Technical Project Manager

We are currently helping our client, a K-12 school district, with their search for a Technical Project Manager.

JOB SUMMARY:

Our client seeks a long-term, experienced technical project manager to join our 18-member agile technical team consisting of eight Analysts, eight Developers, and two Database Administrators and partner with the IT Manager in building, implementing, and maintaining enterprise-grade student software systems' operational and project tasks. This is not your typical Project Manager role; the ideal candidate will lead the day-to-day system operations, including change and configuration management, system and user security, and database administration of a diverse portfolio of complex software applications using ServiceNow. This position includes developing and implementing an optimization plan, ensuring consistent system availability, reducing technical debt, implementing best practices, and collecting and reporting quarterly KPIs.  This position does not support typical Project Manager tasks, including budget or risk management.
This position represents the team, and the applicant will work closely with the Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), executive sponsors, business and academic leaders, business owners, subject matter experts, vendors, external agencies, and union representatives.   
Products supported by our team include external applications (I.E., PowerSchool, PowerTeacher/Pro, Schoology, Naviance, Performance Matters, Unified Insights, VersaTrans), as well as internal applications (I.E., Student Assignment System (SAS), Transportation Operations Systems (TOPS), Safety and Security Information Reporting System (SSIRS), and the Truancy Management System).
This position reports to the IT Manager on the Student Systems Support Team. Due to the process improvement work, this position will work closely with the IT Manager to ensure that operations, project work, and process improvements are completed in tandem.   

Responsibilities/Duties:

Partner with the IT Manager to develop and manage schedules, resources, scope, and communication plans with appropriate input from the team and business. Participate and provide input into the district, departmental, and team strategies, priorities, and work plans based on current and expected needs and priorities. Excellent organizational and communication skills, problem-solving

• Communication
  • Create communication plans and processes.
  • Organized and efficient service interruptions and change communication within the team and the larger Department of Technology Services (DoTS) team members.
  • Clear and concise communication with our executive sponsors, departmental business owners, and subject matter experts with little to no technical skill sets.
• Operational Oversight
  • Oversee reoccurring operational tasks.
  • Apply Agile, Kanban, and Scrum techniques to implement Operations tasks and optimize resources and efforts as priorities change across competing workstreams.
  • Proactively coordinate resources involving operations, projects, and business teams.
  • Partner with IT Manager in developing a 3–5-year resource allocation schedule.
  • Coordinate and drive operations release management schedules and tasks. I.E., annual operations calendar, bi-weekly release, hotfixes, tri-annual upgrades, start and close of school, summer school, end of year. Environment preparation, regression testing, bug fixes, user acceptance testing, backlog grooming, security, and implementation are included in some cases.
  • Conduct daily operational standup meetings using Kanban best practices.
  • Schedule and run necessary meetings to ensure successful completion of tasks.
  • Coordinate resources with IT Manager to resolve operational or service issues.
  • Collect and report operational KPI metrics, including service level agreement compliance.
• Process Improvements
  • Work with IT Manager to determine areas of improvement.
  • Support process improvement efforts while overseeing operational project work.
  • Work with IT Manager to drive discussion and outcome of a workload balance effort.
  • Work with IT Manager to develop, implement, and train the team in ServiceNow Request, Incidents, and Resource Management functionality.
  • Identify and present best practice recommendations to improve operations, including automation.
  • Identify and present best practice recommendations for SLAs.
  • Develop and refine standard operating procedures for application support and maintenance.
  • Develop Tier 1 support processes and documentation to Provide oversight to the Help Desk Lead and support team to resolve user support issues.
  • Drive continued out-of-the-box brainstorming sessions.
  • Collaboration with executive sponsors and business owners to develop common goals.
     
• Documentation
  • Develop IT best practice templates. I.E., service level agreements, business requirements, technical requirements, etc.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years leading an IT operations team supporting enterprise-grade software systems.
• Systems administration and software applications technical support background.
• Change management experience.
• Team and relationship building and collaboration.
• Understand the needs of a best-practice and high-performing IT team.
• Understand the software development life cycle.
• Experience using a digital workflow product for incident, request, demand, resource management, automation, and user support requests. I.E., ServiceNow
• Leadership and people skills, team engagement (both work and non-work)
• Technical debt reduction
• Cloud hosting and migration
• Detail analysis and documentation
• Planning skills, adaptability, decision making
• Bachelor’s Degree

Desired Qualifications

• Student Information Systems, preferably PowerSchool
• PMO Certification
• Experience executing a Kanban operation approach.
• ITIL certifications
• Agile certification
• IT security-related qualifications
• IT Information Systems Architecture experience
• IT Enterprise Architecture experience

Location: Western Washington
The position is currently remote but may change to a hybrid model in Seattle, WA, in the future. The successful candidate must live within Western Washington.

Length of Assignment: 12-month contract position

Pay Range: $60-$80/hour depending on experience.

Benefits: Three insurance levels, 401K + match, sick leave, and working with a great company!

*This Organization Participates in E-Verify* This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9.

Hansell Tierney is one of the premier staffing and recruiting companies in the Pacific Northwest. Launched in 2001, we are a woman-owned business that serves and staffs Northwest organizations by doing things the right way, not just the easiest way. Hansell Tierney partners with candidates and clients to match the best candidates with interesting local opportunities. We navigate every relationship with the highest level of discretion and service while holding ourselves accountable to our promises. Our business thrives on our deep understanding of the job market and our ability to skillfully tailor our recruitment process to meet our clients’ unique needs.