"IT Senior Project Leader, Wharton Computing and Instructional Technology"

Wharton School Overview

Founded in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With campuses in both Philadelphia and San Francisco, Wharton has over 850 staff, a faculty population of more than 235 renowned professors, and 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education's individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. Wharton is home to a diverse population of staff, representing a rich array of backgrounds, expertise, and cultures. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

Reporting to the Executive Director, WCIT Communications -- this position has overall accountability for the development, continuous improvement, and implementation of a Project Coordination Office (PCO) organization for Wharton Computing.

This includes workflow processes and practices, standards, and project status reporting and communication, and of resources and resource allocation to ensure projects are delivered on-time, on-budget with quality results in alignment with business expectations. You will inventory existing projects, identify the de facto project managers for each project, and provide resources and training to formalize the practice of project management for those (sometimes informal) project managers. Also help identify project sponsors, owners, key performance indicators, and communications plans for many (heretofore un-catalogued) complex and highly visible projects with myriad stakeholders across the school.

Develop and promote project management best practices that will be successful in a highly federated environment like Wharton. Work to make the PCO a center of excellence drawn upon by the entire IT organization to provide services and share expertise. Provide mentoring to staff both inside and outside of the PCO to build the overall project management bench-strength in the organization. Create a portfolio management and reporting process with Senior leadership and the CIO.

As part of ongoing future development of Project Management/Coordination practice, evaluate current PM technologies and products, and ensure appropriate tools are available for the organization. Develop and implements new Risk Management protocols, Project lifecycle planning, Financial/Budgeting management, and other project governance practices to deepen overall bench-strength for portfolio management across the organization. Collaborate and influence common project practice across the University.

In addition, provide direct Project Management for Identity and Access Management services for Wharton. Also, direct Project Management for cloud migration, governance, training, communications, and budgeting for Wharton's cloud-based infrastructure in Amazon Web Services.

Job Responsibilities

• Establish inventory, governance, and process for Project Coordination, including identifying project sponsors, owners, key performance indicators, and communications plans for many complex and highly visible projects with myriad stakeholders across the School. Perform all project management duties related to key projects that are critical to the business of the School.
• Work directly with project teams across the organization to facilitate and ensure effective planning, development, adherence to identified best practices, and execution of current projects in the organization's portfolio. Direct Project Management for cloud migration, governance, training, communications, and budgeting for Wharton's AWS-based infrastructure.
• Lead the creation and implementation of a Project Management Center of Excellence for Wharton Computing and the School. This includes identifying supported project management tools for a variety of projects, selecting a supported project management framework, and creating guidelines, toolkits, and best practices. Take the lead on evangelizing, championing, and cultivating effective project management practices in collaboration with School and University colleagues.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree and 5-7 years of progressive experience in IT project management, including large-scale, multi-stakeholder initiatives. Or, equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience working in complex, decentralized, or highly federated organizational environments.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent is preferred.

Technical & Methodology Expertise

• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies and portfolio management best practices.
• Experience with cloud projects (preferably AWS) and associated governance, budgeting, and training activities is preferred.
• Understanding of identity and access management concepts, tools, and processes.

Communication & Interpersonal Skills

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for engaging with senior leadership, project sponsors, and technical teams.
• Strong presentation skills with the ability to translate technical information into business terms.
• Ability to work effectively across departments and influence the adoption of best practices without direct authority.