Program Manager

JOB TITLE: Program Manager REPORTS TO: Vice President of Project Business Management LOCATION: Remote DATE: May 2024

For 40+ years, Meridian IT has been helping medium and enterprise businesses solve their complex technical IT problems. Through a unique strategic perspective, deep expertise, and a personalized proactive approach, Meridian IT is the top IT solutions provider in the industry. Offering best-in-class cloud, hybrid, and on-premises data storage solutions, backup and recovery solutions, security solutions, hyperconverged infrastructure, contact center solutions, flexible pricing models and award-winning managed services, Meridian IT works with each client to create a customized plan to help solve their IT obstacles. Meridian IT is part of Meridian Group International. Meridian Group International is a privately held organization headquartered in Deerfield, IL. Operating since 1979, Meridian Group International is a leading IT service provider and equipment leasing and finance company across 4 continents.

Position Summary

A Program Manager (PgM) oversees and coordinates the implementation of multiple projects and other strategic initiatives throughout an organization to ensure they benefit one another and meet business goals. The PgM has a business mind and proven ability to strategize and implement high-level program initiatives. As a natural leader, the PgM should have strong talent for project coordination and delegation. Ultimately, the PgM should be motivated by a desire to optimize productivity and nurture program success from inception to completion.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist with developing and improving program management practice;
• Assist in developing client strategic plans and roadmaps;
• Participate in client planning workshops, including discovery and identification of issues or areas of improvement, and then develop an action plan;
• Work with the client to fully define the program objective(s), timeline, and high-level milestones;
• Track program and project milestones and deliverables;
• Identify and manage project dependencies and critical path;
• Setup and track project details in MS Project or other PM tracking tools (traditional Waterfall or Agile methodologies);
• Ensure timely entry, validation, and approval of time and expenses;
• Manage program budgets;
• Manage subcontractor time and expenses;
• Facilitate assigned project team activities such as team meetings, minutes, follow up action items, maintenance of program and project plans, risk and issue logs and coordination of program and project documents;
• Review, update, and coordinate project status with program stakeholders and publish regular comprehensive project / program status reports;
• Coordinate resources and scheduling / confirm team availability and align with the business for major milestones;
• Gather and update program materials, documentation, forecasting, and lessons learned documents;
• Setup recurring status meetings with clients, field questions and handle issues that arise.
• Deliver results as planned;
• Develop testing and rollback plans;
• Act as the point of effective control over coordination, communication, escalation, and follow up for issues.

Risk Management

• Provide risk management and issue/problem resolution;
• Identify risks for other customer projects;
• Responsible for conflict management and problem resolution;
• Define project success criteria and disseminate them to involved parties throughout project life cycle;
• Proactively manage changes in project scope, identify potential issues and risk, and devise contingency plans;
• Coach, mentor, motivate and supervise project team members and contractors, and influence them to take positive action and accountability for their assigned work.

Communications

• Manage cross-functional interdependencies;
• Responsible for clear and timely communication to multiple stakeholder groups;
• Can speak to the details of the program to both the business and technical teams from beginning to end of all projects.

Miscellaneous

• Effectively utilize organizational resources;
• Conduct project postmortems and create a recommendations report in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements;
• Build, develop, and grow any business relationships vital to the success of a program or project;
• Responsible for the overall success or failure of a program or project;
• Build, develop and assist in team process improvements;
• Mentor and assist team members.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor s degree required.
• Master s degree in business or related field preferred;
• 10+ years of experience as an IT Senior Project Manager or other leadership role;
• 10+ years of experience with cloud, data, networking, telephony, or software;
• PgMP, PMP or equivalent project management certification required;
• Knowledge of program management methodologies;
• Ability to manage program activities to meet goals;
• Proficient in MS Office (Including Word, Excel, Outlook, Project, PowerPoint, & Visio);
• Strategize, implement, and maintain program initiatives that adhere to organizational objectives;
• Maintain organizational standards of satisfaction, quality, and performance;
• Oversee multiple project teams, ensuring program goals are reached;
• Exceptional project management skills including prioritization, scheduling, and documentation;
• Ability to build strong relationships and communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders;
• Outstanding knowledge of current communication, project tracking, budget management technologies;
• Excellent meeting, workshop, and conference facilitation skills, with proven knowledge of how to foster participation and collaboration in small and large groups;
• Knowledge and experience with different project management frameworks, including waterfall and agile;
• Solid technical understanding and ability to define and refine requirements through a project lifecycle;
• Employs strong analytical and problem-solving skills to manage shifting priorities, demands and timelines;
• Ability to quickly learn, understand and apply new technologies;
• Willingly to mentor more junior team members and share knowledge;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills;
• Effective delegation to manage and minimize risks;
• Demonstrated commitment to excellence in customer service;
• Able to break down technical concepts into business terms;
• Ability to learn new technical concepts on a theoretical or high level;
• Strong team player with emphasis on soft skills and relationship building;
• Able to manage multiple customers and projects simultaneously and deliver results;
• Able to handle multiple priorities and interruptions with minimal impact on productivity;
• Able to demonstrate a high level of independent judgment and initiative;
• Can handle confidential information in a professional manner.