Senior Project Manager

Department
 

Booth IT: Project Management

About the Department
 

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business is the second-oldest business school in the U.S. and second to none when it comes to influencing business education and business practices. Since 1898, the school has produced ideas and leaders that shape the world of business. Their rigorous, discipline-based approach to business education transforms students into confident, effective, respected business leaders prepared to face the toughest challenges.

Chicago Booth has the finest set of facilities of any business school in the world. Each of the four campuses (two in Chicago, one in London, and one in Hong Kong) reflects the architectural traditions of its environs while offering a state-of-the-art learning environment.

Chicago Booth is proud to claim:
-an unmatched faculty.
-degree and open enrollment programs offered on three continents.
-a global body of nearly 56,000 accomplished alumni.
-strong and growing corporate relationships that provide a wealth of lifelong career opportunities.

As part of the world-renowned University of Chicago, Chicago Booth shares the University's core values that shape the distinctive intellectual culture. At Booth, they constantly question and test ideas, and seek proof. This extraordinarily effective approach to business leads to new ideas and innovative solutions. Seven of the Booth faculty members have won Nobel Prizes for these ideas - the first business school to achieve this accomplishment.

For more information about the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, please visit: http://www.chicagobooth.edu/.

Job Summary
 

The Senior Project Manager will facilitate the management of business system and technology projects. Projects are mostly highly visible, complex in nature and can span several departments across the school with multiple systems/integration points. This position works closely with clients to fully understand their requirements and define scope. Following a disciplined project management methodology, this position is accountable for the detailed contract negotiation, planning of tasks and identifying resources needed to meet the project’s objectives, monitors progress and prepares reports to ensure work is progressing to produce the deliverables on time and within budget. In addition, the Senior Project Manager will work with the PMO Director to continuously improve upon the methodology and processes within the PMO.

Responsibilities

• Works closely with end users to define project scope and ensure that their goals and objectives are clearly identified.
• Consults with sponsors and stakeholders to review the project proposal, determine project goals, time frames, funding limitations, staffing requirements and other resources.
• Ensures that projects are properly defined, work efforts are estimated and required resources are identified to ensure success throughout the project management lifecycle.
• Utilizes estimating and scheduling techniques to determine total work effort, task sequencing and dependencies to ensure projects are completed as planned and scheduled.
• Overall responsibility for ensuring that project objectives are met within budgeted dollars and timeframes.
• Identifies, assesses and mitigates project risks that may jeopardize project completion.
• Continually maintains on-going documentation about project status and monitors progress towards completion.
• Regularly communicates in writing and in-person to executive sponsors, end users and stakeholders about project expectations and on-going status.
• Utilizes formal change management processes for the capture, evaluation, and impact of proposed changes.
• Manages Booth IT resources, Consultants/Third-party resources and other University/Booth resources located onsite and remotely.
• Uses project experience, technical knowledge and team collaboration to identify, assess and mitigate project issues and risks.
• Adjusts resources and plans accordingly to meet the project objectives.
• Develops Statements of Work for vendor contracts and performs preliminary negotiations with vendors to obtain satisfactory pricing and beneficial contract terms for the school.
• Coaches and mentors other team members on project management methodology, tools and techniques.
• Leads and directs high-priority, complex projects, which require considerable resources and high levels of systems integration.
• Manages an average of 3 projects concurrently, two