Altera Sr Project Manager - Paragon

***ALTERA SR PROJECT MANAGER - PARAGON***

Remote Role

The primary purpose of this role is to execute and deliver the terms set forth in contracts for large, highly complex projects; ensuring that client solutions are delivered on time, within scope, to budget and to the required quality standards.  Proactively work with the client to ensure solutions are delivered in a manner that achieves contractual obligations and solidifies client satisfaction.

Creating Financial Value

• Creates maximum short- and long-term financial value for the client, Professional Services, and Altera
• Manages Altera profitability (including revenue and expenses)
• Drives revenue recognition (accelerates whenever possible)
• Sells value to the client
• Articulates and drives toward clear financial and other project goals
• Rejects propositions that reduce value for Altera or the client, and develops constructive alternatives
• Proactively structures incremental opportunities and scope changes to ensure profitability for Altera; to include but not limited to $0 scope changes that impact project without financial implication
• Understands Accounts Receivables and engages with the client as needed
• Understands milestones affecting cash and revenue, and effectively manages to them
• Understands all financial elements of the contract, including fees, payment terms and any commitments which impact project financials.  This includes all contract elements (e.g. hardware, software, services, etc.)
• Maintains clear visibility to contracted vs. actual hours + estimate to complete; clear management to the contracted hours, clear understanding of non-billable hours incurred, and effective management to eliminate any non-billable hours and impact to revenue and cost forecasts

Maintaining the Client Relationship

• Establishes a consistent communication strategy with the client and defines the associated deliverables (e.g. status report, risk report etc.)
• Continually checks to ensure accurate understanding of client needs and expectations
• Sets, resets, and manages client expectations and documents same
• Utilizes Project Scope or Charter documentation to define contract ambiguities and set client expectations
• Builds relationships across client’s organizational functions at various levels. Including but not limited to decision makers
• Establishes trusted advisor relationships with the client project team, key influencers/stakeholders and client executive leadership
• Contributes to development of the client account plan
• Demonstrates project control to the client through effective project documentation, measurement, and reporting and reflects the same in Clarity
• Clearly and proactively identifies project risks and institutes meaningful risk management campaigns to mitigate
• Clearly communicates challenges/shortcomings/issues to clients by assessing causes and implications; recommends solutions and costs, and encouraging shared problem solving
• Maintains industry knowledge and focus
• Consistently completes project status and reporting externally (written and meetings)
• Gains sign-off and acceptance per the client contractual agreement

Ensuring Alignment with Altera Strategy

• Assesses bid opportunities for strategic fit, chance of winning, repeatability, technical feasibility, client capacity, and probability of project success
• Able to effectively and appropriately define project scope, hours, deliverables and requirements
• Structures own and third-party work to ensure competitive pricing based on value, rather than low cost
• Participates in up-front strategizing, negotiating, and trade-offs with third-parties and clients
• Undertakes a strategic project only when Altera has plans in place that are likely to lead to Altera realizing value.  Escalates as necessary to appropriate management
• Applies the same capabilities for add-on opportunities with each client
• Ensures current Altera methodology is used and leveraged in all client project deliverables processes

Managing Third-Party Relations

• Assesses third-party strengths, weaknesses, and risks, and develops plans to achieve project objectives and manage risks
• Considers technology, organizational, and cost alternatives to using third-party contractors
• Incorporates a quality plan, review plan, and rigorous performance monitoring in third-party agreements and work processes
• Ensures third-party contracts incorporate flow down of Altera client contract requirements and payment schedules for consistency
• Ensures third-party resources are engaged in order to understand actions and methodology that are otherwise available to internal resources. Ensure that third parties do not encroach upon the Altera/client relationship

Managing the Altera Organization

• Assesses strengths and weaknesses of Altera’ own processes and resources; effectively mitigates and addresses
• Clearly defines responsibilities of all Altera organizations in the project
• Ensures the commitment of all internal parties during proposal development through up-front bid cost sharing and other resource arrangements
• Develops early senior management commitment to proposals or projects
• Seeks technical reviews, second opinion, advice, and coaching in critical areas
• Ensures close linkage between sales expectations and project management; follows the Sales Turnover Process as identified in Altera Methodology
• Uses and adapts current Altera project disciplines and tools
• Ensures that sufficient project team and senior management time is scheduled for the preparation for and conduct of project reviews
• Communicates effectively to internal management
• Consistently completes project status and reporting internally (written and meetings) by leveraging Clarity as the portfolio system of record

Managing Risks and Problems / Demonstrating Management and Control

• Uses a rigorous risk identification and mitigation process on an ongoing basis
• Ensures that risk related costs are included in project budgets and forecasts
• Ensures that risk considerations are incorporated into project schedules
• Analyzes project financial statements at least monthly as part of the risk identification and management process and forecasts weekly same
• Uses milestones to control work, revenue, costs, and cash flow
• Demonstrates project control internally through disciplined measurement, assessment, planning, and reporting
• Considers the impact of local business and regulatory issues on plans for client solutions
• Assesses problem causes and implications; recommends solutions and costs, and encourages shared problem solving and demonstrates each of these, both internally and externally with the client

Leading, Motivating, and Communicating

• Develops and communicates a clear vision of project and client success
• Motivates the team to drive toward success and find ways to overcome difficulties
• Effectively serves as an informal manager to the project team, despite lack of direct reporting relationships
• Provide input to project teammate’s mid-year, annual and ongoing performance review
• Develops project plan, defining/documenting resources, skill requirements, project charter, milestones and metrics per Altera standard methods and practices and the client’s contractual agreement
• Coaches to develop team and individual team member skills
• Understands and manages the elements of project stress for self and team
• Maintains team focus on project objectives
• Identifies, manages, and communicates scope changes
• Handles confrontations constructively
• Shares and encourages others to share and use the lessons learned from project work
• Recognizes and reinforces team successes through the project

Ensuring Legal and Ethical Performance

• Ensures that terms and conditions and acceptance criteria are clear to all parties
• Ensures renegotiation of the contract when the project situation changes
• Anticipates and communicates the impact of project decisions and actions on contract performance
• Ensures that all aspects of project work hold to Altera’ ethical guidelines
• Ensures appropriate maintenance of Altera intellectual property

Project Reporting

• Reports to all levels of the Altera and Client organization, selecting content and messages depending on audience
• Compliance with Services and Altera reporting requirements

Governance

• Establishes, and manages to, a governance structure to support all of the above, in an environment requiring client relationship management, third party relationship management and internal Altera relationship management
• Utilize the Altera Methodology as a means to effectively establish and manages this governance
• Clear accountability, guidance and consideration for the client’s overall success; even across elements which expand outside of Altera’ direct control or contractual responsibility

Academic & Professional Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in related field or equivalent related experience and Project Management Certification (Prince2 or PMP), strongly preferred 

Experience:

• Requires 7+ years application software implementation experience, plus 3 or more years of industry experience
• 5+ years’ project manager experience
• In-depth knowledge of our Paragon solution 
• MS Project knowledge, preferred  
• Lab solution project management experience, strongly preferred 
• Prior experience as part of a management team (lead role with plan, resource and issue/change responsibilities) that successfully managed a full life cycle implementation
• Experience in supporting business development opportunities through proposal creation, review and presentation

Working Arrangements:

Remote role