

• Experience managing software delivery projects in state government environments, particularly within Florida agencies.
• Experience with state government legacy systems, payroll systems, or position management applications.
• Knowledge of human resources business processes and state government workflow practices.
• Experience producing executive-level status dashboards and reporting using Azure DevOps, Microsoft Excel, or Power BI.
• Skill in performing quality assurance reviews against established standards.
• Knowledge of relational database theories and concepts sufficient to interpret data design implications during project decisions.
• Skill in data analysis techniques, data validation approaches, and validating data relationships.
• Additional project management or Agile certifications beyond PMP, including Certified Scrum Master (CSM), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO).

General Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs):
The selected candidate must be able to apply common knowledge, skills, and abilities in the following areas:

• Communication: Ability to clearly convey information, in both written and verbal formats, to individuals or groups in a wide variety of settings (i.e., project team meetings, management presentations, executive briefings, vendor and stakeholder communications). Must have the ability to effectively listen and process information provided by others. Demonstrated ability to translate technical and operational details into executive-level summaries appropriate for senior leadership audiences.
• Customer Service: Works well with clients and customers (i.e., business office, public, or other agencies). Able to assess the needs of the customer, provide information or assistance to satisfy expectations or resolve a problem.
• Decision Making: Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions. Able to make timely project-level decisions within delegated authority and escalate appropriately when decisions exceed that authority. Demonstrated ability to make decisions under conditions of incomplete information, competing priorities, and stakeholder pressure.
• Flexibility: Open to change, new processes (or process improvement), and new information. Has the ability to adapt in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles. Ability to receive and give constructive criticism and maintain effective work relationships with others.
• Interpersonal: Shows friendliness, courtesy, understanding, and politeness to others.
• Leadership: Motivates, encourages, and challenges others. Adapts leadership styles in a variety of situations. Demonstrated ability to lead the day-to-day work of a cross-functional project team comprised of business analysts, developers, and testers, without formal personnel management authority. Demonstrated ability to hold project team members accountable to commitments and to provide performance feedback to functional managers regarding project team contributions.
• Problem Solving: Ability to identify, evaluate, and use sound judgement to generate and evaluate alternative actions, and make recommendations as accordingly. Demonstrated ability to apply structured problem-solving approaches to project-level issues, including root cause analysis, options analysis, and trade-off evaluation.
• Team Building: Encourages, inspires, and guides others toward accomplishing the common goal. Demonstrated ability to build cohesion across a project team comprised of members from multiple functional areas, including establishing shared project objectives, working norms, and accountability structures.

*** Please note that any false information on your resume or application could lead to the offer being withdrawn or even termination after hire.***