IT Project Manager

For this contract position as an IT PROJECT MANAGER with the leading Pacific Northwest retail company, you will contribute to success by driving execution and delivery of medium to large and highly complex information technology projects in accordance with business specifications and technology requirements. Candidates must have experience in retail environment and national or global project management.

SUMMARY OF KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Owns and Drives successful execution and delivery of technology solutions implementations.
- Influences operational and executive leadership within the business areas to create and maintain alignment around the project business objectives, measurable benefits, success criteria, scope, and constraints impacting project delivery.
- Negotiates across multiple functions to resolve project conflicts and competing priorities.
- Communicates state of the project to executive leadership.
- Drives project execution and delivery according to business needs and requirements.
- Works in close partnership with IT directors and teams to deliver technology platforms to the business.
- Assesses project health and directs any necessary corrective measures.
- Creatively applies project management processes to address unique situations: assesses project status and direct corrective measures to ensure project success including escalation and visibility to Senior Leadership when appropriate.
- Clarifies and applies triple constraint priorities to project oversight and control. Aligns scorecard metrics to triple constraint priorities. Evaluates and manages project change impacts.
- Creates comprehensive project plans; detailing project schedule, resource estimates, quality requirements and metrics, and organizational change management activities. Ensures completion of all steps required to obtain project funding and resource acquisition approval.
- Defines and documents project work breakdowns, monitors task, status, updates work estimates and incorporates new tasks into plan as needed.
- Determines project governance and decision making structure. Establishes project roles and responsibilities and provides team members with clear direction.
- Develops and actively manages project schedule, resources, and budget. Manages resource gaps and acquisitions, engaging third party suppliers for outsourced services as needed. Tracks and reports monthly budget accruals and variances.
- Drives the selection and application of project management and systems development life cycles for projects, ensuring adjustment for specific project requirements. Directs completion of applicable life cycle deliverables in compliance with established company standards, practices and policies.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:

- Experience in Project Management in a Global Technology Environment, 5 years
- Building and leading distributed teams 5 years
- Experience in managing cross functional teams 5 years
- Experience working in a matrixed and global environment 5 years
- Application of industry-based project management and systems development methodologies and tools 5 years
- IT project management, including all elements of scope, time, cost, risk, quality, integration, procurement, human resources and communications 5 years
- Working with business areas to prioritize requirements and select appropriate technology to deliver effective business solutions and achieve business benefits 5 years
- Requirements elicitation and process analysis and design expertise 5 years
- Experience with Software Development Life Cycle 5 years
- Knowledge and experience of the Retail Business Systems space including most or all of the following: Inventory Management, Retail Materials Management, Sales Audit, Location Master and Advanced Store Replenishment
- Working across functional and engineering teams from a delivery perspective, including customer interaction
- Ability to apply knowledge of multidisciplinary business principles and practices to achieve successful outcomes in cross-functional projects and activities
- Knowledge of process improvement and quality methods, such as Lean, Six Sigma
- Knowledge of project management basic principles; scope, schedule, budget, risk/issue mitigation, quality integration procurement, human resource management and communications
- Strong negotiation skills
- Ability to think creatively
- Knowledge of basic business principles
- Strong leadership skills, including the ability to build cross-functional project teams
- Ability to flex leadership style to accommodate a wide variety of team member styles and leverage team diversity
- Ability to manage geographically distributed teams
- Ability to maneuver through tough political situations
- Ability to navigate within a fast-paced dynamic environment with high degrees of ambiguity to delivery large and complex projects
- Superior communication skills and the ability to effectively communicate to diverse audiences and all levels of the organization
- Strong problem solving and analytical skills