Project Portfolio Manager

Job Summary

The Project Portfolio Manager performs hands-on leadership and responsible administrative and professional work for leading the assignments of the Project Management Office (PMO) for capabilities supporting processes and technology to meet County needs. Establishes, implements, and maintains PMO relevant methodologies, policies, and key performance indicators. Manages PMO staff, provides work direction, and encourages ongoing training and education to ensure current knowledge of technologies. Assigns projects to PMO staff that enhance current strengths and technical skills. Guides staff when complex issues arise to ensure projects are delivered on budget and in a timely fashion. Maintains project oversight responsibility for all projects assigned within the PMO and presents project portfolio to County governance and business leadership. Prepares and manages annual PMO budget. Participates in and helps refine existing and planned Portfolio and Project Management governance standards, and processes. Performs vendor management activities, negotiates service contracts and ensures Service Level Agreements, pricing, and other details to meet County requirements. Ensures that all managed projects and change requests on behalf of the business align with the County technology to maximum return on investment. Ensures projects align with the IT strategy and assists in the prioritization of projects and project delivery. Ensures proper communication between the IT function, the business unit, and projects.

Job Description

Performs highly complex cost/benefit analysis to make and recommend business solution purchases and investment decisions. Synthesizes complex requirements and constraints to generate and recommend feasible and appropriate modifications to the business model, service support, and service delivery systems used and executed by the business unit. 

 

Serves as a point of contact for IT-related business process/project development, status, cost, and deliverables of any requests for change. Develops business requirements, models current and desired capabilities, conducts gap analysis, recommends priorities for projects and IT investment, and maximizes IT value creation. Readies all significant IT-related projects for presentation to County Governance. 

 

Supervises professional staff, assigns work, evaluates performance, and manages the operations involved with the business units; mentors staff and provides guidance, coaching, and training based on individual development needs with an emphasis on collaboration, customer service, innovation, and proficiency. 

 

Establishes, implements, and ensures adherence to policies, processes, and KPI's. 

 

Provides leadership and is the key point of contact for the Project Management Office; maintains project oversight responsibility for all other projects assigned. 

 

Assists in the negotiation of service contracts and pricing to obtain best terms for the county, including service performance and support agreements, escalation processes, performance reporting, release and change management, and other relevant details. 

 

Oversees and performs vendor management activity to ensure SLAs on contracts is delivered as scoped. 

 

Prepares annual budgets and manages expenses to meet the budget. 

 

Maintains personal PMI or equivalent certification and access to Project Management Body of Knowledge on best practices and methods. 

 

Creates implementation road maps for individual solutions and the overall portfolio. 

 

Assists in identifying opportunities to reuse existing systems to provide needed capabilities. 

 

Formulates plans for retiring legacy systems to simplify the portfolio. 

 

Participates in vendor selection and contract negotiation. 

 

Evaluates stakeholder needs and constraints to formulate appropriate service level agreements . 

 

Performs duties as needed to bring projects to successful conclusions. 

 

Manages and matures the Project Management Office. 

 

Fosters development of a project management culture and improves project management capabilities across the county. 

 

Deploys a county-specific project management methodology that matures over time and ensures standard gates, reviews, and templates across all sizable initiatives. 

 

Works collectively with IT resource managers in the planning and prioritization of proposed work within the county portfolio. 

 

Ensures transparent, consistent reporting at the portfolio and project level. 

 

Challenges business unit leaders and IT team members to develop creative alternative solutions, considering the full range of costs, benefits, and implementation time estimates for recommendation to and approval by business leaders. 

 

Identifies synergies among technology-oriented projects across the business departments to drive quality and value creation for the county. Uses past project experience to foster sharing and learning to positively influence future project initiatives. 

 

Ensures team is qualified to and appropriately assigned to perform technical tasks needed to maintain solutions for which support is not otherwise contracted. 

 

Provides appropriate reporting, governance, and accountability artifacts required by IT and business stakeholders. 

 

Performs supervisory duties as defined in MN Statute 179A.03 Subd. 17.

 

Works the days and hours necessary to perform all assigned responsibilities and tasks. Must be available (especially during regular business hours or shifts) to communicate with other employees, supervisors, customers, vendors, and any other person or organization with whom interaction is required to accomplish work and employer goals.

 

Performs other duties as assigned. 

Minimum Qualifications
Requires equivalency of a Bachelor's Degree (Master's in Business Administration or Master's in Science preferred) in Business, Computer Science and/or Engineering, or Management Information Systems

Seven years of experience in IT management, project management, general management, or consulting.

Must have experience in working and administering knowledge of enterprise-wide technologies such as networking, server architecture, SharePoint, SQL server databases, data models, application architecture, data conversion, querying and analyzing data from heterogeneous databases, reporting tools, report writing, workflows, and automation tools

A reliable form of transportation for the performance of work responsibilities are required.
Certification as a Project Management Professional at the ITIL Foundation level is required within 1 year of employment.

