Overview and Summary

The Project Manager partners with client teams and, to ensure Urban Science project management processes are being utilized. The Project Manager will provide support, guidance, oversight of contracts and projects enabling transparency and successful outcomes. Occasionally, there may be a large program/project requiring a fully dedicated PMO project manager to be assigned.

Workplace flexibility has taken on a whole new meaning here at Urban Science. The requirements of each team, role and employee can look quite different. Leaders work with their teams to determine the right balance for working in-person and remotely, considering the needs of the business, our clients, cross-functional projects, individual work, and individual preference. This role has current Hybrid Workplace flexibility local to our Detroit office. Candidate must be available and willing to work in-person up to two days per month.

COMPANY OVERVIEW: We are Automotive Business Scientists. We empower our clients to turn overwhelming industry data into discovery, action and measured success. We are unique market leaders because we find and examine possibilities through the clarity of a scientific lens. To solve the toughest client challenges, we need curious, creative and dedicated people to join our team. 

We search out individuals who align with our core values and who adhere to the highest standards of integrity and ethics in everything they do. Our company is filled with the brightest minds and the biggest hearts at every level. We recognize that personal success takes on many different forms of the course of our lives – both professional and personally – so we provide a myriad benefits and programs focused on our corporate pillars: Wellbeing, Growth, Community and Recognition. One size does not fit all, so we encourage every Urban Scientist to discover their own formulas for success. If this sounds like the kind of company you would like to work with, we would love to connect!

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Partner with LAM (Sales) offices in the successful outcomes of their entire contract and project portfolio.
• Mentor and assist the offices with project management practices during project start-up, monitoring, and completion.
• Analyze contract and project performance: revenue, costs, gross margin, hours. Identify shortfalls, provide meaningful insights and corrective action recommendations.
• Analyze project milestones, identify troubled projects, and provide corrective action recommendations.
• Assist with implementation of corrective actions
• Provide frequent contract and project portfolio summaries to the offices Managing Director
• Process project change requests.
• Identify upcoming expiring contracts and assist in the renewal process, ensuring process adoption.
• Review contract clearance and coordinate baseline and actual contract corrections caused by work at risk, renewal, extension, or other contract events.
• Develop and maintain contract and project metric reporting in Adaptive Planning.
• Provide contract and project management practice and tool related ad hoc support.
• Post periodic PMO instructions, process reminders, and tips in corporate Yammer.

Qualifications - Education and Experience

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Has a good working knowledge of all aspects of project lifecycles.
• Solid knowledge of a variety of development methodologies (i.e., Agile, SCRUM, Waterfall, etc.) and understand the terminology and practices of development organizations.
• Ability to accomplish all work and manage the project within the following skill areas with ease, dependability, and repeatability: communication, cost, human resources/staffing, scope, risk, time, quality, integration, procurement, and Product and vendor management
• Proven track record of successful project delivery results – on time, in budget, high level of quality and customer satisfaction.
• Must have solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office products, including a sound proficiency with Microsoft Excel.
• Experience working within both a project-centric and project matrix environments.
• Working knowledge of project performance monitoring using earned value metrics.
• PMP certification preferred.
• Workday Adaptive Planning desired
• Salesforce desired
• Verbal Communication: Requires the ability to compose and verbally deliver information of varying levels, using appropriate grammar, tone, inflection and non-verbal cues, while also listening to and correctly deciphering verbal communication delivered by others
• Written Communication: Requires the ability and capacity to communicate ideas, facts and data in writing using appropriate grammar, syntax and sentence structure
• Analytical Thinking: Requires the ability to understand a situation by breaking it apart into smaller pieces, and/or tracing the implications of a situation in a step-by-step causal way
• Results Oriented: Requires the ability to strive for optimal results by taking responsibility for timeliness, commitment to task and adherence to performance standards
• Ethics & Integrity: Requires the ability to behave in a trustworthy & transparent manner
• Teamwork & Cooperation: Requires the ability to work cooperatively with others and be part of a team
• Self-Control: Requires the ability to keep emotions under control and to restrain from negative actions or behaviors
• Information Seeking: Requires the drive to gain a deeper understanding of work related issues or events by making a concerted effort to gather information and seek out development opportunities
• Initiative: Requires the drive to go above and beyond in order to improve or enhance job results
• Quality Control: Requires the ability to monitor and check work related information and deliverables ensuring high quality and accuracy
• Customer Service: Requires the ability to understand and help/assist both internal and external customers and meet their needs
• Flexibility/Adaptability: Requires the ability to adapt to and work effectively within a variety of situations, individuals or groups, as well as understand and appreciate different and opposing perspectives
• Conceptual Thinking: Requires the ability to understand a situation or problem by putting the different pieces together to see the bigger picture
• Interpersonal Understanding: Requires the ability to understand other’s feelings and concerns, and to value individual differences in people
• Self-Confidence: Requires the ability to express confidence in dealing with challenging circumstances, in reaching decisions or forming opinions and in handling failures or set-backs constructively
• Organizational Commitment: Requires the ability and willingness to align his/her own behavior with the needs, priorities and goals of the organization
• Relationship Building: Requires the ability to effectively build and maintain friendly, warm relationships or networks of contacts with clients/customers
• Assertiveness: Requires the ability and intent to appropriately display assertive behaviors to ensure others follow and comply with given directions
• Developing & Coaching: Requires the ability, desire and intent to teach and foster the development and long term capability of one or more employees by providing coaching, direction and feedback to enhance performance
• Strategic Influence & Negotiation: Requires the ability to effectively persuade, convince, and influence others in order to gain support to achieve work related goals/objectives
• Team Leadership:T Requires the ability to effectively take a role as leader of a team or department with a desire to help the group achieve business related outcomes
• MS Office: Requires advanced knowledge and experience with Excel, PowerPoint and Word; intermediate knowledge of Visio preferred
• Time Management: Requires advanced capability to prioritize competing demands, manage multiple concurrent tasks and effectively manage meeting agendas on schedule
• Project Management: Requires knowledge and understanding of project management fundamentals/principles, ensuring their application within the office/organization; requires the ability to keep projects on course and take action proactively to identify and prevent delays/issues

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCEMust have Baccalaureate degree in an appropriate field from an accredited U.S. college or university, equivalent foreign institution, or equivalent experience.Must have a minimum of five years relevant work experience.

WORK ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This description is intended to describe the type and level of work being performed by a person assigned to this position. It is NOT an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required by a person so classified.

The job may require additional hours beyond a traditional 40-hour workweek. Some travel may be required.