AddressThe CDW Project Manager is a trusted consultant, providing project management expertise across multiple technology stacks and services. Projects are typically of medium to high complexity and incorporate mainstream, legacy, and emerging technologies. The Project Manager may independently manage projects, or work within a large program under the guidance of a Senior Project Manager or Program Manager. The successful candidate balances scope, schedules, budget and understands how to leverage PMO tools and templates to drive successful business outcomes for the customer. This position works with mixed teams consisting of CDW engineers, CDW sales, other members of CDW cross functional business areas, customer staff and third-party consultants. The CDW Project Manager is a project advocate and relationship builder. They drive successful engagements through negotiation, concise communication, crucial conversations, and leadership abilities.
Key Areas of Responsibility
- Uses experience, skillset, and methodologies to understand the customer’s end goals and provide a consultative approach to ensure that the solution provided is appropriate for the customer’s overall outcome and strategy.
- Acts as a trusted consultant to your project team in all matters related to project delivery, CDW processes, and project management best practices and delivery. Builds relationships with all project stakeholders.
- Creates and maintains presence with all project stakeholders, acting as a CDW steward for quality. Dedicated to meeting or exceeding stakeholder expectations. Identifies success criteria and ensures that it is met by involving the stakeholders in key decisions and linking project outcomes to strategic business initiatives.
- Recognizes the need for negotiations, gathers relevant information and seeks advice from sales and management when needed. Negotiates changes (cost, scope, effort, schedule solution, resource commitment, etc.) to agreeable result. Effective negotiation of changes that achieve stakeholder satisfaction and drive positive project results.
- Works with team members to gather information and determine impacts to the project, document mitigation steps taken in troubleshooting and communicate these to the team and customer.
- Independently manages medium to large sized projects requiring complex cross functional collaboration and management, adhering to CDW’s project management processes and methodologies.
- Accountable for project profitability. Tracks project budgets and resources and manages actuals vs. planned hours against the resource allocation and budget. Timely reporting of project financials and budgets to stakeholders. Ties project outcomes to customers’ business strategies, helping to generate new business.
- Ensures that time, expenses, and invoices are accurately tracked and approved against the project in a timely manner.
- Validates initial project scope and estimates. Determine the need for a new Statement of Work versus a Change Order. Makes seller aware of new opportunities for additional services opportunities uncovered during project delivery.
- Ensures all items defined in CDW Statement of Work are delivered and performs quality assurance throughout the lifecycle of the project.
- Establishes, monitors, adjusts, and communicates tasks and associated schedule to the project team and modifies when necessary. Builds project schedules in conjunction with our engineering teams and partner resources.
- Aids in identifying proper resources and optimizing billable schedules, monitors and adjusts assignments as necessary to drive customer satisfaction and project profitability.
- Identifies, documents, tracks, and communicates project risks and issues. Strategizes potential resolution and drives desired course of action to bring issues to timely resolution.
- Manages equipment, software, licensing and outside services procurement and delivery schedules.
- Documents outcomes, lessons learned and shares appropriately with colleagues. Leverage expertise to help drive business process improvements within the CDW Services PMO.
- Takes accountability for project results and holds all project team members accountable for their scope of work and schedule commitments. Is fiscally responsible to the customer, the project and to CDW.
- Instill trust with our customers by building strong relationships with stakeholders.
- Uses political savviness, business acumen, and relevant personnel along with CDW experience to establish credibility.
- Demonstrates ability to diffuse uncomfortable situations with customer and/or project team.
- Leads teams to consistently meet project success factors and exceed customer expectations.
- Inspects delegated tasks to ensure timely and accurate completion. Coach and mentor Associate Project Managers.
- Stays abreast of industry best practices through research, conferences, training seminars and participation in professional associations. Shares information across the Services PMO.
- Determines the appropriate documentation (communication plans, schedules/timelines, status reports, quality plan, closure summary, budget, risk plan, etc.) for projects. Manages the quality and delivery of documentation to customers.
- Has a clear and concise communication style, leads and facilitates both live and virtual meetings. Keeps meetings on track, on topic and summarizes, assigns, and publishes follow up items in a timely manner.
- Adapts communication style and medium to the audience needs. Recognizes when communication efforts are ineffective and adapts tactics and/or medium as necessary.
- Effectively prepares and delivers difficult information. Can credibly communicate complex topics to stakeholders and build consensus.
- Anticipates customer or project needs, communicates potential solutions. Conveys CDW experiences and positive outcomes to build customer confidence and instill trust.
- Develop and manage a detailed schedule and work plan.
Education and/or Experience Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business or computer related field or equivalent experience
- Four or more years of experience in project management or four years of CDW Services experience
- Two or more years of experience in leading small to medium scale projects in a professional services organization.
Required Qualifications
- Project management or agile consulting experience as it pertains to advising customers of delivery best practices across multiple technology stacks (e.g., Cloud, Security, Infrastructure)
- Ability to support presales activities and look for new sales opportunities to help the customer achieve organizational goals while growing CDW’s portfolio of work.
- Participate productively in virtual teams in order to improve Project Management processes.
- Experience managing projects with several technologies.
- Demonstrated ability to take accountability for projects and their results, be fiscally responsible and lead teams to meet project success factors.
- Working knowledge of one or more formal project management methodologies, proficiency with tools such as Microsoft Project/Office.
- Excellent written, presentation, and verbal communication skills including demonstrated experience presenting technology recommendations from a business perspective.
- Applies discretion when dealing with sensitive/confidential information.
- Ability to balance multiple priorities simultaneously and adapt to the changing needs of the business while meeting deadlines.
- Ability to work weekends and/or off hours as necessary to meet customers' needs.
- Ability and willingness to travel up to 25% or as needed to other CDW locations, meetings and customer sites.
- Ability to understand, remember, and apply oral and/or written instructions or other information. Ability to organize thoughts and ideas into understandable terminology. Ability to multi-task, organize and prioritize. Ability to apply common sense in performing job. Ability to understand and follow basic instructions and guidelines.
Preferred Qualifications
- PMP and/or Agile Certification(s).
- Experience using both Waterfall and Agile methods (Scrum, Kanban, etc.) to manage projects.
