Program Manager – remote
The Program Manager in this remote contract role is responsible for the planning, scheduling, and tracking of programs within the client's Higher Education Business Unit. This role will partner with technical product management, architecture, engineering, and the business to provide leadership in delivering innovative digital solutions to our customers. This position will not only focus on the planning, communication, and coordination of large-scale software development programs but also beyond the end date to the transitional and operational elements. This role is accountable to sponsors for schedule and quality of all program elements. This role may also be accountable for platform level program leadership, including resolving risks, providing leadership to agile teams, and providing clear status and communications.
This is a remote position open to applicants authorized to work for any employer within the United States, preference will be given to candidates in the New York/New Jersey area. It requires up to 20% occasional travel.
Must Have for this role:
- Agile project management experience required, demonstrated by a minimum of 7 years with progressively increasing responsibility including managing project timelines and scope to meet business requirements.
- Clear concise communication skills - verbal, written, interpersonal and organizational communication skills; must be able to communicate with across other teams and business stakeholders
- Project Planning experience with building out project plans, timelines, etc..
- Risk Management experience
- Experience with Software program management
- Coach to agile teams within the program. Ensure appropriate ceremonies occur with valuable outcomes. Drives continuous team improvement.
- Proficient with JIRA, Confluence, and Smartsheet
- Inquisitive with willing to ask questions and probe.
- Adaptability to change and uncertainty
- Team player
- High attention to detail
- Good Listener
- Ability to call out conflicting information or issues for a resolution
- Trust and Candor
- Inquisitive
Additional Responsibilities:
- Facilitates delivery of large cross-team programs by driving commitments to completion on time and with quality. Includes facilitating project initiation, tracking milestones, solving risks, and managing dependencies from development through testing and release. May own planning beyond software deliverables including managing customer testing and go-to-market planning.
- Ability to work out complex dependencies and escalate issues across impacted projects, programs, and teams up and down the chain as necessary.
- Can drive scaled agile planning and execution methodologies for teams or projects that require it.
- Partner closely with product and engineering leadership to provide guidance and leadership across multiple platform teams. May run meetings that span multiple teams to bring alignment across the platform, such as platform-wide demos.
- Champion agile methodologies throughout the development process and adherence to the SDLC. Coach on agile practices within assigned programs.
- Ensures projects follow the SDLC including a prioritized backlog, documented delivery plan, iteration 0 and dependency identification.
- Own and manage communication plan across program. Can communicate clearly and articulately to both senior leadership and agile teams. Own status, reporting, and stakeholder communications.
- Organizes notes, action items risks and program documentation. Ensures all decisions and action items are logged and resolved.
- Ensure transparency and buy-in on key decisions. Proactively removes impediments to ensure successful delivery of team commitments. Drives issue resolution and risk mitigation.
- Ensures customer support is appropriately prioritized and SLAs are honored.
- Coach to agile teams within the program. Ensure appropriate ceremonies occur with valuable outcomes. Drives continuous team improvement.
- Assists with Product Operations requests (rostering, metrics, reporting, etc).
What We Value/What You'll Need
- In depth knowledge of software development and adoption, ideally in Ed Tech.
- Highly-proficient in JIRA, Confluence, and Smartsheet. Able to produce detailed JIRA dashboard and reports, and use Smartsheet to drive complex programs.
- Self-motivated and well-organized; able to prioritize tasks and work well under pressure.
- Ability to work with a wide group of stakeholders in a positive and collaborative manner.
- Ability to travel on occasion and work in Eastern time zone.
- Open style of communication to foster efficient flow of ideas and build consensus across the project.
- Cross-disciplinary understanding of product management, software development, and quality assurance.
- Flexible and adaptable to tools and ways of working.
- Demonstrated skills in leadership, negotiation, conflict management, collaboration, organizational and critical thinking.
- Capable of communicating with a wide audience of individuals.
- Growth mindset, adaptable, and open to change, with a positive attitude and interest in improving over time.
- Capable of influence in a matrix structure where authority may lie elsewhere.
Bonus Points:
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification or PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) certification is a plus.
- Scaled agile experience and/or certification a plus.
- Familiarity with Teams and Slack a plus.
- Experience as a scrum master.
Reference: 1005034
Worried that you don’t meet every single requirement listed in the job ad? Studies have shown that individuals from marginalized groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. Level is dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and representative workplace, so if you’re excited about this role, but worried that you don’t meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply anyways. We’d love to get to know you.