Technical Project Manager II

CDW - Illinois City, IL

Full-time - Mid Level

Illinois City, IL

Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods

About the position

The Technical Project Manager II at CDW will play a pivotal role in leading technology projects from inception to completion. This position involves a comprehensive approach to project management, including the gathering of business and system requirements, overseeing software design and development activities, and maintaining the project work plan and schedule. The project manager will be responsible for budget tracking, conducting status meetings, developing status reports, tracking issues, and assisting with change control processes. Additionally, this role serves as a liaison between business areas to understand their functions and act as the primary contact for managing new project requests. The project manager will adhere to CDW's established project management methodologies, ensuring that all projects align with organizational standards and practices. In this role, the project manager will collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to clarify requirements and business objectives, ensuring that necessary commitments and approvals are acquired. They will gather and prepare supporting analysis and design documentation from a business perspective, maintaining a current understanding of project management, business relationship management, and development best practices. The project manager will facilitate requirements gathering through various methods, including focus sessions, interviews, and job shadowing, to derive a detailed understanding of business problems and objectives. They will coordinate the development of detailed functional design specifications for the technical team and work closely with the QA team to develop system test plans, ensuring that software quality assurance standards are met and business goals are achieved. The Technical Project Manager II will also be responsible for developing detailed estimates and schedules for projects, including resource allocation, timelines, budgets, and business cases. They will assist the Product Owner in managing the backlog and guide the team while fostering a healthy team dynamic regarding priorities and scope. The project manager will facilitate the removal of impediments and track the team's progress toward goals. Furthermore, they will support the adoption of scaled practices across the enterprise by coaching stakeholders and non-agile teams on effective interactions with agile teams. This includes facilitating team events such as Daily Stand-ups, Iteration Planning, Iteration Reviews, and Iteration Retrospectives, ensuring that these meetings are productive and adhere to time constraints.

Responsibilities

• Lead technology projects from conception to execution.
• Gather and prepare supporting analysis and design documentation from a business perspective.
• Maintain current understanding of project management and development best practices.
• Manage projects according to CDW project management methodologies.
• Facilitate requirements gathering through focus sessions, interviews, and job shadowing.
• Develop high-level system narratives, use cases, and storyboards.
• Coordinate the development of detailed functional design specifications for the technical team.
• Work with QA team to develop system test plans and ensure software quality assurance standards are met.
• Develop detailed estimates and schedules for projects, including resource allocation and budgets.
• Assist the Product Owner in managing the backlog and guiding the team.
• Facilitate the removal of impediments and track team's progress toward goals.
• Support the adoption of scaled practices across the enterprise by coaching stakeholders.
• Facilitate team events ensuring productivity and adherence to time constraints.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business/Economics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 3 years of Project Management Experience, including evaluation and estimation of high-risk initiatives.
• 3 years of experience focusing on IT technologies.
• Track record of identifying and documenting business needs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interact with stakeholders including senior leadership.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to facilitate meetings effectively.
• Demonstrated analytical and creative problem-solving skills.
• History of managing project teams and delegating work.
• Advanced modeling techniques experience, including software, system, and data.
• Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders for positive outcomes.
• Ability to balance multiple priorities and adapt to changing business needs.

Nice-to-haves

• Project Management Certifications
• Business Process Transformation Experience