Project Manager

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Manage projects utilizing industry best practices along with UPC’s PMLC (Project Management Lifecycle) standards and tools.
• Exhibit knowledge and skills in the organization’s tools of choice.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining delivery standards.
• Lead project team to clearly define project scope, obtain estimates, build schedules and assign named resources to activities.
• Monitor projects for potential risks, issues and course correction when necessary.
• Provide a persuasive, encouraging and motivating demeanor in order to elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources, including upper management, clients, and other departments.
• Understand, adhere to, and enforce the organization’s Project/Release Management and SDLC methodologies.
• Champion best practices and participate in the implementation of new or improved Project Management processes and procedures.
• Develop and manage stakeholder expectations.
• Identify risks, partner with team members to mitigate risk, and promptly communicate risks and issues to the appropriate stakeholders.
• Train other UPC staff on project management best practices when needed.
• Build, develop, and grow business relationships vital to the success of the project.
• Lead teams as a Scrum Master, including but not limited to, facilitating scrum ceremonies; removing impediments; holding team members accountable for daily and iterative work; escalating issues and ensuring the team can continue to make progress and meet the needs of the stakeholders.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• The position receives nominal guidance with respect to overall objectives; much of the work is completed independently within division or department policy guidelines to achieve assigned objectives
• Dependent upon experience level of the Project Manager, they may have supervisory and/or mentoring accountabilities of junior level Project Managers

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of four years of Insurance and project management education and work experience.
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMO) from the PMI (Project Management Institute)
• Preferred – Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) from the Scrum Alliance
• Five years of relevant work experience related to project management.
• Experience in performing and or coordinating quality assurance testing such as User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
• Demonstrated success in a Fast Paced Team oriented environment.

• Detailed Knowledge of Project Management Methodologies including aspects of agile and iterative development that help projects succeed, such as collaboration and frequently demonstrating working software as a means for validating the solution.
• Five or more years’ experience successfully managing projects of varying sizes and complexities.
• Requires proven experience in change management, status reporting, and issue/risk management.
• Experience working with Microsoft Project, SharePoint, Power Point and Excel.

• Motivation/Initiative: Motivated and curious, willing to ask questions, research issues and take on challenging projects/assignments; creative, brings new ideas to the table, exhibits self-confidence. Has strong achievement motivation and tenacity.
• Administrative Skills: Possesses ability to organize and follow-through on multiple tasks, recognizes and attends to important details with accuracy and efficiency, effectively prioritizes work of staff members. Works to complete goals, tasks and plans, anticipates potential problems and analyzes alternative solutions.
• Interpersonal Style: (Interpersonal Skills, Communication, Teamwork); develops/ maintains effective working relationships; listens attentively to others; communicates ideas clearly (written & verbal); relates to people in an open/ sincere manner; participates effectively in meetings; assists in finding solutions as well as identifying problems; communicates appropriately with supervisor, managed staff and co-workers. Able to manage other individuals and maintain calm and reliable demeanor in the face of challenges.
• Self-Management: (Adaptability/Flexibility, Stress Tolerance, Autonomy); adapts readily to changes in routine; works effectively in stressful situations; needs limited guidance and direction; is comfortable working in a fast paced environment; is reliable and dependable; is results-oriented; maintains productivity and composure under pressure; views problems as opportunities to create solutions.
• Thinking Skills: Diagnoses problems efficiently; gathers sufficient input before making decision or plans; makes timely decision, quickly determines sources of problem, identifies information needed to solve problem and analyzes alternative solutions, communicates issues and decisions effectively to team.
• Customer Orientation: Sensitive & responsive to internal and external customer needs; demonstrates skills in customer services and satisfaction; maintains a positive attitude, willing to listen to customer problems and seeks solutions; stays in tune with changing needs of customers.

• Ability to embrace and manage change
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work well in a team environment
• Persuasive, encouraging, and motivating