Project Portfolio Lead

Application Restrictions

Open to both Internal and external

Job Type

Administrative/Management

Posting In effect from

23/8/2024

Closing Application Date

6/9/2024

Applications will be reviewed commencing the closing application date and may continue until the position is filled.

Full/Part Time

Full Time

Admin Type

Ongoing

Anticipated Start Date

26/9/2024

Position End Date (If Applicable)

DUTIES

Reporting to the Associate Director of the TRU Project Management Office, the Project Portfolio Lead is accountable for planning, executing, and finalizing projects according to strict deadlines and within budget. The Project Portfolio Lead will define the project's objectives and oversee quality control throughout its life cycle. This role also leads cross-functional activities and engages multiple stakeholders while mitigating risk, resulting in the achievement of project deliverables and milestones. The Project Portfolio Lead operates within broad parameters, established by corporate business plans and Executive Committees/Board committed dates, and is accountable for the success of assigned projects. Given the scope of this role, the Project Portfolio Lead must be familiar with broad business and technical planning, and capable of managing change, leading, partnering, and coordinating multiple initiatives. The Project Portfolio Lead has expertise in senior level planning, project management, implementation, and change management practices as well as exposure to agile scrum practices. This position advises senior management and executives on appropriate implementation plans and outcomes. The Project Portfolio Leadmust effectively establish and maintain complex working relationships across business area boundaries to ensure that the project(s) plans meet the goals, objectives, and mandate of the business areas and that the changes are cooperatively accepted by the business area(s).

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Will manage, coach, mentor, motivate and supervise project team members and contractors, and influence them to take positive action and accountability for their assigned work.

Delegate tasks and responsibilities to appropriate personnel involved in the project.

Provides Strategic advice and decisions on large scale projects, or multiple small/medium scale projects simultaneously. Develops, implements, and manages plans to achieve a specific scope of work driven by the objectives of the project, the program, the portfolio, or long term-strategic plan.

Responsible for all aspects related to project planning, including stakeholders' identification, development of release plan, work plans, schedules, sprint backlog, sprint planning, quality plans, risk management plans, communication plans and change control plans, etc.

Primary point of contact for key stakeholders and subject matter experts to create and manage the project plan including clearly defining and communicating project scope, deliverables, schedule, and timelines.

Conducts risk assessment of factors facing the project and creates contingency plans and positioning.

Implements project operating procedures including communication, documentation, quality, and change control processes while monitoring and analyzing planned versus actual project information for scope, schedule, budgets, and resources.

Accountable for all aspects of project execution, including maintenance of logs and registers (issue, decision, action logs, and risk register, etc.).

Provides an analysis of project statuses and their issues, including a centralized view of departmental projects to Steering Committee and/or Executive for issue resolution.

Provides communications and status reports tailored to the target audience (management, project team, etc.). Reports status on a regular basis. Facilitates project meetings (Working Groups, Status Meetings, Daily Scrum, etc.).

Effectively communicate and manage project expectations to team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear fashion.

Define project success criteria and disseminate them to involved parties throughout project life cycle.

Conduct all the necessary activities required to properly close a project, including compiling and providing the closeout report, gathering of lessons learned, sprint retrospective, project postmortems and create recommendations report to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.

Develop best practices and tools for project execution and management.

Estimate the resources and participants needed to achieve project goals.

Draft and submit budget proposals and recommend subsequent budget changes where necessary.

Negotiate with other department managers for the acquisition of required personnel from within the university and determine and assess need for additional staff and/or consultants and make the appropriate recruitments if necessary, during project cycle.

Identify and manage project dependencies and critical path.

Works with PMO Management in the development of Portfolio, Program, and Strategic Plan in alignment with the organization's business and long-term strategic plan.

Build, develop, and grow any business relationships vital to the success of the project.

REPORTS TO Associate Director, Project Management Office

QUALIFICATIONS

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS

Undergraduate degree in a discipline related to project management (e.g., computing science, social science, business)

Formal Project Management Certification (e.g. PMP, PRINCE2, etc.)

Agile certification (PMI-ACP certified and/or Certified Scrum Master, etc.) is considered an asset.

Change management certification (e.g., Prosci-ADKAR) is considered an asset.

Five to seven years of experience in a project management environment

Five years of experience delivering technology initiatives, including the implementation or operation of custom, COTS, or SaaS applications.

Experience working with Agile principles and practices (e.g., SCRUM).

Experience working with Change Management methodologies (e.g., Prosci- ADKAR).

Experience leading projects to comply with legislative or mandated rule changes.

Experience working both independently and in a collaborative environment is essential.

Working knowledge of agile and traditional project management tools and software (e.g., MS Project, Azure Board, Planner, Project for the Web, Jira, etc.), and Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, and other SaaS productivity tools.

Strategic and analytical thinking, problem solving abilities and time management skills.

Ability to adapt to shifting priorities, demands and timelines through analytical and problem-solving capabilities and to execute tasks in a high-pressure environment.

Excellent communication skills including the ability to translate business requirements into functional scope and specifications and the ability to communicate complicated technical issues to technical, non-technical audiences.

Knowledge of formal Change Management methodologies (e.g., Prosci-ADKAR)

Pay Band

$87,001.00 - $99,151.00 ( Admin Pay Band BH )

Location

Kamloops, BC CA (Primary)

# of Hires Needed

2

Organizational Unit

Thompson Rivers University -> Information Technology Services -> Project Management Office

Diversity and Inclusion Commitment:

Thompson Rivers University is strongly committed to hiring based on merit with a focus on fostering diversity of thought within our community. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our staff, our faculty and its scholarship including, but not limited to, women, Indigenous, Black and People of Colour, persons with disabilities and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity. Please note that all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, however applications from Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

NOTE: To learn more about Thompson Rivers University or living in Kamloops or Williams Lake please visit our Careers website. External Candidates invited to interview will be required to bring a copy of their transcripts to the interview.