Project Manager

OBJECTIVES OF ENGAGEMENT:

The primary objective of this engagement is to serve as the Lead PM for the implementation and enhancement of several large, critical IT projects for the DDAP. One key project will be the HHS enterprise licensing system (ELS) for DDAP. It is also expected that through this process the individual will obtain subject matter expertise (SME) regarding the licensing functions of DDAP and assist in looking for the optimized business processes that can be used to minimize custom functions within the ELS application that will lead to higher costs.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

The PM directs, administers, manages, and facilitates an enhancement, re-engineering of a business process or a developmental project. The PM is the individual ultimately responsible for the DDAP program implementation. The PM’s primary responsibility is to drive the entire effort from start to finish. The PM must ensure that the project is completed on schedule, within the defined budget and that the final product meets the business, technical, and established quality requirements.

The selected contractor must be familiar with the five (5) phases along with inputs/outputs identified by the Project Management Institute (PMI) that combine to turn a project idea into a working product. The PM will need to rely on their proven experience leading projects to a successful implementation, and their judgment, to plan and accomplish goals. Strong interpersonal skills are required when consulting with the program area and various IT teams to define requirements and to analyze and resolve problems, ensuring collaboration and agreement with recommended solutions. The role description is outlined below:

•Support the Enterprise ELS PM for the ELS initiative by managing the DDAP work adhering to the timeline/schedule established with input from the DDAP area.
•Direct, administer, manage, and facilitate enhancements, business process reengineering or development of a high priority and high-profile commonwealth technology project of strategic importance.
•Accountable for activities with excess delivery cycles of 8 to 12 months.
•Manage, coordinate, and establish priorities for the complete life cycle of projects including the planning, design, programming, testing, and implementation of business solutions designed to meet requirements of various departments in the commonwealth.
•Responsible for the development of estimates for the enhancement, business process re-engineering or development effort in planning, analysis, design, construction, testing, and implementation.
•Works with team leads to adjust and revise project estimates when necessary.
•Ensure new project estimates are approved by the DDAP and agreed upon.
•Develop the detailed Project Management Plan for the enhancement, business process re-engineering or development effort.
•Accountable for the approval and sign-off of the Project Management Plan with customer representatives, and all affected project stakeholders.
•Accountable for delivery of all work tasks identified in the Project Management Plan and Project Schedule.
•Design project plans, which identify needs and define major tasks and milestones, based on scope, resources, budget, and personnel.
•Ensure that tasks provide value and support the strategic direction of the project and meet service commitments.
•Manage, and track the project progress against the project schedule.
•Monitor project milestones and phases and take corrective action as needed to ensure the project is on schedule.
•Monitor and track the project budget and advise necessary stakeholders.
•Plan, organize, prioritize, and manage multiple work efforts across the project team.
•Notify team members of project timelines, milestones, phases, work requests, target dates, and approved executable work packages.
•Responsible to schedule or monitor status reviews, project management inspections, and software quality assurance work product and process reviews with the appropriate stakeholders.
•Responsible for the capture and reporting of required project management metrics.
•Analyze and distribute reports on project metrics associated with work items related to improvement measures.
•Ensure all changes to scope follow processes outlined in the Change Management Plan and are documented.
•Create, review, and obtain approval of the Communication Plan and Deliverables Matrix to ensure effective communication with all stakeholders and management.
•Prepare status reports on a periodic basis for the project team, team leads, group leads, Sponsor, and appropriate stakeholders.
•Report status and recommendations to senior leadership, as defined in the Communication Plan.
•Follow HHS DC IT PMO methodology to ensure consistency throughout IT and the program areas by reviewing the project standards and procedures with project team members.
•Provide input and support for continual improvement within the HHS DC IT PMO to better service the HHS DC supported program areas.
•Mentor less experienced project management project staff to build overall understanding of project management, when needed.
•Work closely with HHS DC IT Application, Data Warehouse, Informatics, Solution Management, Networking, Security and Service Management teams, as required, identifying tasks for the project schedule to support the implementation.
•Facilitate discussions between IT areas and vendors with focus on solution(s) to ensure the needs/requirements of the program area are achieved.
•Anticipate issues and proactively address them. Identify and manage project risk and issues, through the use of a RAID Log. Develop risk mitigation strategies tracking to closure. Engage management in a proactive manner.
•Identify and track issues in the RAID Log.
•Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and customer representatives.
•Serve as the primary point of contact for all project-related issues and the resolution of issues.
•Communicate effectively with customers and software/hardware suppliers supporting the commonwealth, as appropriate.
•Communicate to team members to ensure they understand how their work assignments relate to and help achieve project objectives.
•Accountable for the final project management evaluation review with stakeholders. Manage and track the project status against the project schedule.
•Following the HHS DC IT Daptiv guidelines. Provide weekly project updates.
•Coordinate system testing with appropriate staff resources.
•Deliver presentations, as necessary.
•Ensure project compliance with HHS DC IT PMO standards and procedures.
•Develop and facilitate the achievement of project service commitments.
•Ensure that tasks provide value and support the strategic direction of the project.
•Balance workload with project members’ capacity. Engaging management in a proactive manner.
•Plan, coordinate, and conduct training and orientation sessions.
•Accountable for peer reviews with the appropriate project team resources.
•Coordinate and present proposals, as necessary.
•Identify and manage project risk, and develop risk mitigation strategies, and track to closure.
•Plan project specific training and orientation needs.
•Complete weekly timesheet reporting in PeopleFluent/VectorVMS by close of business (COB) Friday.
•Provide weekly personal status reporting by COB Friday submitted on SharePoint.
•Following the guidelines of the HHS DC IT PMO set-up a project SharePoint site and utilize Microsoft Teams for key documentation.

CONTRACTOR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

•Seven (7) to nine (9) years of relevant experience directly managing technical initiatives with a large complement of project team members throughout the various IT areas, technical complexity, and vendor involvement.
•This position requires a high degree of skills … budgeting, communication (verbal and written), leadership, negotiation and influencing, organizational, problem-solving, teambuilding, human resource, and soft interpersonal skills.
•Experience implementing SaaS solutions.
•The position requires a high degree of business and technical knowledge
•The ability for the contractor to ramp up quickly and perform independently is essential.
•Project management professional (PMP) certification through the PMI is preferred.
•A four (4) year college degree or equivalent technical study is preferred.
•Familiarity and experience with the Pennsylvania DHS, DOH, DDAP and OA is considered important.
•Candidate will need to provide points of contacts (POCs).
•A Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History (PATCH) report is required for security purposes.

Required/Desired Skills