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 Manager provides project management and oversight for complex technology and business projects at SURS. The desired candidate is an experienced PM, versed in multiple project management methodologies and techniques. They must be able to be independently deployed on new projects, work with sponsors, organize project teams, identify stakeholders, work with Business Analysts and stakeholders to assess the needs of the project and determine best methodology for managing the project. This individual will collaborate with 3rd party implementation vendors where applicable. The Project Manager enforces SURS PMO standards for deliverables, monitors overall project timeline, budget, and critical path.

Position Title: Project Manager

Civil Service Classification: Information Technology Manager/Administrative Coordinator

Position Type: Full-time | Based in Champaign, IL (preferred) or Naperville, IL

• Lead the implementation of projects
• Organize and manage project team
• Generate and manage project artifacts, based on SURS PMO guidelines
• Ensure project scope and user requirements are clearly understood, and properly documented
• Perform project risk analysis and risk mitigation based on expertise and experience
• Monitor overall project health, timeline, and critical path; track project activities, tasks, issues, KPI’s
• Manage project budget
• Monitor, manage, and communicate changes to the project scope, budget, schedule and resources
• Be the stewards of relationship with project sponsors and other stakeholders
• Ensure proper Organizational Change Management efforts are in place at a level appropriate for the project
• Manage project communications, including status reporting
• Participate in the RFP process for IT Projects; provide guidance and support to Procurement Manager as needed
• Quickly identify issues, risks, vulnerabilities, and obstacles while observing project schedules, budgets, resources, timelines, and while evaluating progress. Initiate communication with stakeholders for resolution.
• Supervise, provide guidance to, and monitor progress of assigned Business Analyst to ensure project requirements are being properly documented and implemented. Contribute to functional architecture discussions with project team, SME’s and stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

1. Any one or any combination totaling 5 years (60 months) from the following categories:
   1. College coursework which includes Information Technology (IT), IT Management, Programming, IT Systems, or a closely related discipline, as measured by the following conversion table or its proportional equivalent:
      • 30 semester hours equals one (1) year (12 months)
      • Associate’s Degree (60 semester hours) equals eighteen months (18 months)
      • 90 semester hours equals two (2) years (24 months)
      • Bachelor’s Degree (120 semester hours) equals three (3) years (36 months)
   2. Work experience in IT-related functions such as hardware/software support, programming, network design, network engineering, IT systems integration, or closely related field, which includes supervisory or lead worker capacity.
2. Based on position requirements, additional education, training, and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position is required.
   1. Experience with one or more Project Management tools, such as MS Project, Jira, Azure DevOps/Boards
   2. Experience with multiple project management methodologies such as Waterfall, Agile, Scrum
   3. Clearly demonstrated experience managing projects, with focus in areas such as:
      • Application development projects, and Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
      • Projects of a technical nature, i.e., IT Infrastructure, Security
      • ERP, CRM or large-scale LoB application implementations

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

1. Knowledge of the systems and operations used within the areas and departments of responsibility.
2. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
3. Ability to oversee and coordinate activities of assigned staff.
4. Ability to effectively communicate with other colleagues, supervisors, administrative staff, and other campus/agency units.
5. Ability to identify and resolve technical and personnel problems.
6. Ability to effectively communicate and professionally interact with all staff levels.
7. Ability to rapidly learn software tools as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5 years of relevant project management experience
• PMP, CAPM, Scrum Master, or related certifications
• Experience working with a QA team
• Experience with Prosci ADKAR change management methodology
• Proficient with Microsoft Office

Location

• This is a hybrid position, a combination of remote workdays and office workdays, based in Champaign, IL. Candidates may also have the opportunity to work out of our Naperville, IL office. 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.