SURS is the administrator of a cost-sharing, multiple-employer, public employee retirement system that provides retirement, survivor, disability and death benefits to employees of Illinois state universities, community colleges, and certain other affiliated organizations and agencies. SURS was created in 1941, by an act of the Illinois General Assembly, and is governed by the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/15-101 et seq.). SURS provides benefit services to over 250,000 members who work for 61 employers. SURS is responsible for investing assets in a diversified portfolio of U.S. and foreign stocks, bonds, real estate and alternative investments. SURS maintains a defined benefit plan, which on June 30, 2023, had assets valued at approximately $23.2 billion. SURS also administers two defined contribution plans, the Retirement Savings Plan, which on June 30, 2023, had assets of approximately $3.7 billion and the Deferred Compensation Plan, which had assets of approximately $28.5 million. Northern Trust serves as SURS’ master trustee custodian.

Position: Under the direction of the PMO Manager, the Project Coordinator provides oversight for SURS projects as assigned. Specific areas of focus will include but are not limited to IT Technology, Infrastructure and Facilities. This individual works closely with the project team and stakeholders to plan and track project activities. They will collaborate with 3rd party vendors where applicable. The Project Coordinator adheres to SURS standards for project deliverables, and monitors project timeline, budget, risk, and critical path.

Position Title: Project Coordinator

Civil Service Classification: Program Assistant

Position Type: Full-time | Based in Champaign, IL

• Organize, lead, and provide guidance to project team
• Facilitate project kickoff, setup project framework, touchpoints, and closure
• Work with Business Analysts to ensure requirements are properly documented
• Contribute to functional and technical architecture discussion with project team, SME’s and stakeholders
• Monitor and report overall project health, budget, timeline, risks, obstacles, and critical path. Coordinate potential downtimes and maintenance windows.
• Monitor, manage, and communicate changes to the project’s scope, budget, schedule, and resources; follow Change Approval (CAB) procedures as required
• Issue all project communications, including status reporting
• Work with PMO Manager, director of IT/Ops, InfoSec Manager, and Facilities Manager to finalize project budgets

Required Qualifications

1. Bachelor’s degree.
2. Based on position requirements, additional education, training, and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position, is required.
   1. Some familiarity with one or more Project Management tools such as MS Project, Jira, Azure DevOps/Boards, Monday.com, etc.
   2. Experience leading, or contributing to, a project or other organized initiative with deliverables.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

1. Knowledge of general office practices and procedures
2. Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
3. Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects
4. Skill in oral and written communication
5. Ability to work effectively with staff, the public, and outside constituency groups
6. Ability to organize and multi-task
7. Ability to supervise and knowledge of administrative concepts and methods.
8. Ability to utilize various computer software packages
9. Ability to work independently and exercise judgment in order to be able to analyze and investigate a variety of questions or problems.
10. Ability to rapidly learn software tools as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• 1-4 years of relevant project experience, serving in a lead role (as a Senior BA, SME, or PM)
• Exposure to project management methodologies such as Waterfall, Agile and Scrum
• Experience with requirements documentation frameworks
• Experience with projects of a technical nature, such as IT Operations, Networking, Infrastructure, Security

Location

• This is a hybrid position, a combination of remote workdays and office workdays, based in Champaign, IL. During the initial training period, fully in-office workdays may be required.

Benefits

• Insurance benefits, including medical, vision and dental
• Participation in SURS retirement plan
• Paid vacation, sick leave and 11 paid holidays
• Paid Parental Leave after six months of employment
• Casual/business casual attire (dependent on job duties)
• Flexible work environment
• Free parking
• 37.5-hour standard work week

Application Process

To apply for this position, please click the apply button at the top of this job posting. Please fill out the online application and attach a copy of your resume and cover letter.