Project Manager

BakerHostetler is hiring a Project Manager for its Enterprise Business Systems department. The role manages projects across the firm’s portfolio, including planning, delivery, phase-gate requirements, budgets, risks, resources, and stakeholder communications.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the overall planning, management, control and completion of IT, attorney practice groups, and Firmwide business unit projects or programs
• Works with appropriate vendors, attorneys, and business units to develop project scope of work, vendor comparison matrices, project plans that include cost/benefit analysis, risk plans, communication and training plans, issue tracking, and project schedules
• Works with assigned Project Business Analysts to gather business requirements, develop business and system process flow charts that will be used to perform appropriate gap analysis
• Assigns, schedules, and monitors project work to ensure progress is within expected scope and is completed on time and within budget. This includes bi-weekly resource and capacity planning sessions with IT Managers
• Collaborates with IT to determine best technical approach on a given project and explores new IT system developments and/or enhancements. Identifies IT system design alternatives, research existing IT systems in the marketplace and recommends viable IT solutions. Identifies and documents opportunities to integrate IT systems and resources to fulfill project requirements
• Utilizes project management skills to manage roles, identify resource requirements, meet training needs, define project deliverables, and provide end user satisfaction and reporting structures to ensure quality. Utilizes PPM software to manage projects
• Assigns, schedules, and monitors project work to ensure progress is within expected scope and is completed on time and within budget. Escalates as needed
• Identifies, tracks, monitors, and communicates project-related issues, risks, scope changes, variances and contingencies that may arise during the implementation of the projects
• Reviews phase gate schedules, audits for proper adherence to the process and exit acceptance criteria for each phase of a project
• Prepares and presents oral and/or written sponsor project reports and weekly project status reports to IS executive team. Maintains effective communications and relationships between attorneys, sponsors, steering committee, business unit and project team members. Facilitates amicable solutions with the appropriate business unit or attorney practice group/client(s)
• Follows the BakerHostetler PM Methodology Framework process
• Provides team leadership on individual projects
• Organizes and conducts project team meetings
• Mentors and provides expertise to other project team members
• Assigns and checks work via PPM tool and keeps project plan data current
• Organizes and conducts project sponsor meetings with upper management
• Provides effective 360-degree input on evaluating team members

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, Engineering, or closely related field with a minimum of five (5) years of full-time experience managing the implementation and support of information technology or business integration projects
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) is required and must be kept active
• Demonstrated proficiency in productivity software, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft PowerPoint
• Proven aptitude to learn new software applications
• Ability to interact effectively with attorneys and other key stakeholders, manage expectations with the business given IS Resource capacity, and exhibit a high degree of responsiveness, diplomacy and professionalism in these interactions
• Reasonable knowledge of current hardware and software technologies and uses
• General knowledge of accounting principles with the ability to manage and control project financials which include project budget, commit to spend, and actuals to determine return-on-investment for project(s)
• Ability to develop, lead, motivate and supervise working project teams
• Ability to give clear and consistent instructions to team members to achieve desired deliverables per project plan schedule
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other IS department employees, attorneys, clients, vendors and Firmwide business employees
• Analytical, problem solving and decision-making skills
• Excellent organizational and planning skills with ability to prioritize multiple tasks and projects to meet deadlines
• Demonstrate good judgment, tact, and flexibility under pressure in a mixed-matrix environment with many stakeholders and potentially competing priorities
• A tolerance for uncertainty and an ability to prioritize and complete simultaneous projects with little supervision and collaborate with other members of the team
• Project Managers may be focused on client or functional program areas where specific subject matter expertise will be important
• Law firm experience is highly desirable