Senior Project Manager

Who We Are

Our mission is simple but critical: to build pathways for adult learners to earn high-quality, workforce-aligned degrees and credentials from North Carolina’s public universities.

At Project Kitty Hawk, our work reflects our company values:

Collaboration – We prioritize our partners’ success and reputation, aligning every initiative with their goals, reflecting their values, and enhancing their impact.

Innovation – We innovate, not replicate. As creative problem solvers, we use data-driven insights to push boundaries, continuously improve our services, develop solutions, and redefine what it means to serve nontraditional learners.

Empathy – We understand the unique challenges of nontraditional learners, and are committed to supporting them with empathy, respect, and solutions that fit their needs.

Integrity – We operate with transparency and accountability in everything we do. We uphold honesty, take ownership of our work, and maintain the highest standards.

Teamwork – We embody the collaboration we seek. We always strive to be dependable, supportive, and solutions-oriented teammates.

Together, we partner with universities in the University of North Carolina (UNC) System to produce innovative, flexible degree and credential programs in high-demand fields. Each PKH team member plays a vital role in advancing this mission and shaping the future of education for adult learners.

These values will enable us to realize PKH’s vision: to make North Carolina’s public universities the top choice for adult learners and to amplify the UNC System’s role as a national leader in higher education innovation, access, and student success. By joining our team, you have an opportunity to contribute to our achievement of that vision, in the process helping to create opportunities for thousands of learners to earn their success and move up the economic ladder.

At Project Kitty Hawk we hire talented people who are not only dedicated to our mission but share our belief that working together makes us stronger and more effective. In this organization you’ll find individuals with a range of interesting backgrounds and life stories; the true magic happens when those individuals come together to solve problems in service of a common goal. We encourage you to bring your unique perspective, talents, and ideas to the table as we strive to make a meaningful impact.

The Role

The Senior Project Manager position will be responsible for the successful implementation of assigned technical projects, programs, and strategic initiatives that adhere to organizational objectives. This individual will oversee multiple projects, programs and/or initiatives ensuring that goals are achieved, and the work is managed in a productive, collaborative, and expeditious manner. The Senior Project Manager will provide cross-functional support throughout the PKH organization, as well as to partner organizations, in support of enhancing access to education for adult learners across the state of North Carolina.

What you'll do:

• Works closely and collaboratively with key stakeholders to define project scope, strategy, budget, timeline, resources and outcomes; identifies critical resource expertise and targets appropriate internal and/or external sources to ensure optimal outcome(s)
• Work collaboratively, and coordinate, among multiple PKH departments and partner organizations to manage and facilitate associated deliverables to ensure a smooth handoff between responsible parties, tracking major milestones and deliverables throughout the process, providing routine updates to many stakeholders, and driving them to results
• Set targets and expectations related to the launch of projects and initiatives and hold individuals accountable for delivering them
• Identify and manage against dependencies and constraints across projects and initiatives
• Partner closely with various technical teams to develop an understanding of ways of working, their bandwidth, and skillset.
• Surface risks to the appropriate leadership and develop mitigating strategies to ensure successful and timely delivery of the work
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal PKH departments, PKH partner organizations, and stakeholders at varying levels of the organization
• Proactively deliver regular communication relevant to project information in a professional manner to the business and technical personnel
• Develop project plans to monitor and track progress, including project schedules, communication plans, risk assessment and management, resource schedules, and change management
• Conduct retrospectives with large groups of stakeholders to surface opportunities for process improvement. Develop and implement modifications to enhance the process based on learnings
• Takes action to mitigate conflict; escalates serious project issues
• Regularly reviews status of project and makes modifications to scheduling, prioritization, scope, resources, and requirements, as necessary.
• Plans and determines resources needs for successful completion of project.
• Partners with operational teams to resource project appropriately
• Prepares and maintains all project status reports and schedules; tracks milestones/deliverables, critical paths and dependencies; re-sets expectations as needed in consideration of project progress/outcomes
• Oversees and facilitates project team meetings, preparing status reports and documents throughout the project
• Manages, coaches, and supervises all project team members both internal and contracted to ensure optimal outcomes; builds, develops, and maintains relationships vital to project success
• Work collaboratively with the PKH EPMO and other Project Managers to develop and institute project management best practices for the organization
• Provide business analyst support on projects and initiatives as needed, based resource availability.
• Document business processes and/or modifications to business processes as a result of the implementation of projects and initiatives.
• Assist with the analysis of business requests to aid in the management of resource, budget, and risk planning and management
  
  
  

What you bring:

• A bachelor’s degree, or higher, is required
• 10 years of Project Management experience with at least 5 of those in higher-education and with technical project management
• Project Management Certification (SCRUM, PMP, PgMP, etc.) is preferred, but not required
• Experience developing strategies and specifications for projects
• Experience in managing multiple complex projects simultaneously, especially technology-based projects
• Experience in roles and responsibilities to ensure understanding of expectations; takes action to mitigate conflict
• Experience in using standard project management and change management practices
• Experience in maintaining strong, collaborative working relationships with leadership, stakeholders and project team
• Experience in effectively communicating project status, tasks and timelines to ensure project completion
• Evidence in developing verbal and written project status reports
• Experience in effectively monitoring project status to mitigate project risk
• Demonstrates knowledge of multiple project management methodologies
• Experience with Project Management or Agile software and tools, such as Microsoft Project, JIRA, Smartsheet, and others
• Mental and Physical Abilities
• Exercise independent judgment, concentrate, think, communicate, interact with others, manage multiple tasks, and cope with stressful situations and deadlines
• Ability to perform sedentary physical activity of an administrative nature and to visit clients in various settings
  
  
  

This position may visit clients and/or vendors, at their respective office settings.

Usually works during normal business hours, Monday through Friday; may require evening or weekend hours, particularly during times of travel.

A hybrid work environment may be required where certain days are spent in an office setting while others are conducted remotely.

What We Offer

Project Kitty Hawk offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes full medical/dental/vision coverage, a 401K with match, and a generous time-off policy with paid volunteer time. In addition, we are committed to providing competitive salaries with the potential for performance bonus and remote working flexibility.

Project Kitty Hawk is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate based on actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

Project Kitty Hawk is dedicated to this policy concerning recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment during employment. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please contact Kelly Snow at klsnow@projectkittyhawk.com.