What are the responsibilities and job description for the Technical Project Manager and Solutions Architect position at PAWS Chicago?
Overview
We are seeking a proactive, technically adept, and strategically minded Technical Project Manager and Solutions Architect to join our growing team. This role blends project management, business analysis, solutions architecting and hands-on technical execution to lead the implementation of third-party software solutions and guide the development of new modules within our Salesforce ecosystem.
The ideal candidate is curious, detail-oriented, and comfortable navigating the wide variety of operations within an animal shelter—from finance and marketing to veterinary medicine and daily animal care. This role translates complex, cross-departmental needs into actionable technical requirements and ensures our contract developers and vendor partners have what they need to deliver successful outcomes.
The initial flagship project will be implementing our new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system.
We will be adopting ProVet Cloud as the core platform, but because it is not designed specifically for shelter medicine, this project will require a creative, resourceful approach. The TPM will lead the integration of at least two additional third-party EMR components, design and manage a Salesforce integration, and guide the development of a custom reporting module tailored to shelter workflows.
This is a unique opportunity for someone who enjoys building systems where none currently exist, solving ambiguous problems, and delivering practical, user-centered solutions in a mission-driven environment.
Many exciting projects ahead to develop industry leading technology for the animal welfare space, but the EMR project will be the first focus.
Key Responsibilities
Stakeholder Engagement & Requirement Gathering
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Actively engage with business stakeholders (virtually or in person) to identify needs, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
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Document and translate business requirements into clear user stories and technical specifications.
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Analyze cross-departmental impacts and ensure alignment across teams.
Project & Product Management
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Own the full project lifecycle — from initial scoping and prioritization through delivery, testing, deployment, and feedback loops.
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Use tools like Jira and Confluence to track progress, manage sprints, and communicate status updates.
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Provide regular status reporting to leadership, surfacing risks, blockers, and upcoming deliverables.
System Administration & Technical Support
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Triage, troubleshoot, and resolve user-reported technical issues; escalate to developers when needed.
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Test new features, coordinate UAT, gather user feedback, and support ongoing optimization.
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Perform basic Salesforce administrative tasks (e.g., fields, validation rules, reports, flows/workflows) to accelerate delivery.
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Support system operations post-deployment, contributing to long-term sustainability and adoption.