IT Program Manager

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

Background/IRC Summary:  

The IT department provides end-to-end solutions for the organization including application development & integration, system deployment, quality assurance & testing, and overall Project Management in an effort to help the organization build and implement the best solutions for its business needs.

Job Overview:

The IT Program Manager will help shape digital technology solutions that drive the International Rescue Committee’s fundraising and engagement objectives. 

The IT Program Manager will be part of the Project Management team (which includes other Project/Program Managers) and responsible for supporting IT Marketing Technology and Analytics projects. The platforms in scope include the Salesforce CRM, Enterprise Data Lake (Databricks) and marketing platforms such as donation / e-commerce platforms (Springboard, Fundraise Up), website (Drupal), email marketing platform (Pardot) and SMS platform (Mobile Commons, Mogli). 

In this role, the candidate will be responsible for managing the delivery of various initiatives related to the development and enhancement of these technology platforms to drive the IRC’s digital supporter management capabilities and fundraising and engagement objectives. The Program Manager will require the use of Agile methodologies to successfully implement program workstreams. This includes leading and managing product backlog management, sprint planning, task management, etc. They will act as scrum master by educating the team on scrum, facilitating the various scrum events, and removing any obstacles faced by the product/platform teams. This role will often manage several initiatives at once, new market launches, website and donation platform improvements, and system integrations. 

This position will have responsibility for planning and driving these initiatives and the various project activities such as business requirement gathering, process documentation, stakeholder management, development, testing, training, and analyzing project success. They will also work closely with product managers in managing the build out of product and project roadmaps. They will also help manage the project budget and any vendors affiliated with projects to ensure that initiatives are delivered to the expected budget and timelines. This individual will also assist in the annual budget planning process for this portfolio.

Expected project artifacts will include project work plans, weekly and monthly status reports, presentations, risk/action/issue logs, etc. In addition, the Program Manager will work proactively to gather information required for analysis and management of project cost, resources, and schedule.

This is an exciting and fast-paced position which requires strong strategic problem-solving and interpersonal skills, excellent analytical and project management skills, a high level of personal initiative and the ability to work well in a distributed, multicultural, dynamic environment.

This role reports to the Senior IT Program Manager, Digital Platforms and will require coordination with Product team Leads, Product Managers and Business Analysts, Data Engineers to effectively deliver the projects across MarTech and Analytics platforms.

Major Responsibilities: 

Manages the maintenance of Program Plans, Roadmap, and Product Backlogs: Develops, and continually updates, detailed program management plans, project roadmap and product backlog. Develops work breakdown structures based on the project objectives and scope. Ensures the system implementation methodology is adhered to.

Leads Workstream Project Status Reporting: Prepares status reports to convey project scope, goals, milestones, budget, risk, and critical issues to the client and project team.

Supervises Project Cost Estimation, Ongoing Budget Tracking and Vendor Invoicing: Provides oversight of budget tracking and invoicing. Manages and validates the development of cost estimates and data analyses based on experience and insights.

Performs Project Resource Management for Assigned Workstreams: Monitors project resource requirements and staff assignments across projects in the portfolio. Checks for staff availability. Updates the project plan with work assignments.

Conducts Risk Management: Maintains documentation for identified risks and mitigation strategies. Proactively gathers and updates risk status and documentation and escalates to project leadership as needed.

Supports Stakeholder Management: Works with technology and business owners to analyze expectations for projects based upon approved project requirements.

Manages Project Business Analysis Tasks: Works with the team to anticipate and handle business and technical analysis work required, e.g., definition and tracking of technical and functional requirements, current and future state business process definition, testing, etc. Coordinate these assignments with the Business Analyst on the team and also assist as needed. 

Manages Overall Program Administration: Leads program team meetings, proactively documents meeting minutes, track issues, decisions and action items, and follow-up between meetings to drive issues to closure.

Supports the implementation of program management best practices across the portfolio: Works with the Director, IT Digital Program & Portfolio management and Product Team Leads to implement program management best practices related to estimation, resource management, work breakdown structures, governance, risk & issue management, status reporting, budgeting, vendor management, contracting and stakeholder management. 

Performs Scrum Master role: Educates product and project teams on scrum, facilitates work within the agile project management tool, removes impediments and facilitates scrum meetings.

Conducts Other Tasks as Needed: Performs and contributes towards other duties or special projects as required or as assigned.

Job Requirements: 

Work Experience: 

• Four or more years of experience related to IT systems implementation and operations project management, Marketing Technology and Analytics platforms related experience is preferred.
• Experience in Agile Project Management practices and/or program management certification (PMP, CSM, CSPO, SAFe) highly preferred.
• Consistent track record leading multiple projects and delivering against commitments and timelines is required.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies: 

• Excellent project management skills, with demonstrated track record of applying program management principles, practices, and techniques with a strong results orientation.
• Experience with Agile project management practices will be preferred.
• Experience using project management software tools, such as Jira or Monday.com to effectively lead, manage, monitor, and control project activities.
• Experience in supporting multiple concurrent projects and initiatives within a portfolio.
• Ability to develop positive partnerships with both the technology and business user communities. Self-motivated and problem solver who can assess and develop strategies for achieving the needs of the user community.
• Excellent quantitative and analytical skills – able to synthesize, visualize, and present data to drive decision-making.
• Excellent verbal and written communication abilities – Ability to speak to technical-level staff and develop written reporting and presentational content with level-appropriate messaging up to and including the senior executive level.
• Highly organized with excellent time management – able to multitask and balance priorities.
• Independent and resourceful – able to identify unique solutions to tackle complex challenges with limited guidance.
• Excellent skills in productivity software (Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Visio and other tools) and experience crafting high-quality work products.
• Ability to lead project team members in line with the goals of the individual project.
• Encourages and facilitates cooperation, results orientation and collaboration within the team.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a matrix environment, particularly in managing cross-functional teams across multiple lines of business, over whom there may be no direct authority.
• Preferred knowledge of fundraising/e-commerce and customer engagement programs as well as familiarity with analytics platforms.
• Eager to learn and adapt to new technologies.
• Familiar with SDLC processes (e.g., Waterfall) and Agile (e.g., Scrum).

Preferred experience & skills: 

• Experience with CRM and Marketing Technology platforms such as Salesforce, Drupal, Springboard, Pardot, payment processing platforms etc.
• Experience in international development, human rights or another field related to the IRC’s work.
• Understanding of non-profit fundraising and marketing business process.
• Expert knowledge of Microsoft Excel to generate pivot tables and graphs.
• Training / certification in Agile Methodology (e.g., Scrum Master certification) a plus.

Benefits and Working Environment: 

• The IRC offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package! These include paid sick leave, generous time-off, 403B retirement plan, medical, dental and other health and wellness plans.
• Standard office working environment.
• Currently the team is working in a hybrid model with one day per week in the office (unless the employee’s location is outside of NYC).
• Some international travel as needed up to 20%.
• This role may require working remotely full or part time and part time remote employees may be required to share workspace.

Compensation: (Pay Range: £54,000 - £65,000) Posted pay ranges apply to UK-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization! We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

IRC et les employés de IRC doivent adhérer aux valeurs et principes contenus dans le IRC WAY (normes de conduite professionnelle). Ce sont l’Intégrité, le Service, et la Responsabilité. En conformité avec ces valeurs, IRC opère et fait respecter les politiques sur la protection des bénéficiaires contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection de l’enfant, le harcèlement sur les lieux de travail, l’intégrité financière, et les représailles.  

Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

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