Telecom Project Manager

Responsibilities

• Plan, initiate, and facilitate Transmission projects from inception to conclusion and in accordance with BPA and industry project management principles and standards.
• Facilitate complex large-sized, multi-year projects. Many of these projects are high visibility projects to Senior Management, requiring monthly project status updates.
• Responsible for coordination from the Scoping Phase of the project through documented Close Out procedures.
• Aid BPA management with implementing project tasks on a daily basis (may include multiple projects) with regards to time, budget, schedule and quality.
• Provide updates and findings to BPA manager.
• With oversight and approval from the BPA manager, coordinate activities for designated project(s) to verify that goals or objectives of the project are accomplished within the prescribed time frame and funding parameters.
• Provide recommendations regarding project expectations, approach, road maps, work plans, deliverables and goals.
• Collaborate with BPA manager and internal stakeholders to facilitate the tasks and activities of project team(s) and to properly understand related business needs, dependencies on other initiatives, and how best to effectively deploy end products.
• Issue project status reports on a regular or as requested basis.
• Collaborate with the BPA manager (or assigned designee) to define the frequency and content of status reports from the project team; review and analyze results, troubleshooting concerns or problem areas and provide mitigation options and weighted recommendations.
• For large projects, may coordinate and guide other Projects Managers that are managing sub-projects.
• Draft monthly executive summary report.
• Interact and collaborate with external stakeholders, often navigating complex business relationships.
• Maintain consistent communication with project sponsors, performance managers, and stakeholders on the progress of the project compared to the work plan.
• Identify and request resources and resolve resource allocation issues with business units and performance managers. Alert BPA staff of any resource allocation issues and recommend solutions (see note above).
• Forecast and recommend / request appropriate project resources to fulfill project needs; recommended resource requests must be submitted to, coordinated with and provided by appropriate BPA performance managers.
• Alert BPA manager of and obtain appropriate authorization for any potential changes to project cost, schedule or performance.
• Organize, coordinate and facilitate the work of project teams and serve as liaison between business and technical aspects of projects, including recommending project stages and assessing business implications for each stage.
• Support the project team through the project management process (creating and implementing the project management plan); schedule and facilitate team meetings and coordinate activities of sub-teams.
• Facilitate “kick-off” meetings with sponsors, stakeholders, and partners and validate approval/buy in of project plans and commitment of resources.
• Schedule and facilitate project team meetings and coordinate activities of sub-teams.
• Draft project plans, resource strategies and funding estimates required to advance each assigned project / defined effort.
• Monitor progress of assigned projects to track timelines, milestones, deadlines, standards and targets, alerting appropriate BPA manager / personnel of any obstacles / potential delays to project timelines, targets or success; provide corrective action recommendations.
• Issue project status reports on a regular or as requested basis.
• Participate in monthly group level project manager meetings.
• Support Transmission managers in planning and building new high voltage substations and upgrading existing substations, including:
• Assisting with NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review
• Assisting with land rights review
• Assisting with access road planning
• Identifying required equipment for procurement
• Assisting with design and construction activities

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Business Administration or Management, Organization Development, Computer Science or other closely-related technical field is preferred.
• With an applicable Bachelor’s degree, 10 years of experience is required.
• With a Bachelor’s degree not in applicable fields, 12 years of experience is required.
• Without a Bachelor’s degree, 14 years of experience is required.
• Experience should include project management experience on projects relating to some or all the following: (Utility Physical Security and Compliance; High Voltage Substation; Telecommunication Systems).
• 5+ years of demonstrated project management experience on projects using industry standard methods and tools for managing schedules, dependencies, resources, funding and developing technical specifications and project plans.
• Experience accurately assessing and estimating project costs.
• Experience writing and understanding functional and technical specifications.
• Experience with developing project schedule timelines to reflect major tasks (planning, design, procurement, construction, testing).
• Experience with SharePoint or similar program.
• Experience with Visio or similar program.
• Experience with MS Project