Project Leader

Job Title Technology Project Director

FLSA Status Exempt; Administrative

Reports to President

Dates modified 8/22

Job Overview

This role has four primary responsibilities:

1. Management of project team: The Project Director is responsible for the supervision, management, and career development of the project team, including project managers and project associates. The Project Director provides daily management to the project team and leads regular 1:1 meetings and team members. The Project Director is responsible for evaluating the performance and hiring of project team members.

2. Direct projects and manage project schedule: Oversee the Brave North Technology overall project schedule, which includes all project work across all clients. Regularly update, adjust, and add to the project schedule based on situations, information provided by clients, or updates provided by colleagues.

3. Client relationship management: Work closely with clients to support the launch of all new projects, regularly check in with clients to assess progress, client satisfaction, and communicate any changes or schedule adjustments.

4. Oversee technology project budget: Manage the project team budget, including providing weekly updates for hours performed and monthly reports for anticipated upcoming project hours.

Essential Functions

The scope of technology projects is broad. Brave North supports internet, networking, client/desktop computers, printers, scanners, mobile devices, websites, email, and other IT-related devices and technology resources. Customer service skills are critically important: emotional intelligence, patience, and compassion are critically important. A person in this position will know they are successful in this position when clients report IT Projects were rolled out efficiently and in a way that satisfies the Client, causing them to feel valued and listened to.

As this position serves as a leader on the technology project team, in addition to supervision functions, this position is expected to understand and meet the same essential functions as the other technology project team members.

Supervision functions

• Supervise project managers and project associates.

• Guide and instruct project team members in their collaboration and cooperation with each other, including helping determine best division of labor as well as continuously improving the quality and effectiveness of communication and collaborative teamwork among Project Team members.

• Conduct weekly 1:1 meetings with project managers to ensure projects are tracking according to schedule, providing counsel, coaching, and support with challenges, roadblocks, and delays, and likewise offering praise, celebration, and gratitude for project milestones and successes.

• Conduct weekly project team meetings with all team members in support of information sharing, collaboration, learning, and idea-sharing. Present issues, share ideas, solve problems together, and celebrate each other's successes.

• Monitor usage of project management tool and hold project team members accountable with tool usage. Ensure regular documentation of activities, hours performed, and documentation of technology resources within assigned systems.

• Ensure all project managers provide weekly project updates to clients on all projects, including reviewing all project updates to keep informed on progress.

• Conduct a project launch meeting and a project debrief meeting for every project with the project manager prior to the start of the project and before the official project completion meeting with the client to understand the outcomes of the project, including successes and failures.

Direct projects

• Oversee technology project business unit, including oversight of the overall project schedule for the organization. Understand priorities and work to ensure 90% of projects are completed on schedule.

• Create and present technology project proposals (quotes) to clients. Customize and adjust proposals as needed to fit the client's unique needs and requests.

• Create, manage, track, and report on all projects, including maintaining a project dashboard to share project statuses with other leaders and maintaining an 18-month project forecast tracking hour commitments and budgets, and making adjustments as needed.

• On a monthly basis report the launch of all upcoming projects the following month or two months out to clients, including individual outreach to each client point of contact to remind and confirm the start date of the project, schedule the project launch meeting with the project manager, and review the project goals, objectives, and budget.

• Attend all project launch meetings to introduce the project manager (and other staff members, when applicable) to highlight the skills of the project manager and confidence in their ability to complete the project on time and within budget.

• Improve on project plans or strategies based on internal and external project debrief meetings working to continuously improve how projects are managed and how tasks are performed.

• In collaboration with the CTO, explore, model out, and roll out new technology services or projects for clients, and/or apply new technologies, techniques, or other improvements to existing projects to improve efficiency and profitability.

• Maintain a preferred set of 3rd-party vendors that will be used for the aspects of IT projects that need to be outsourced, such as low-voltage electricians, web developers, and door lock installers. In cases where current vendors are not meeting needs, seek out and establish a new vendor relationship to use as a resource. This is to be done in collaboration with the CTO.

Client Relationship Management

• Generally maintain an awareness of Clients’ attitudes and sentiments toward their technology project(s) and the project staff in order to ensure that all clients have positive experiences with their technology projects.

• Check-in with all clients at project mid-point to ensure the project manager is keeping them informed and meeting all their expectations, gather feedback regarding project progress, schedule, communication, etc., and work with Project Team members regarding whatever adjustments are necessary based on Client’s feedback.

• Upon completion of each project, schedule a 15-minute meeting with the client to ensure the project was completed to their satisfaction, seek feedback from the client regarding the project manager's performance and project objectives.

• Communicate with clients when projects require any significant changes or schedule adjustments to ensure that Client understands the nature and need/justification for the changes.

