Sr. Technical Project Manager

Northwestern Mutual - Milwaukee, WI

Full-time - Mid Level

Milwaukee, WI

Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

About the position

In this unique role, you'll provide a hybrid of cross-functional consulting that incorporates aspects of IT Project Management, Business Analysis/Consulting, and Deployment Lead/Organizational Change Management expertise to meet department and cross-departmental goals. You will be responsible for planning, monitoring, and managing technology projects while coordinating across a wide range of roles and levels to deliver on established milestones. This position requires managing the end-to-end plan that includes all changes needed for a given set of technical products in support of initiative outcomes. You will work closely with technology subject matter experts and business partners to implement solutions that address business processes and the underlying systems that support those processes. Your role will involve identifying options, gaining consensus on approaches, developing requirements, and related business rules to solve complex business challenges. As a confident, persuasive, and persistent individual, you will negotiate and communicate with business clients, vendors, and field-based employees to ensure expectations are managed and critical objectives are addressed. You will utilize formal processes and tools to guide resources, risks, and changes, ensuring on-time completion according to specifications and within budgeted costs. Upon solution implementation, you will drive organizational change management activities to promote adoption of the change and minimize impact to people and processes. This role will be aligned to the Meetings Experience domain within the Digital Workplace, tasked with supporting various workstreams within both the New North program and Unified Communications space.

Responsibilities

• Independently leads highly complex departmental project/support assignments and/or participates in cross-departmental projects with responsibility for managing scope, risk, business value, schedule and budget.
• Helps define the objectives to be accomplished by the project team(s) and develops the project and change plan with the team.
• Directs team members to determine the best methods to achieve the project's objectives and allocates staff and budget resources required to achieve project objectives.
• Understands key business drivers as they relate to the projects and adapts to various internal procedures while cultivating meaningful relationships with business partners.
• Maintains documentation of project plans, communications, key decisions, risks, and issues throughout the entirety of the project.
• Responsible for managing project decisions, risks, and issues through the development, maintenance, and revision of reports and tracking tools.
• Identifies and solves a range of problems for a variety of situations, analyzing possible solutions and assessing each using standard procedures.
• Conducts independent and complex business, user, and stakeholder analysis to identify the scope and nature of a business and/or system problem.
• Responsible for developing, maintaining, and revising project deliverables and gathering and delivering metrics as required by the project.
• Develops presentations and communications incorporating a clear understanding of corporate communications theory and practice.
• Identifies alternative and more efficient options in the development and enhancements of policies and processes.
• Explains difficult or sensitive information and persuades others in a variety of situations, effectively interacting, negotiating, and influencing project teams and business partners.
• Acts as a liaison to facilitate an understanding and partnership between business partners and engineering teams, managing resources and vendors assigned to their projects.
• Gathers and delivers day-to-day progress of a project as it relates to managing scope, schedule, cost, and quality to support project management decisions and compliance with company-approved methodology and required deliverables.
• Develops comprehensive communication plans and crafts compelling and effective language for communication pieces, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and messaging.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree with an emphasis in Business, Technology, Project Management or related field preferred OR a significant amount of directly related work experience beyond the minimum required for the position with PMP certification.
• Minimum 5 years of experience/knowledge in processes and technology project management to include analysis, documentation and a strong focus on communication and budgeting.
• Ability to work with general direction to scope, plan and manage cross-department or multi-department projects.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills paired with a high degree of personal initiative and motivation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and manage large and highly complex technology assignments.
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment, prioritize work and handle multiple tasks simultaneously, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Reputed as a team player and is supportive of group decisions and ideas.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills applicable to lead organizational change management practices and artifact development.
• Experience with project methodology through project life cycle phases & SDLC (systems development lifecycle).
• Excellent ability to effectively present information in a variety of formal settings.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with agile tooling.
• Knowledge of corporate communications theory and practice.

Benefits

• Highly competitive compensation, including annual bonus opportunities
• Medical/Dental/Vision plans, 401(k), pension program
• Tuition reimbursement, commuter plans, and paid time off
• Extensive Professional Training Opportunities
• Excellent Work/Life Balance