THECB - Senior Project Manager (ITS)

Job Description

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About the Role

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is seeking an experienced and collaborative project management professional to serve as a Senior Project Manager within the Information Technology Services (ITS) Division.

This position is responsible for leading multiple concurrent information technology projects of varying scope, complexity, and duration. The Senior Project Manager guides projects through initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, implementation, and closure while maintaining appropriate controls for scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk, dependencies, decisions, and communication.

The Senior Project Manager serves as a senior project delivery resource, working closely with business stakeholders, Product Owners, Business Analysts, engineering teams, ITS leadership, vendors, and external partners to coordinate work and maintain alignment around project objectives and delivery commitments. The role requires sufficient technical fluency to understand systems, integrations, dependencies, and operational constraints and to facilitate productive discussions between technical and nontechnical stakeholders.

Responsibilities include developing and maintaining integrated project plans and schedules; managing risks, issues, dependencies, resources, and financial information; facilitating stakeholder decisions and crossfunctional coordination; preparing executive and governance reporting; maintaining project documentation; and ensuring project information accurately reflects delivery health and supports timely decisionmaking.

This position does not have formal supervisory responsibility but operates with considerable independence and may provide informal guidance to project team members and peers while helping strengthen consistent project delivery practices across ITS.

General Description:

Performs advanced (seniorlevel) project management work for the Information Technology Services (ITS) Division of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). Work involves directing, developing, and managing multiple concurrent projects at various levels of completion, complexity, and duration. Responsibilities include coordinating project planning and initiation, monitoring progress and schedules, managing risks and issues, and ensuring project deliverables meet defined objectives and organizational priorities.

Work involves serving as a senior project delivery resource, collaborating with internal teams, leadership, and external partners to orchestrate delivery across multiple concurrent projects, applying working technical fluency to facilitate informed discussions, manage dependencies, and resolve delivery conflicts. This role is responsible for maintaining project controls related to scope, schedule, cost, quality, and communication, and for providing timely, accurate project information to support decisionmaking, governance, and accountability.

Responsibilities include leading project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure; developing and maintaining project schedules, resource forecasts, and cost estimates; managing risks, issues, dependencies, and project changes; coordinating crossfunctional teams and external partners; preparing project communications and decisionsupport materials; and maintaining project documentation in accordance with established governance, compliance, and audit requirements. Collaborates with Product Owners, Business Analysts, engineering teams, agency stakeholders, vendors, and ITS leadership to support coordinated and successful delivery of technology initiatives.

Works under minimal supervision, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment in planning, executing, and managing assigned projects. May provide informal guidance to project team members and peers, using practical technical understanding to support consistent application of delivery practices rather than formal supervisory responsibility. This position reports to the Director of Portfolio Management. Performs other duties as assigned.

General Duties and Responsibilities:

• Enterprise Project Planning & Execution Directs, develops, and manages multiple concurrent information technology projects of varying scope, complexity, and duration. Leads project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure activities to ensure delivery of approved outcomes aligned with organizational priorities. Establishes project objectives, scope, milestones, roles, responsibilities, and delivery expectations and ensures project plans remain current and actionable throughout the project lifecycle.
• Project Communication, Stakeholder Engagement & Reporting Develops and executes project communication strategies within the scope of assigned projects, providing delivery transparency and decisionsupport information for stakeholders, leadership, and governance bodies. Prepares and delivers clear, accurate project status updates, executive summaries, decisionsupport materials, meeting documentation, and other project communications. Facilitates stakeholder engagement and ensures material changes, risks, issues, and decisions are communicated timely and at the appropriate level.
• Schedule, Resource & Financial Management Develops and maintains integrated project schedules, resource forecasts, cost estimates, and related project planning information. Monitors progress against approved baselines and manages adjustments to maintain delivery commitments within established constraints. Identifies resource conflicts, schedule impacts, and financial variances and works with appropriate stakeholders and leadership to develop mitigation strategies or recommend changes.
• Risk, Issue & Dependency Management Oversees and integrates risk, issue, and dependency management across assigned projects or initiatives. Identifies, evaluates, documents, and monitors project risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies; develops mitigation and resolution strategies in partnership with stakeholders; and ensures appropriate ownership and followthrough. Escalates material risks, trends, dependencies, and variances through established governance channels to support informed decisionmaking and delivery stability.
• CrossOrganizational & External Coordination 15%
  Leads and facilitates coordination across projects and initiatives, partnering with internal teams, agency business areas, state agencies, governmental entities, vendors, and external partners as appropriate. Coordinates crossteam and crossproject dependencies, facilitates resolution of delivery conflicts, aligns commitments and timelines, and ensures required decisions, approvals, and stakeholder actions support successful project delivery.
• Governance, Compliance & Documentation Applies established project governance and documentation practices across assigned projects to ensure consistency, accuracy, transparency, and compliance with agency standards and applicable requirements. Maintains and validates project artifacts, decisions, risks, issues, performance information, and supporting documentation; ensures project records are complete and current; and supports audit readiness, governance reporting, organizational transparency, and knowledge continuity.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

The successful candidate will possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the role effectively and contribute to reliable, customerfocused technology services.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of project management principles, practices, methodologies, and project lifecycle management.
• Knowledge of project planning, scheduling, scope management, cost management, resource planning, quality management, risk management, and change control practices.
• Knowledge of predictive, Agile, iterative, and hybrid project delivery methodologies.
• Knowledge of risk, issue, assumption, dependency, and decision management practices.
• Knowledge of project governance, status reporting, escalation, performance measurement, and decisionsupport practices.
• Knowledge of information technology concepts, systems, application delivery, integrations, and common technology project environments.
• Knowledge of stakeholder management, organizational communication, vendor coordination, and crossfunctional project delivery practices.
• Knowledge of documentation, records management, audit, compliance, and governance requirements applicable to project delivery.

Skills

• Skill in directing, developing, and managing multiple concurrent information technology projects of varying scope, complexity, and duration.
• Skill in developing and maintaining project plans, integrated schedules, milestones, resource forecasts, cost estimates, and delivery commitments.
• Skill in managing project scope, schedule, cost, quality, risks, issues, dependencies, assumptions, decisions, and changes.
• Skill in identifying project risks and delivery barriers, developing mitigation strategies, and escalating issues appropriately.
• Skill in coordinating crossfunctional teams, stakeholders, vendors, external partners, and organizational dependencies.
• Skill in preparing clear, accurate project status reports, executive summaries, decisionsupport materials, governance documentation, and presentations.
• Skill in facilitating meetings, resolving delivery conflicts, documenting decisions, establishing accountability, and driving assigned actions to completion.
• Skill in communicating technical and project information in clear business terms for technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Skill in using project management, work management, collaboration, scheduling, reporting, and documentation tools.
• Skill in applying working technical fluency to facilitate informed discussions, understand delivery dependencies, and support effective project decisionmaking.

Abilities

• Ability to maintain accurate visibility into project health and communicate emerging risks, issues, dependencies, and variances in a timely manner.
• Ability to analyze project information, identify trends and delivery risks, and recommend appropriate corrective actions.
• Ability to distinguish between issues that can be resolved within the project team and those requiring leadership or governance escalation.
• Ability to coordinate work across business, product, project, engineering, vendor, and external stakeholder groups.
• Ability to maintain project discipline while adapting project management practices to the size, complexity, risk, and delivery methodology of assigned work.
• Ability to work independently with considerable latitude for initiative and judgment while operating within established governance and organizational standards.
• Ability to provide inform