Senior Project Manager, Campus Capital & Operational Projects

Red Deer Polytechnic

$94K — $115K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Undergraduate degree in relevant field or equivalent experience required
  • PMP or equivalent senior project/portfolio management certification required
  • 8-10 years of senior project management experience in PMO, public-sector program delivery or similar
  • 3+ years of leadership experience in managing Project Managers
  • Expertise in project charters, portfolio prioritization, risk management, and reporting

Responsibilities

  • Lead project governance processes and establish decision-making frameworks
  • Develop and manage the campus project portfolio roadmap
  • Monitor portfolio performance across schedule, budget, risk, and scope
  • Chair governance committees and engage stakeholders throughout project processes
  • Provide leadership and coaching to project management team

Benefits

  • Comprehensive benefits package including health and dental care
  • Access to health spending account and pension plan
  • Generous vacation allotments
  • Credit tuition waivers and professional development funding
  • Additional time off during college closures between Christmas and New Year
Full Job Description
Posting Details

Position Information

Position Title
Senior Project Manager, Campus Capital & Operational Projects

Position Summary

The Senior Project Manager, Campus Capital & Operational Projects is responsible for leading the governance, prioritization, and delivery assurance of Red Deer Polytechnic's campus capital and operational project portfolio.

Reporting to the Director, Campus Management, the role is accountable for establishing and managing institutional project governance frameworks, portfolio controls, and decision-support processes that enable transparent, data-informed, and fiscally responsible project delivery. The position ensures that campus projects are effectively prioritized, planned, monitored, and executed in alignment with institutional priorities, funding requirements, and operational needs.

This role provides leadership to the project management team, oversees portfolio performance, and influences institutional decision-making through comprehensive reporting, risk management, and stakeholder engagement. The Senior Project Manager plays a key role in enhancing RDP's Campus Management capacity and supporting the institution's commitment the outcomes of RDP's 2030 Strategic Plan.

Position Responsibilities

Project Governance, Portfolio Intake & Prioritization
  • Leads institutional project governance processes, including intake, prioritization, stage-gate approvals, and decision frameworks
  • Develops and manages the campus project portfolio roadmap, including dependencies, resource capacity, and funding alignment
  • Establishes prioritization criteria aligned with institutional strategy, operational needs, and funding requirements
  • Prepares decision packages and recommendations for senior leadership and governance bodies
  • Ensures consistent application of governance standards and decision-making processes across all projects

Project Controls, Assurance & Executive Reporting
  • Establishes and enforces project management frameworks including charters, schedules, budgets, risk registers, and reporting standards
  • Monitors portfolio performance, including schedule, budget, risk, and scope across all projects
  • Leads portfolio-level risk management and ensures timely escalation of issues impacting delivery
  • Develops executive dashboards, variance reports, and performance insights for leadership decision-making
  • Conducts post-project reviews and continuous improvement initiatives

Committee Chair & Stakeholder Governance
  • Chairs or facilitates governance committees, including the Facility Planning Advisory Committee
  • Leads stakeholder engagement processes to align priorities, clarify requirements, and support decision-making
  • Translates stakeholder needs into project scope, governance requirements, and decision pathways
  • Coordinates across Finance, Procurement, IT, Safety, Accessibility, and other enabling functions
  • Escalates complex or high-risk issues to senior leadership with recommended actions

Team Coaching & Project Management Practice
  • Provides direct leadership to Project Managers, including performance management, coaching, and development
  • Assigns and prioritizes work across the project portfolio based on institutional priorities and capacity
  • Ensures consistent application of project management standards, tools, and practices
  • Conducts quality assurance on project documentation, reporting, and stakeholder communication
  • Builds organizational capability in project management and governance practices

Financial Planning, Procurement Coordination & Risk Management
  • Leads financial planning activities including business cases, funding requests, and cost analysis
  • Oversees budget tracking, forecasting, and financial performance across the portfolio
  • Ensures compliance with procurement, financial, and governance policies
  • Identifies and manages financial and operational risks, escalating where required
  • Supports procurement planning, vendor coordination, and contract governance

Continuous Improvement & Professional Practice
  • Identifies and implements improvements to governance, reporting, and project management processes
  • Monitors trends in project management, public-sector governance, and capital planning practices
  • Provides strategic insights to support institutional planning and decision-making
  • Supports organizational change and project delivery maturity


Required Qualifications
  • Three (3) year undergraduate degree, or three years of university or equivalency in Project Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, Operations Management, Portfolio Management, Change Management or a related discipline required
  • Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent senior project/portfolio management certification required
  • Minimum of 8-10 years of progressively senior experience in project management, PMO/project controls, portfolio governance, capital planning, operational project coordination or public-sector program delivery
  • 3+ years of leadership experience supervising or coaching experienced Project Managers and building consistent project management practice across a team


Preferred Qualifications
  • Four (4) year undergraduate degree, or three (3) year undergraduate degree plus one full additional year of university in a related program representing four years of study or equivalent in Project Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, Operations Management, Portfolio Management, Change Management or equivalent is considered an asset
  • PgMP, PMI-ACP, change management, Lean/Six Sigma or related project/portfolio credentials are considered an asset
  • Experience with post-secondary or complex multi-stakeholder environments preferred
  • Expert knowledge of project charters, stage-gate governance, portfolio prioritization, scheduling, budget controls, risk management, issue escalation, change control, records management, reporting and closeout.
  • Experience with procurement coordination, vendor/proponent communications, evaluation records, funding requests and financial control processes in a public-sector or institutional environment.
  • Demonstrated ability to chair committees, facilitate structured decisions, influence without formal authority and translate complex information for diverse audiences.
  • Working knowledge of construction/capital project lifecycles sufficient to govern process, identify risks and request technical advice; does not require technical design, building systems, operations, commissioning or utility-management expertise.
  • Experience coaching and mentoring staff
  • Experience with post-secondary administration and accounting systems (Banner) an asset


Salary or Hourly?
Salary

Salary
$94,625 - $115,019

Benefits and Compensation Information

Red Deer Polytechnic offers a comprehensive benefits package including extended health and dental care through Blue Cross, access to a health spending account, pension plan, generous vacation allotments, credit tuition waivers and opportunities for professional development funding.
Additional time off due to College closures between Christmas and New Year general holidays.

Eligibility to access the above mentioned benefits dependent upon the EXEMPT Terms and conditions of Employment and related RDP policies.

Posting Detail Information

Competition Number
2026-E-020

Employment Type
Permanent Full-Time

Number of Vacancies
1

Desired Start Date
09/14/2026

Position End Date (if term-certain)

FTE
1.0

Hours of Work
You will be employed on a full-time basis. Normal hours of operation are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday; there may be times that the hours involved will vary. The successful candidate must be available to work regularly in Red Deer, Alberta

Open Date
08/06/2026

Close Date
08/31/2026

Open Until Filled

Special Instructions to Applicants

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