Position: Project Manager – Vendavo
Location: target local candidates first, but will consider non-local in CST or EST time zones who are committed to traveling a few time a quarter at most
Duration: 12+ month contract; this will go beyond the project
Start Date: mid/late February
Interview Process/Times: typical interview process
Notes from 1/10 Call:
- They are still completing work to get them to the “Pilot” stage but there will be continuous integrations and enhancements
- Integration experience from PM exp is more important than ERP exp, but they really want someone who has both
- This role is focused around complex integrations in which Vendavo plays a part.
- Vendavo on prem is already implemented but they will be moving to the cloud version with the implementation
- The focus in handling modifications requests from the business
- Must have experience within the ERP world ideally with a focus on deployments/integrations
- Must have experience with Jira and MS Project.
- As this role matures, they will need to manage project financials.
- Soft skills are important – need someone to think big picture and not take things at face value. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with Vendavo as a vendor.
- Will ask in the interviews what type of complex integrations have you managed and the process involved along the way.
- Need to be able to pick up projects midflight as they are to far along to make any major changes. That being said, they still want someone who knows the end to end lifecycle of a project.
- This is highly visible and the VP of Merchandising is involved. They need to have a true executive presence and can present to different audiences.
Notes from Program Manager:
The Vendavo project is complex - complex technology, difficult vendor, critical to the organization.
- A strong candidate will have demonstrated project management experience with complex integrations to an ERP system; does not necessarily need to be Vendavo-specific experience, but experience integrating a pricing engine would be a plus. Otherwise, should be a SaaS integration that builds or replaces functionality within an ERP - examples include, document management, billing, tax, product information, logistics, eCommerce, etc.
- A strong candidate will have demonstrated strong project management fundamentals.
- Agile / SCRUM / SaFE management is not a requirement, but a plus; must have experience managing Waterfall projects; must have recent experience using JIRA and MS Project
- Must have experience tracking and reporting project financials.
- Must be able to compose requirements; must be able to compose a presentation; must want to learn how an unfamiliar application works and the value / purpose of an application to an organization.
- Must have some knowledge of deployments.
- A strong candidate will have some understanding of how data works, of how external SaaS systems are integrated (from a high-level architecture perspective, at a minimum); this isn't quite a technical PM role - but it is a complex project management role.
- Experience managing and working with third-party vendors is a requirement.
- Experience working w/ peer project managers / experience working within and reporting up to a PMO is a strong plus (nearly a requirement).
- Must express willingness to pick up a project mid-flight and must express willingness to utilize a methodology that's in place (Project group and IT PMO).
- Strong communication skills, curious.
General JD:
Project Manager Overview: The overall objective of the project manager is to lead the end-to-end life cycle of IT projects using the established project management guidelines. The project manager will also drive changes to the project delivery framework to improve overall project performance.
The duties and responsibilities of the Project Manager include:
Conduct project management
- Direct strategic initiatives and other IT projects
- Understand the business objectives for all associated projects; continually reassess and adjust project outcomes to align with strategic objectives
- Work with resource managers to allocate work across product and functional teams in a way that balances priorities, capacity utilization, and technical expertise.
- Work with Business Analysts, Business Leads, and Product Owners to prioritize work based on due dates, dependences, and business priorities.
- Coordinate interactions between product and functional teams. Facilitate coordination using dashboards, reports and meetings as needed.
- Coordinate timelines and release schedules. Ensure that different project paces and methodologies (sprints, waterfall milestones, etc.) are coordinated to minimize contention for technical resources, issues with dependencies, etc.
- Work with business sponsor, stakeholders and project/product teams to schedule releases. Ensure that releases are sequenced logically and in a way that best meets the capacity of the delivery teams and the needs of the business. Verify that release plans and support plans are in place and have the appropriate level of ownership and involvement from impacted teams.
- Manage the functional and technical dependencies between the work being performed by various product and functional teams.
- Serve as escalation point for product and project teams dealing with conflicts, risks and impediments. Work with business and IT leadership, as needed, to drive resolution.
- Lead cross team business requirement workshops and gap analysis activities.
- Define project charters and project timelines. Track milestones and deliverables to meet defined timelines. Lay out course to get project over the finish line (not just monthly or quarterly objectives).
- Review SOW and accountable to commitments with vendors for overall project plans
- Practice RAID log based methodologies
- Engage cross team resources timely to ensure planning is done well in advanced for all effected development teams as some utilize Agile methodologies
- Work jointly with QA resources to plan based on product testing timelines
- Participate and align with deployment readiness team around training and change management for successful deployments
- Foster effective Hypercare support and hand off to operational and business support teams
- Understand technologies and underlying architecture for scalability
- Recognize business continuity disaster recovery plans
- Own from inception to support
Key competencies
- Demonstrated track record in delivering multiple large, complex projects and/or programs as well as managing/mentoring of project managers with a strong focus on execution
- Experience with large complex ERP replacement and/or upgrade projects; focused on business transformation of the back office (accounting and support) and operations (distributed) process areas
- Ability to communicate effectively with IT and business management and executives across many mediums including email, report, verbal, and presentation formats
- Excellent overall written/verbal communication and facilitation skills for communicating at all levels; including strong presentation skills
- Demonstrate expert skills in team leadership and conflict management
- Knowledge of PMBOK processes, techniques and tools
- Knowledge of Waterfall and Agile methodologies
- Knowledge of both theoretical and practical aspects of project management
- Solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications: Project, Visio, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment
- Ability to learn, understand and apply new technologies
- Ability to conform to shifting priorities, demands and timelines through analytical and problem-solving capabilities
- Strong organizational, analytical, communication, planning, presentation, and customer service skills
- Ability to effectively work independently and across teams, functions, and departments.
- Ability to work on multiple projects and programs simultaneously
- Business Acumen, Conflict Resolution and Critical Thinking
- Accountable for delivery of large enterprise-wide projects
- Understanding of master data and processes
- Soft skills that make people successful at the company, able to drive multiple teams over the finish line, work directly with senior leadership, manage a matrix team (no reports directly), drive reports of 40-50 people, project influence using different techniques
- Vendor management
- Has experience doing integration projects with internal resources and 3rd party vendors
- Get them to operate on plan
- Staying on top of vendors
- Experience integrating with third party vendors
Certificates and experience
- Project Management Institute (PMI) Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) is preferred, but not required.
- Minimum of 7-10 years of direct work experience in a project and/or program management capacity, including all aspects of system development life cycle
- Minimum 7-10 experience in delivering solutions for both the front office and the back-office stakeholders
- Experience using JIRA, Confluence, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom is desirable, but not required