• In the event of a Client being dissatisfied with a project, actively step in to become more actively involved in the project process, facilitating communication and generally mediating between the project manager and the client. In rare situations as needed, reassign some of the direct technical labor of the project itself if the situation warrants it.

Technology Project Budget

• Develop budget forecasts for operation areas and maintain monthly, quarterly, and annual budgets, regularly reporting to leadership and making adjustments as needed.

• Monitor expenses and income ensuring budget goals are met or exceeded, manage the purchase of equipment and software for client projects.

• Regularly review budget SWOTs and make timely recommendations for adjustments for future quarters and fiscal years.

• Ensure that projects match the projected budget goals, including weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual monitoring and reporting of progress and working with project staff and leadership to address discrepancies.

• In collaboration with President, review weekly project reports and prepare weekly communications for clients with projects reaching anticipated budget maximum or tracking ahead of budget.

Contribution to Technical Tasks

• Understand how to remote desktop connection to resolve IT issues.

• Understand and resolve a wide range of email sending/receiving problems.

• Understand and resolve a wide variety of network connectivity issues.

• Understand and contribute to detailed technical documentation.

• Adapt to and work with unorthodox or unusual computer and networking configurations.

• Adaptively learn and navigate new and unfamiliar applications for which there may be little pre-existing knowledge or information.

• Think creatively and “out of the box” in order to solve unique problems that may be totally unfamiliar and have no clearly documented solution available.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Supervision experience, including the recruiting, hiring, training, coaching, and developing of multiple direct report colleagues.

• Extensive customer service experience, including addressing tense or emotionally-charged situations.

• Experience managing multiple projects from start to finish, and evaluating and adjusting project instructions as needed.

• Direct experience using and managing others in a project management software tool.

• Some knowledge and foundational understanding of platforms: Windows (Desktop and Server),

Mac OS, iOS, Android.

• Understanding and knowledge of cloud computing, including a basic understanding of cloud applications such as Google Apps, Office 365, online backup/recovery.

• An understanding of web/internet systems, including fluency with major web browsers, such as

Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

• Familiarity with office productivity tools such as MS Office and Google Docs.

• A basic understanding of other in-office technology, including basic understanding and ability to troubleshoot sundry technology devices such as a projector/TV display, Apple TV, phones/VoIP, faxes, UPS (battery backup), or other technology that may require you to learn on-the-fly.

Position Requirements

• Supervision experience of at least three direct reports.

• 3 years of project management experience.

• Must be available during business hours (8am - 5pm CT) on weekdays.

• Required to have a driver's license and a reliable vehicle or regular access to a vehicle to be used for client onsite visits.

• Required to have a home office space that can support duties of the job and reflect positively upon the professionalism of the company. Must have a workable home office environment with the ability to have private phone conversations, display confidential information on a computer screen without other people being able to view information, and a secure home internet connection.

• Must be able to maintain a high degree of professionalism and keep client information confidential at all times.

Other Information

• Position will receive calls, emails, and texts from a variety of clients representing many different industries and business categories. Must be able to pivot quickly between issues, questions, and conversations.

• Must have the ability to remain calm and reassuring when receiving a help desk request where the client may be stressed, frustrated, or angry. Brave North does not tolerate rude or inappropriate language, tone, and verbal abuse from employees or clients.

• The CTO will serve as a technical resource for the Project Team, providing guidance and instruction regarding technical questions, problems, and other issues that require advanced or deep technical knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Physical Requirements and Working Environment

Work Rating Light-to-moderate Work: Exerting 16 to 50 pounds of force occasionally and/or 10 to 12 pounds of force frequently, and/or greater than negligible up to 5-6 pounds of force constantly to move objects. (Constantly: activity or condition exists 2/3 or more of the time) to move objects. Physical demand requirements are in excess of those for sedentary work. Even though the weight lifted may be only a negligible amount, a job should be rated Light
Work: (1) When it requires walking or standing to a significant degree; or (2) when it requires sitting most of the time, but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; and/or (3) when the job requires working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible.

Tools Used No specialized tools, other than general office equipment.

Work Environment Much of the day-to-day work is done in an office setting, and typically a home office environment. Onsite client visits may take place indoors or outdoors, with variable terrain. Will be working with a variety of people. Must be able to transport technical equipment needed for onsite client visits to and from client sites as well as pick up technical materials for hardware equipment.

OCCASIONAL Standing, Lifting (up to 50 pounds), Bending, Kneeling, Climbing, Pushing,
1 to 100 reps/8 hrs Pulling, Driving, Twisting, Carrying, Reaching
25 min-2 ½ hours

CONSTANT Talking/Speaking, Hearing, Seeing, Sitting, Handling, Typing
301-500 reps/8 hrs
5 hours

Driving

This position has been designated as Mandatory Driving: Administrative. An active driver's license is a requirement of this position.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $67,000.00 - $79,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule
• Health savings account
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus pay