Project Manager/Project Owner

Chicago, IL, United States

Project Manager & Product Owner

Role Overview

The Project Manager (PMPO) is the primary point of contact for clients and works closely in tandem with our Developers and Designers to successfully deliver products that provide exceptional business value to our clients and their users. APMs are often responsible for managing several concurrent, complex, enterprise-level projects in a fast-paced environment that may cross multiple business divisions. In performing this role, the APM is expected to blend traditional project management principles with Agile development practices to motivate team members, manage client expectations, maintain project contracts, and ensure all project timelines, deliverables and budgets are met.

Responsibilities

Project Planning and Management

Organize and lead all project status meetings and exercises to support project performance in terms of scope, timeline, budget and deliverables. Drive course corrections to maintain alignment with client needs.

Support project needs through facilitation of all client and stakeholder communication, including managing and resetting expectations as needed, and through the use of effective systems for project governance.

Act as mediator to resolve all conflicting client and internal team needs in order to ensure optimal resolutions and compromises for involved parties in all instances.

Evaluate all projects and agreements for risks and potential threats to client satisfaction, project success and Caxy profitability.

Maintain ownership of client relationships and contracts. Develop a comprehensive understanding of all client needs and agreements.

Prepare and distribute internal as well as client facing project progress reports, documentation, proposals and presentation materials.

Support accounting needs for project invoicing through oversight and reporting on hours billed on projects.

Identify opportunities for additional/new project work with clients, and facilitate project expansion or strategy shifts in alignment with Caxy and client interests.

Other tasks and responsibilities as requested.

Process Management and Improvement Manage all projects in alignment with Agile and SCRUM strategies and provide organizational support frameworks as well as clear communication routes to meet all client and internal team needs on a project by project basis.

Team Support and Oversight

Manage and support cross-functional project teams with 3+ team members including Developers, Designers, Copywriters, QA Personnel, and Business Analysts.

Promote empowerment of each project team and ensure that all members are fully engaged in the project and making meaningful contributions.

Identify and encourage a sustainable pace for the team to maintain while delivering high quality work.

Support and assist with team development and individual performance assessments.

Desired Candidate Qualities

A passion for agile project management practices, open source values, collaboration and satisfied clients.

A strong dedication to teamwork centered strategies that value group success over individual accolades and personal performance metrics.

A genuine desire for continual learning and professional growth.

Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills as well as an ability to balance competing demands and focus on multiple, varied topics at a time.

A creative approach to problem-solving with the ability to focus on details and break concepts down into actionable steps while always maintaining the "big picture" view. We're always looking for innovative ideas, and solutions for quandaries new and old.

Excellent oral and written communications skills, and an ability to easily interact with both business and IT individuals at all levels, from entry up through executive.

Strong interpersonal skills and an interest in mentoring, coaching, collaborating, and team building.

An ability to consistently, accurately and objectively evaluate complex project risks and issues.

An active participant in relevant communities and support networks.

Core Competencies Proficient at managing complex projects with past experience working in a high-tech development environment with cross-functional teams. PMP certification preferred.

Proficient in SCRUM/Agile methodologies with past experience implementing them on enterprise-level application development projects. PMI-ACP, CSM, or equivalent preferred.

Proficient at leveraging organizational resources and strategies to improve capacity for project work.

Proficient at establishing and maintaining strong business relationships with clients and peers based on mutual trust and confidence.

Proficient understanding of software development life cycle models.

Competent at working with project management tools designed to support software and application development like JIRA, Codebase, Rally, VersionOne or equivalent (we currently run JIRA).

Competent at working with basic business support applications and products like Google Home & Office products, MS Office/Project/Visio.

Requirements

Experience managing multiple technical projects in a fast-paced environment (in an agency is a bonus)

Availability to work onsite at the Caxy offices during our regular business hours.

Ability to work within a team environment as well as independently as needed.