Project Director, Vendor and Systems Intelligence

at  Thomas Edison State University

PROJECT DIRECTOR, VENDOR AND SYSTEMS INTELLIGENCE

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Thomas Edison State University was founded in 1972 to break down barriers to degree completion. Fifty years later, it proudly serves a diverse body of adult students with innovative and professionally relevant academic programming in a predominantly online delivery. Our team of high-energy student-focused professionals is welcoming new members who are making their mark in education and are ready to help change the lives of thousands of adult students across New Jersey and around the world.
Candidates who are excited by changing lives, committed to the success of all and want to be challenged by new and innovative opportunities, should submit an application.

SUMMARY:

As part of the Center for Learning and Technology and the Office of Management Information Systems at Thomas Edison State University and reporting to the Associate Vice President of Organizational Learning & Chief Technology Officer (AVP/CTO), the “Project Director, Vendor and Systems Intelligence” will be responsible for providing direct support to the AVP/CTO by ensuring alignment between our strategic enterprise technology projects and product deployment operations with the University’s business processes, budgetary considerations, technological roadmap, and ground-breaking initiatives.
Vendor selection and service evaluation is critical to this position and extends throughout the vendor partnership lifecycle to ensure a positive return on investment. Colleagues and leaders throughout the University will look to this position to assist in macro-level project management, hold vendors accountable to deliverables, and report on project status to the AVP/CTO and the University leadership team. Based on the recommendations from the AVP/CTO, this position will evaluate and measure the quality and effectiveness of new and existing vendor partnerships, work with internal stakeholders to report whether the project met the University’s requirements and specifications, and ensure new applications are best suited to end users’ needs. The ideal candidate will lead the ROI analysis of vendor products and services through a data-driven and process-driven analytical lens to ensure the University is best capitalizing on its resources while supporting divisional leadership on procurement and vendor management.
To succeed in this position, the candidate must be comfortable engaging in multiple technology projects and product development efforts simultaneously throughout the University while collaborating directly with CLT/MIS colleagues to ensure high-quality communications and setting project expectations. The nature of this position will require the candidate to support, mentor, and collaborate with project stakeholders across the University. This position will not directly be responsible for any specific project; instead, they will professionally guide and support project owners to success and be accountable for reporting on successes, setbacks, and lessons learned from these initiatives. Postmortem project reporting, detailing the efficacy of initiatives and measuring the ROI generated from the effort, will be an essential point of collaboration between this position and the AVP/CTO. This position will be uniquely supported in the sense that they will be engaging closely with directors in the CLT/MIS division on a near-weekly basis while working on a project basis with leaders across the University. This position will collaborate with the AVP/CTO daily, exposing this position to a wide range of project types, from course and program development to enterprise technology systems.
The successful candidate must be comfortable working in a fast-paced, project-based environment, working independently and under supervision. Collaboration and proactive engagement are crucial elements of this position. While this person does not need to be an expert on the discipline of the projects they engage in, they must be able to translate project management and reporting skillsets to those projects in a universalized manner. They must be detail-oriented, have excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills, and be able to work with staff and colleagues with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to provide best-in-class analytical solutions to internal and external stakeholders.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Ability to manage multiple projects at different stages while meeting deadlines and quality standards.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrate excellent, clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical persons.
• Ability to be creative, flexible, and innovative in analytical model design with high attention to detail.
• Experience in leading and managing projects in a remote/distributed environment.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and staff to create a high-quality, results-driven, team-oriented environment.
• Self-motivated, resilient, and deadline-oriented professional.
• Excellent written and oral communication and negotiation skills.
• A practiced proponent of DEI and best practices in web/digital accessibility.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, computer information systems, project management, or related field and 3-5 years of experience at the supervisory level; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Understand data security issues associated with analytics.
• Proficient in various project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, PMBOK, etc.) and their appropriate application.
• Strong/excellent oral and written communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills, including ability to compose and present business and technical material to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Expert skills in Microsoft Excel are required, including the use of advanced analytical functions, pivot tables, PowerPivot, and the ability to work with connected databases.
• Strategic and creative thinker with proven analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Self-motivation, ability to work independently and to manage projects through effective

communication, including analysis and persuasion.

• Experience gathering requirements, turning them into specifications, and delivering analytic products.

• Performs project management on key projects. This can include benefit/cost analysis, project charter development, project scope definition, integrated project plan development, project status monitoring and corrective actions, procurement and vendor performance, and issue tracking.
• Collaborates with the AVP/CTO on creating the underlying PMO strategy, success measures, project management expectations, and performance feedback by utilizing project management tools and systems for ease of reporting.
• Build reports or perform research on performance measures with related operational impacts for vendor applications and services.
• Perform analysis and reporting supporting business operations governing external partners’ contractual, financial, and operational performance.
• Track, maintain, analyze, and provide current information related to operational performance, including all contract deliverables and obligations.
• Works with internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate mechanisms are in place to provide external vendor performance information as required.
• Leverage understanding of application systems to identify opportunities to automate manual processes and drive self-service reporting as a Business Process Mapping team member.
• Manage current and potential vendors; establish relationships with representatives, sales associates, and technical personnel; and work collaboratively with the University’s Director of Purchasing to review and finalize contracts.
• Maintain and manage the University vendor database.
• Work on special projects deemed relevant and available for technical and other support during critical periods.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.