Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. The University of Texas at Austin is an internationally recognized institution dedicated to research and education. They are seeking a Principal Project Manager to provide strategic leadership for complex technology initiatives, partnering with executive leadership to enhance operational effectiveness and deliver impactful outcomes for the university community.
Responsibilities
- Serve as program or project lead for the organization’s most complex, multi-year technology initiatives, including major enterprise system implementations, institutional transformation programs, and cross-functional modernization efforts
- Maintain end-to-end accountability for program outcomes including scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, and benefits realization across the full program lifecycle
- Establish comprehensive program governance structures ensuring appropriate oversight and decision-making at each level
- Drive resolution of escalated risks, issues, and strategic decisions by coordinating across institutional units, technical teams, and senior leadership
- Ensure all program reporting and documentation meet institutional governance, compliance, and audit requirements throughout the program lifecycle
- Serve as a central point of contact for project updates, status reporting, and key stakeholder communication
- Serve as a trusted advisor to university leadership on program strategy, delivery risk, and institutional technology priorities, providing expert guidance on complex program decisions and trade-offs
- Contribute to Enterprise Technology’s long-range planning and portfolio prioritization processes
- Support governance bodies ensuring sound oversight of major initiatives and clear documentation of institutional decisions
- Advise stakeholders across academic and administrative units on the delivery implications of strategic decisions, recommending approaches that balance institutional priorities with program integrity
- Oversee coordination across the broadest organizational scope, spanning academic units, administrative departments, external implementation partners, and technology vendors for the university’s most complex programs
- Identify and manage strategic-level dependencies across concurrent institutional initiatives, proactively surfacing conflicts, capacity constraints, and integration risks to senior leadership
- Design and facilitate governance structures and cross-institutional working groups that enable effective decision-making and accountability at the enterprise level
- Lead change management efforts for enterprise-scale technology transformations, applying structured methodologies such as PROSCI ADKAR or equivalent to plan and execute comprehensive change strategies
- Partner with academic and administrative unit leaders to assess organizational readiness, tailor change approaches to institutional culture and operating context, and address resistance effectively
- Build long-term institutional capability for managing change and sustaining adoption, evaluating and reporting on change effectiveness throughout each program
- Define, maintain, and continuously improve the organization’s project management standards, frameworks, tools, templates, and governance processes, ensuring alignment with industry best practices, higher education norms, and institutional requirements
- Establish and facilitate communities of practice that promote knowledge sharing, methodological consistency, and professional development across all Enterprise Technology project managers
- Assess organizational PM maturity and develop improvement roadmaps covering tooling, training, process changes, and governance enhancements
- Identify, evaluate, and implement automation opportunities across the project management lifecycle including AI-assisted drafting of project charters, status reports, meeting summaries, risk logs, and other recurring deliverables to reduce manual effort and increase team capacity for strategic work
- Continuously evaluate emerging technologies and methodologies for their applicability to program delivery, piloting and scaling those that improve outcomes for the team and its stakeholders
- Work with Engagement and Experience leaders and other Enterprise Technology leadership to identify and allocate necessary resources to support project execution
- Provide input on resource planning and staffing needs
- Perform other related functions as assigned
Skills
- Bachelor's degree in information technology, Business Administration, Project Management, or a related field
- 12+ years of progressive project and program management experience, including 5+ years in enterprise-level roles
- Demonstrated success leading enterprise-scale, multi-year technology programs with cross-institutional impact
- Recognized expertise in multiple project management methodologies (Agile, SAFe, waterfall, hybrid) and change management frameworks
- Experience establishing or significantly contributing to PM organizations, centers of excellence, or communities of practice
- Proficiency with project tracking tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira)
- Strong executive-level communication and stakeholder engagement skills
- Deep understanding of IT governance, portfolio management, and benefits realization frameworks
- U.S. Citizen, resident, or officially recognized asylee - Applicant selected will be subject to government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information at the level appropriate to the project requirements of the position
- Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate
- Experience in a higher education, research university, or academic medical center environment
- PMP or equivalent advanced certification
- SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) or equivalent scaled Agile certification
- PROSCI Change Management Practitioner or equivalent
- Master's degree in a related field
Benefits
- Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%)
- Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options
- Generous paid vacation, sick time, and holidays
- Teachers Retirement System of Texas: a defined benefit retirement plan
- Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b)
- Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses
- Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities
- Tuition assistance
- Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets
- Free access to UT Austin's libraries and museums with staff ID card
- Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card
- Flexible work arrangements, including remote work, are available for this position
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