Business Relations Management Professional (BRMP) certification is preferred. 

Knowledge of Service Now and the Portfolio Project Management tool is preferred.

Government experience preferred.

Demonstrated experience with collaboration networks, service-oriented architectures, content management and automated workflow, business intelligence metrics and reports, application development and integration practices, analysis supporting Return On Investment and Total Cost of Ownership financial modeling, and Microsoft and SharePoint environments are preferred. 

Supervisory Controls
This employee is under the general guidance and direction from the Deputy CIO. This position functions in a self-directed team, working in an organizational matrix managed by the County Governance Board and an assigned Division Director. Day-to-day work will be done with wide latitude for independence and discretion requiring considerable understanding of complex issues. Decisions and recommendations made will have a significant impact on process re-design and automation, technology investments, project scope, staffing levels, and cost of business operations.

The incumbent directs and oversees the work of others; including, program/service planning and delivery, personnel selection, evaluation of work performance, training, and disciplinary activities. Performs supervisory duties as defined in MN Statute 179A.03 Subd. 17.

The employee promotes employee professional development and provides coaching and mentoring to others.

Core Competencies and Abilities
Customer Service - Delivers government services in a respectful, responsive, and solution-oriented manner.

Communication - Is always clear about what we're doing and why we're doing it.

Collaboration - Works with partners – communities, schools, faith groups, private business, and non-profit agencies – to see that services are not duplicated but rather are complimentary, aligned, and provided by the partners who can deliver the service most effectively.

Stewardship - Works proactively to make investments, guided by resident input, which will transform lives, communities, and government.

Empowerment - Works with individuals and families to affirm strengths, develop skills, restore hope, and promote self-reliance.

Resiliency - Fosters public preparedness and responds when families and communities face health and safety emergencies.

Innovation - Takes informed risks to deliver services more effectively and learns from successes and failures.

Knowledge – Knowledge of capabilities and limitations of data processing equipment.

Knowledge in systems design, architecture, implementation, and technology standards.

Knowledge of e-business applications, content management systems, use of electronic forms and automated workflow, business intelligence reporting using KPI's and metrics.

Knowledge of marketing principles and product/program development, product positioning, pricing, and promotion.

Knowledge of techniques and analytics to provide financial modeling for return on technology investments, total cost of ownership, pay back periods, and detailed cost-benefits analysis considering both value and economic business drivers for the business unit and the county as a whole.

Knowledge of application development, database designs and modeling methodologies, and tools utilized by the county.

Knowledge of e-business applications, content management systems, Microsoft office suite applications, and graphics software.

Abilities – Ability to function in a self-directed team working in an organizational matrix managed by a County Governance Board and Division Director.

Ability to synthesize and analyze large data sets to determine requirements and the scope of change associated with any improved process design or automation of work activity.

Ability to manage an extensive and detailed enterprise project portfolio that can be used by the County Governance, Internal Services IT Dept, and the Procurement office to ensure resource needs are known and managed.

Ability to determine the appropriate analysis and problem-solving methodologies to use to ensure accurate understanding of a given business model, business process, or value proposition.

Ability to articulate information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences; to document procedures in a clear and effective manner; and, to use persuasive negotiating techniques with composure, professionalism, and discretion.

Ability to teach, tailor, and assert control in a direct but not aggressive way to achieve desired goals.

Ability to lead staff in a positive, productive and culture friendly environment by promoting flexibility, rewarding successes, and addressing issues promptly with resolution

Ability to plan, assign, and direct the work of professional and technical personnel involved in the delivery and support of IT services.

Ability to organize and prioritize tasks into workable schedules, balancing user needs with system resources.

Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously without losing focus on priorities, deadlines, and the customer service perspective.

Ability to manage day-to-day details of multiple tasks and issues, providing regular technical reports, both verbal and statistical, showing status of ongoing initiatives.

Ability to determine the best packaging and presentation approach of information for accuracy, comprehensiveness, relevance, currency within the industry, and in compliance with expected content, when readying proposals and recommendations for County Governance review and for a wide variety of target audiences.

Ability to use appropriate discretion in dealing with matters of a confidential nature.

Ability to effectively engage outside collaborative partners for business solutions on a cost sharing basis.

Work Environment and Physical Demands
Typical characteristics of the regular, ongoing work environment of this position requires inside work, typically in an office setting. Evening and weekend hours may be required based on project, services, and systems demands. The position is multi-task oriented and includes periods of stress when balancing the needs/demands of service.

Physical activities include sedentary to light work: Reaching, sitting, standing, walking, pushing, lifting, pulling, fingering, grasping, feeling, stooping, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions. Lifts and/or navigates up to 35 pounds on a routine basis in handling files and equipment necessary for performing the essential duties of the job.

Some work-related travel is required to navigate between county buildings and to attend meetings.