Consultancy - eTools Global Project Manager

The eTools Global Project Manager will be responsible to lead project management in all stages of software specification, development and roll-out to country offices. The eTools Global Project Manager will combine strong project management discipline while working with our business partners, ICT division, and external stakeholders to identify business opportunities and drive operational efficiency.

BACKGROUND

UNICEF’s role in planning, measuring, tracking, and reporting results for children requires the ability to gather, integrate, and share information between multiple actors. The demands for real-time information and problem solving with partners is vital to this process, especially in humanitarian action. While some country offices have attempted to address these needs individually in the past, eTools is the only institutionally supported platform built for this purpose.

eTools is a platform designed and built by UNICEF to strengthen the way it works with partners in managing results for children. eTools development follows a phased and modular approach to software development, with releases based on an agreed set of prioritized modules and features. eTools is a suite of applications that is being custom developed in-house using an open source and agile software development approach. With eTools being incrementally introduced to country offices throughout 2017-2018, the need for a scalable approach to agile project management is vital.

More on eTools can be found here: http://etoolsinfo.unicef.org/

The eTools team seeks an experience IT project manager to lead all aspects of project management of the eTools global transformation initiative.

DUTIES AND DELIVERABLES

The eTools Global Project Manager will be responsible to lead project management in all stages of software specification, development and roll-out to country offices. The eTools Global Project Manager will combine strong project management discipline while working with our business partners, ICT division, and external stakeholders to identify business opportunities and drive operational efficiency. Specific duties:

• Develop and manage detailed IT project implementation plans to ensure scope and approach are fully understood by all stakeholders, aligned with an agile methodology to requirement gathering, design, testing and deployment activities.
• Monitor and communicate the progress of project delivery and ensure timely and effective communication of project status in terms of cost, forecast, schedule and assessment of risks/issues.
• Manage relationship within project governance structures & cross functional teams as the key driver of strategic plan for build out of business system capabilities.
• Demonstrate superior collaboration skills and techniques which appropriately define alternate solutions; resolve conflicts; and create lasting, productive partnerships with clients.
• Ensure effective change control procedures and processes are efficiently used to maintain control on scope, schedule and cost.
• Manage all aspects of product mapping and prioritization exercises.
• Negotiate and influence cross-functional teams to ensure appropriate resourcing levels are engaged and maintained throughout the course of the development life cycle.
• Validate development estimates from impacted teams and actively seeks clarification/verification as appropriate.
• Facilitate country office Post Implementation Reviews and ensures lessons learned are carried forward appropriately
• Work closely with the eTools Engineering lead on all aspects of product design and development activities.
• Supervise a team of business technology associates and product team members for the eTools team.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum 8+ years of project management experience in a software development, technical integration or business operations environment, with a proven track record of interfacing with multiple levels of the organization.
• Excellent and purposefully demonstrated understanding of the Project Lifecycle and the inherent responsibilities as a project manager utilizing industry standard methodologies; waterfall, iterative (Agile, RUP).
• Experience collaborating across multiple functions and working with operational SMEs, technical resources/ infrastructure and architecture teams.
• Excellent communication & presentation skills (written & verbal) across multiple audiences.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced matrix environment including managing across multiple geographies, functions & organizations often outside ‘standard’ working hours.
• Certification in project management methodology –  PMI / Prince 2 or equivalent.  PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) desirable.
• Experience in various frameworks and methodologies such as: Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe); Lean, Scrum, KP, Kanban.
• Master degree in Computer Science, Business Administration or related field required. Undergraduate degree with additional work experience will be considered.
• IT Consulting background experience a plus and management consulting experience is highly preferred.
• Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish) is considered an asset.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested and qualified candidates should send submit:

1. Detailed and up-to-date P11 form (which can be downloaded at https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html) and/or a CV/resume;
2. Cover letter explaining what makes you suitable for this position including a daily rate for professional services (all-inclusive).  Any travel required as part of this consultancy will be organized and paid by UNICEF directly as per UNICEF travel policies.