Program/Project Manager (PMO) (26-13458)

Job Description 
The IT Project Manager leads complex, cross-functional technology initiatives from discovery through implementation. This role requires strong project management and Agile delivery skills, combined with a human-centered, systems-minded approach to solving problems.
We are looking for a proactive, hands-on project leader who can create clarity in ambiguous situations, translate complex problems into actionable work, and keep teams moving forward. The ideal candidate values progress over perfection, knows when additional analysis is needed, and when there is enough information to take the next step, test, learn, and adapt.

Work Environment: 

• Mixture of office setting at primary location and remote work.
• Up to 40 hours per week for the duration of the services 

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead complex, multi-department IT projects that strengthen accountability, transparency, and service delivery, including initiatives supporting public safety transformation and City compliance requirements with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) settlement agreement and the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree.
• Plan and manage projects from discovery through implementation, including scope, outcomes, schedules, resources, risks, dependencies, decisions, and success measures.
• Create clarity and momentum in ambiguity.
• Quickly synthesize information, identify what is known and unknown, clarify decisions and tradeoffs, and translate complex problems into practical plans, priorities, owners, and next steps.
• Proactively define meeting agendas and document meeting notes and action items to keep stakeholders engaged and aligned.
• Take a proactive, hands-on approach to delivery.
• Anticipate risks, dependencies, decisions, and barriers; bring forward recommendations and options; and take initiative to move work forward rather than waiting for direction.
• Apply Agile and iterative delivery practices to define outcome-based roadmaps, break complex initiatives into manageable increments, prioritize work, test assumptions early, gather feedback, and adapt plans as the team learns.
• Champion progress over perfection.
• Help teams identify the smallest meaningful next step, make informed decisions with available information, and continuously improve rather than waiting for every requirement or detail to be known.
• Apply human-centered design practices by engaging and co-creating with users and stakeholders to understand their needs, workflows, pain points, and desired outcomes.
• Incorporate user feedback throughout planning, requirements, solution design, testing, and implementation.
• Use systems thinking to understand the broader environment in which technology operates, including relationships among people, processes, technology, data, policy, and organizational structures.
• Identify dependencies and downstream impacts across projects and teams.
• Facilitate cross-functional teams and stakeholder collaboration, creating alignment around problems, outcomes, priorities, roles, decisions, and next steps while maintaining accountability and forward momentum.
• Manage and provide executive readouts on project risks and dependencies from both technical and organizational perspectives, including technology, data, integration, usability, adoption, workflow, change readiness, and stakeholder risks.
• Support organizational change and adoption by considering how technology affects people's roles, processes, workflows, and day-to-day work and incorporating communications, training, readiness, and transition activities into project delivery.
• Create and implement user-friendly business readiness tools and resources to prepare for key project milestones (e.g. go-live checklists, Pilot plans, etc.).
• Measure project success based on outcomes, including traditional measures of scope, schedule, budget, and quality as well as adoption, usability, operational effectiveness, service improvements, and customer/user needs.