Job DescriptionAllegheny College seeks an experienced, results-oriented Project Manager to lead the implementation of Oracle Student Cloud, a transformational initiative to modernize the College's Student Information System (SIS) and improve the processes supporting the student lifecycle.
Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, this position will provide end-to-end project leadership, ensuring that institutional stakeholders, implementation partners, and technical teams are aligned, accountable, and positioned to deliver a successful implementation.
The successful candidate will bring demonstrated experience managing complex enterprise technology implementations, establishing disciplined project governance, proactively identifying and resolving risks, and driving decisions and deliverables across multiple functional areas. This individual must be comfortable navigating ambiguity, challenging assumptions, holding internal and external partners accountable, and influencing stakeholders without direct supervisory authority.
The Project Manager will serve as the central point of coordination and accountability for the implementation, translating strategic objectives into actionable plans, measurable milestones, and successful outcomes. The role requires a collaborative but decisive leader who can balance technical complexities, institutional priorities, resource constraints, and organizational change.
Experience implementing Student Information Systems, enterprise cloud platforms, or comparable institution-wide technology solutions is highly desirable. The ideal candidate combines strong project management discipline with exceptional communication, problem-solving, negotiation, and change leadership skills.
ResponsibilitiesProject Leadership, Planning & Execution- Lead the planning, coordination, execution, and delivery of the Oracle Student Cloud implementation, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities, approved scope, budget, resources, and timelines.
- Develop, maintain, and actively manage a comprehensive integrated project plan that defines milestones, dependencies, deliverables, owners, critical paths, and acceptance criteria.
- Establish clear accountability for project deliverables across functional departments, Information Technology Services (ITS), implementation partners, and other stakeholders.
- Proactively monitor progress, identify schedule deviations and resource constraints, and develop corrective action plans to maintain project momentum.
- Facilitate productive project meetings that result in clear decisions, documented action items, assigned owners, and defined completion dates.
- Coordinate the timely resolution of cross-functional dependencies and decisions, escalating issues when required to protect project outcomes.
Vendor Management & Delivery Accountability- Serve as the primary project management liaison between Allegheny College, Oracle, implementation partners, and other external vendors.
- Monitor vendor performance against contractual commitments, statements of work, project plans, milestones, and established quality expectations.
- Hold implementation partners accountable for timely delivery, adequate documentation, issue resolution, and completion of agreed-upon work products.
- Evaluate the quality and completeness of vendor deliverables in collaboration with functional and technical subject matter experts.
- Identify vendor performance concerns early, document deficiencies, negotiate corrective action plans, and escalate unresolved issues through established governance channels.
- Coordinate and manage changes to scope, schedule, resources, or deliverables, including analysis of potential budget and institutional impacts.
Stakeholder Engagement & Cross-Functional Leadership- Build effective working relationships across Academic Affairs, the Registrar's Office, Student Accounts, Financial Aid, Admissions, Institutional Effectiveness, ITS, and other relevant institutional departments.
- Lead cross-functional teams through complex project activities, building consensus and securing commitments from stakeholders who do not report directly to the position.
- Establish clear expectations for functional ownership, decision-making responsibilities, deliverables, and deadlines.
- Facilitate the resolution of competing priorities and competing perspectives while maintaining an institution-wide focus on project outcomes.
- Communicate project progress, risks, decisions, and resource needs clearly and effectively to audiences ranging from functional teams to executive leadership.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, transparency, accountability, and shared responsibility for implementation success.
Project Governance, Risk & Issue Management- Establish and maintain disciplined project governance practices, including project status reporting, risk and issue management, decision logs, change control, and executive escalations.
- Develop and maintain project management artifacts, including risk, assumption, issue, and dependency (RAID) logs, milestone dashboards, resource plans, and executive status reports.
- Identify risks and barriers early, assess their impact, assign accountable owners, and coordinate appropriate mitigation and contingency plans.
- Present concise, accurate, and actionable updates to project sponsors, steering committees, and institutional leadership.
- Escalate critical issues promptly, accompanied by clearly defined options, recommendations, and potential impacts.
- Ensure timely documentation and communication of project decisions and approved changes.
Business Readiness, Change Management & Adoption- Coordinate institutional readiness activities, including business process mapping, requirements validation, process redesign, communication, training, and adoption planning.
- Partner with functional leaders to establish clear ownership of future-state processes and institutional business requirements.
- Ensure business process changes, policy implications, resource needs, and operational dependencies are identified and addressed throughout implementation.
- Coordinate training and communication activities with functional leaders to prepare faculty, staff, and other affected stakeholders for system transition.
- Monitor readiness across functional areas and elevate gaps that may affect the College's ability to implement and sustain the new system successfully.
Testing, Cutover & Stabilization - Coordinate project activities related to data conversion, integration readiness, functional testing, user acceptance testing, and cutover preparation.
- Establish and track testing schedules, assigned owners, defect resolution, retesting, and formal business acceptance criteria.
- Coordinate readiness assessments and go-live decision-making with functional leaders, technical teams, and implementation partners.
- Ensure a comprehensive cutover and contingency plan is developed, communicated, and validated before implementation.
- Oversee project coordination during go-live and stabilization, including issue escalation, prioritization, status reporting, and transition to ongoing operational support.
- Ensure completion of required documentation, knowledge transfer, and project closure activities.
QualificationsExperience and KnowledgeRequired Knowledge- Proven track record of successfully managing large, complex projects from initiation to completion.
- Extensive knowledge of ERP/SIS systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Workday, etc.) and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
- Strong understanding of data migration, system integration, and security considerations in cloud environments.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Experience in change management, including user training and support.
- Experience with Agile or hybrid project management methodologies.
- Familiarity with business process mapping and redesign in the context of ERP implementation.
- Previous experience in working in higher education or similar sectors.
Skills and AbilitiesRequired Skills- Excellent communication, analytical, problem-solving, and time management skills.
- Skill in organizing materials and documenting procedures.
- Easily adaptable and able to learn new skills.
Required Abilities- Significant and demonstrated ability to analyze complex technical problems and implement solutions requiring computer programming and database management.
- Ability to complete assigned tasks with speed and accuracy according to predetermined timelines and specifications.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with end users, including ability to communicate with non-technical colleagues.
- Ability and inclination to engage effectively and collaboratively in team projects.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
Computer Skills- Preferred experience in Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word) and Google Suite Products.
- Advanced proficiency in Databases and Computer Networks and Systems Required. Expected to have or develop additional skills in higher education customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, student information, integrations or human resource management systems.
Education and Credentials- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field
- Minimum of 4-7 years experience required; 7-10 years experience preferred
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Suite of Products.
