Project Manager: BackOffice and Vendor Management

Position Title: PM BackOffice and Vendor Management 

Duration: 12 months and possible extension 

Looking for BackOffice and Vendor Management Project Manager (contract) role with one of the major retail fortune 500 companies.

Must-Have Skills: 

Backoffice system management experience – (4-5Y)

ClearView (1-2Y)

Inventory Management /  Retail . a must! – (3-4Y)

Agile Methodologies – (1-2Y)

Expertise in Excel and MS Project  – (4-5Y)

Flawless English oral/ written/ presentation skill – (>5Y)

NOTE FROM THE HIRING MANAGER:

The purpose of this position is to ensure the successful delivery of multiple projects that satisfy specific intra-departmental business needs. The Project Manager has the primary responsibility to apply defined Project Management practices to ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, in scope, and are relevant to the business objectives.  Key stakeholders include users of the IT solutions, and the leadership of other departments and external partners, and/or the governance/sponsorship group for a specific project.

The successful candidate must display, to some degree, the following core competencies:

• Guest Obsessed: Strives to deliver high-quality products and superior service that exceeds the expectations of our internal and external customers.

• Communication: Demonstrates strong two-way communication skills.  Conveys information and ideas in an open, articulate and timely manner. Considers cultural differences and others’ perspectives when communicating.
• Leads Change and Innovation: Identifies the changing needs of our customers, employees and systems and successfully leads innovation that improves the business.
• Elevates and Champions Talent: Builds the quality of employee base by seeking out the high performers, helping others develop and grow, rewarding high achievement, and supporting the diversity of thought and perspective.
• Plans and Acts Strategically: Develops a clear and compelling vision, strategy, or action plan that is aligned with the organization’s goals.
• Teamwork: Works cooperatively as a member of a team and is committee to the overall team objectives rather than one’s own interest.  Is open to other’s diverse ideas and leverages the team’s differences to achieve results.
• Leading through influence: Positively influences others and collaborates in ways that create alignment and inspire others to take action and/or change perspective.
• Focuses on what matters most: Maintaining a disciplined focus on those things that will have the greatest impact to the business and with greater accountability in delivering results.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Project Planning:

• Defines an approach for implementing the business case for the assigned project(s), by translating the business case(s) into implementation plan(s). This includes creating the project charter and/or statement of work, creating the schedule, the milestones, the scope, and the asset/resource requirements, budgets, governance models etc.
• Develops or oversees the development of detailed project plans.
• Establishes ongoing criteria to measure the project’s success and establishes a gating process to assess the criteria in each phase.
• Completes a risk assessment/risk mitigation plan for the project.
• Specifies the quality assurance process that will ensure the overall quality and continual improvement of the project deliverables.
• Defines the rules of engagement for the project, e.g., the standards used, the executive sponsorship/governance group and structure, team operating guidelines, issue escalation policies, etc.
• Develops the communication plan for key messages, project updates, and key decisions that will be used throughout the project.
• Depending on the scope of the project, ensures the introduction of the project to key stakeholders, key customers, and others who are impacted by the project.
• Defines and gains concurrence on both the success criteria for the delivery of the project, as well as the ways in which the success of the project will be measured.
• Works with the key project participants to develop the initial change management plan.

Project Execution:

• Participate and/or leads in defining the project management standards/guidelines/discipline for the IT PMO.
• Manages internal Inventory Management (ClearView) and other downstream systems.
• Responsible for intaking all BackOffice enhancements requests and prioritization
• Manages changes in project scope and resource requirements based on change requests and the decisions of the project decision-making body/group.
• Collaborates with key customers to ensure client expectations are in-line with project goals and objectives.
• Manages costs and resource allocation among projects to maintain overall project budgets.
• Collaborates with the project team and/or Project Leaders to track the project’s progress against the project plan and collectively adjust the project plan to ensure effective completion based on defined project success measures.
• Reports to project sponsors and IT management the status of the project(s).
• Strives to maintain an understanding of other technology and/or business initiatives outside of current projects to ensure alignment and integration where possible.
• Drives issue resolution through issue and risk management.  Escalates issues to the decision making body appropriate.
• Facilitates an after-action review of the project to gather lessons learned.
• Share lessons learned with other project managers, stakeholders and methodology owners.
• Collects and analyzes actual costs, time and scope delivered against the plan.

People/Relationship Management:

• Identifies the people requirements and skill sets required to meet project goals.
• May effectively supervise, manage performance, and ensure staff development for direct reports.
• Supports the succession planning process within the organization.
• Builds strong relationships between teams within IT and between IT and related business teams.
• Maintains professional relationships with peers in other corporations and outside organizations.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Post-secondary university degree in Technology/Business Administration/Project Management/Engineering or equivalent
• A minimum of 5 years of successful Technology Project Management experience
• Experience in Clearview will be a big PLUS!
• Experience in managing Warehouse systems and Inventory Management
• 5 plus years on experience in Vendor Management 
• Good to have experience in People and HR training systems
• Good to have 3-4 years of experience on project or system decommissioning
• Proven technical and business development skills with the ability to plan and lead teams through design, develop, test, document, deploy & supporting high-quality solutions.
• Working knowledge of both Waterfall and Agile methodologies.
• Excellent knowledge of MS Project, SharePoint, and MS Office products is required.
• Proficient in Systems Development Life-Cycle concepts.
• PMP Certification preferred