Director for Project Management

05-Jan-2022

Division of Continuing Education

55560BR

Job-Specific Responsibilities

The Director for Project Management works with project staff and with senior divisional and departmental leadership to manage a wide-ranging project portfolio to deliver multi-discipline projects. The Director will conceptualize and define new projects, scoring, direct existing projects, develop and track goals, objectives and KPI’s, provide regular project and governance reviews, and ensures key stakeholder alignment. The Director will provide supervision and direction to operational project management staff.

Other duties and responsibilities include:

• Work with the Technology Steering Committee to define and expand on project governance and methodology, policy, operations, organizational change management processes, reporting, and assessment methods based on Harvard IT standards and best practices. Determines staffing requirements and builds high performance (cross functional) project teams. Responsible for effective staff management and professional development, including hiring of innovative technology talent, mentoring, and performance management. Promote an inclusive and innovative work environment.
• Manage project portfolio and collaborate with leadership and stakeholders to discover, define and align new (and existing) projects with divisional goals.  Develop and implement scoring model for project adoption and prioritization.  Manage project and program milestones, resource requirements, allocations and utilization.
• Partners as trusted advisor with DCE functional leads from the Enrollment Services, Registrar, Admissions, Degree Programs, Finance, Marketing and IT units to deliver products and services from concept to launch. Develop and maintain engagement with key stakeholders across DCE departments and programs.
• Responsible for the development of comprehensive reporting including the creation of program and project roadmaps, dashboards, analytics and metrics in order to scope, score, prioritize, manage and resource projects across DCE.  Responsible for operationalizing communication plans, status updates, road maps and timelines.
• Directs planning efforts in the areas of project budgets, resources, scheduling, scope, capacity and change management. Optimizes alignment between stakeholder needs, expectations, resource availability and project objectives. Negotiates project agreements with stakeholders.
• Identifies evolving gaps and emerging needs in skills, process capabilities, and capacity to support sustained long-term business growth.
• Identifies project risks, develops/recommends mitigation plans and resolves problems impeding/impacting project completion, proactively resolving issues or escalating to senior management when necessary.
• Monitors project quality and ensures protocols are in place for on-going (post implementation) support and maintenance.
• Collaborate with management and university representatives to support intra-university and inter school initiatives, such as, HBS Online and the MITx Micromasters.
• Leverage technology steering and executive committees for decision-making, organizational change management and communications.
• Direct teams, including outlining the scope of projects and programs, aligning teams and resources to achieve goals and outcomes.
• May direct and manage specific projects as needed, particularly in the early project stages (scoping, scoring, negotiation and launch).

Typical Core Duties

• Responsible for effective staff management, including hiring and orientation, training and development, workflow and performance management, and the promotion of an inclusive and innovative work environment
• Responsible for project discovery
• Oversee a portfolio of projects, ensuring resources, capacity and dependencies are managed for successful delivery
• Occasionally expected to lead a project as a project manager
• Ensure alignment of project with strategic objectives and directions
• Evaluate and assess metrics and project/program effectiveness
• Strong motivation to understand user needs
• Collaborate with management and university representatives to develop initiatives and oversee the ongoing management of established partnerships
• Leverage steering and executive committees for decision-making, change management, and communications
• Advise unit/school regarding post project operations
• Develop and steward senior internal and external relationships; represent the school/unit at the university level and to external constituencies
• Apply Harvard University’s IT technical standards and best practices
• Abide by and follow the Harvard University IT Code of Conduct

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of seven years’ post-secondary education or relevant work experience
• Supervisory experience

Additional Qualifications and Skills

• Experience leading and executing project, program, and portfolio management
• Experience managing contractors, vendors, and other outsourced providers
• Experience working across organizational boundaries to achieve results
• Expert Knowledge of advanced IT project and portfolio management software
• Knowledge of Atlassian Jira and Confluence
• Knowledge of information technology applications, processes, software and systems
• Knowledge of agile software development practices
• Demonstrated team performance skills, service mindset approach, and the ability to act as a trusted advisor
• Demonstrated skill creating and managing project plans and roadmaps
• Demonstrated skill influencing at all levels to ensure ownership of assigned tasks and objectives
• Demonstrated skill challenging other's positions constructively
• Demonstrated skill facilitating group discussions

Additional Information

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences will not provide visa sponsorship for this position.

In order to be considered for this role, a resume and cover letter must be submitted with application.

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) comprises several entities serving about 30,000 students annually. The Harvard Extension School, the Harvard Summer School, the Harvard Professional Development Programs and the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement allow Harvard to serve the learning needs of students across their life. For more than a century, Harvard Extension School has made Harvard faculty and teaching accessible to a diverse community of local, national, and international students. Harvard Extension School enrolls approximately 17,000 students per year in approximately 46 graduate and undergraduate liberal arts and professional fields. More than 1,500 open enrollment courses are offered year-round with over 600 available online are offered at affordable prices to our communities across the world. Harvard Summer School offers approximately 450 courses on the Harvard Campus to 11,000 secondary school, college and adult learners and more than 30 international study abroad programs for up to 600 students each summer. The Division also includes the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement with approximately 550 active members and Harvard Professional Development Programs offering 80 short noncredit courses to almost 4,000 learners annually.

All formal offers will be made by FAS Human Resources.

Harvard offers an outstanding benefits package including:
Time Off: 3 - 4 weeks paid vacation, paid holiday break, 12 paid sick days, 11.5 paid holidays, and 3 paid personal days per year
Medical/Dental/Vision: We offer a variety of excellent medical plans, dental & vision plans, all coverage begins as of your start date.
Retirement: University-funded retirement plan with full vesting after 3 years of service.
Tuition Assistance Program: Competitive tuition assistance program, $40 per class at the Harvard Extension School and discounted options through participating Harvard grad schools.
Transportation: Harvard offers a 50% discounted MBTA pass as well as additional options to assist employees in their daily commute.
Wellness options: Harvard offers programs and classes at little or no cost, including stress management, massages, nutrition, meditation and complimentary health services.
Harvard access to athletic facilities, libraries, campus events and many discounts throughout metro Boston.

Harvard will require COVID vaccination for all Harvard community members who will have any on-campus presence. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. More information regarding the University’s COVID vaccination requirement and exceptions may be found at the University’s “COVID-19 Vaccine Information” webpage: http://www.harvard.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-information/ . 

Job Function

Information Technology

Location

USA - MA - Cambridge

Job Code

I0060M IT Project Management VI

Department

Division of Continuing Education

Union

00 - Non Union, Exempt or Temporary

Pre-Employment Screening

Criminal, Identity

Schedule

Monday-Friday 9-5pm

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Harvard University views equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging as the pathway to achieving inclusive excellence and fostering a campus culture where everyone can thrive. We strive to create a community that draws upon the widest possible pool of talent to unify excellence and diversity while fully embracing individuals from varied backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values.

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.