Project Management Jobs in Kankakee, IL (NOW HIRING)

The Director, Project Portfolio and Change Management provides strategic leadership for the University's technology project portfolio, project management practices, and organizational change management functions. Develops and implements governance frameworks, processes, and standards that enable effective prioritization, planning, delivery, and adoption of technology initiatives aligned with institutional priorities. Leads professional staff and oversees complex, high-visibility, institution-wide technology programs and projects that support the University's strategic objectives.
FGCU is building a culture of curiosity, commitment and collaboration. We value employees who successfully work with others and drive positive change through critical thinking and decisive action. If you thrive in an environment of innovation, accountability and mutual respect, you will find a good home here.
At Florida Gulf Coast University, employees are expected to work on campus as part of a collaborative, mission-driven environment. While this role does not directly interact with students, its on-site presence is essential to supporting the university's operations and advancing student learning across the institution.

Job Description

Typical duties include but are not limited to:

• Establishes and leads the University's technology project portfolio management framework, including project intake, evaluation, governance, resource alignment, tracking, and reporting of technology initiatives.
• Develops and maintains an integrated technology project portfolio and provides recommendations regarding prioritization, sequencing, resource allocation, acceleration, deferral, or termination of initiatives based on institutional priorities, value, risk, capacity, and expected benefits.
• Facilitates technology governance and portfolio review processes, providing leadership with dashboards, forecasts, decision briefs, and recommendations to support strategic decision-making.
• Maintains institutional visibility into technology demand, portfolio capacity, resource constraints, project risks, dependencies, and competing priorities to support strategic decision-making and alignment with University goals.
• Establishes project management standards, methodologies, tools, governance practices, and reporting expectations across Information Technology and University departments.
• Directly manages strategic, complex, and institution-wide technology programs and projects, ensuring effective governance, delivery oversight, risk management, project health monitoring, and successful implementation.
• Ensures technology initiatives have appropriate sponsorship, ownership, resources, stakeholder alignment, and readiness planning to support successful delivery, adoption, and operational outcomes.
• Develops and implements an organizational change management framework to support stakeholder engagement, readiness, adoption, and successful integration of technology and process changes.
• Provides coaching, tools, and guidance to project managers, business owners, change champions, and University stakeholders to strengthen project and change management capabilities.
• Leads the project portfolio and change management team by establishing priorities, service expectations, and operating practices; assigning work; managing performance; and supporting staff development.
• Establishes the strategic direction, operating model, priorities, and continuous improvement practices for the Project Portfolio and Change Management function.
• Manages office resources, including budgets, staffing plans, consulting needs, technology requirements, vendor relationships, procurement activities, and vendor performance management.
• Partners with institutional stakeholders, including academic and administrative leaders, finance, procurement, legal, information security, enterprise architecture, data governance, accessibility, communications, and external partners to achieve strategic objectives.
• Develops and maintains policies, procedures, governance documentation, service standards, and performance measures to support effective project portfolio and change management practices.

Other Duties:

• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Additional Job Description

Required Qualifications:

• This position requires either twelve years of directly related full-time experience or, as an alternative, a Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in Business Administration, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, Organizational Development, or other related field and eight years of full-time experience directly related to the job functions.
• Experience in technology projects, programs, portfolios, or organizational change initiatives.
• Experience managing cross-functional technology implementations involving multiple departments, stakeholders and external vendors.
• Experience supervising or managing a team.
• Any appropriate combination of relevant education, experience, and/or certifications may be considered.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree from an accredited institution in Project Management, Business Administration, Information Systems, Organizational Development, Higher Education Administration, Communication, or a related field.
• Experience leading an IT project management or change management office in higher education.
• Experience with enterprise technology and digital transformation initiatives, including ERP, cloud services, cybersecurity, data governance, analytics, and related systems.
• Experience managing third-party implementation partners and complex technology contracts.
• Experience managing a technology department in a customer service centered environment.
• Experience managing a budget, including contract renewal and salary planning.
• Experience establishing institutional change-champion networks or communities of practice.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Change management certification (e.g., Prosci, Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP), or equivalent).
• Advanced project/program management certification (e.g., Program Management Professional (PgMP), Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), or equivalent).

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Proven ability to think strategically and approach challenges with creativity.
• Demonstrated track record of reliability, meeting goals, and holding oneself accountable.
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience working effectively across teams.
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of management principles, practices, and standards, as applied to public institutions.
• Employee development and performance management skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills, flexibility, and customer service orientation.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze, summarize, and effectively present data.
• Skill in examining and evaluating operations and developing and/or redesign operating strategies, systems, and procedures.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with a wide variety of people.
• Ability to foster a cooperative work environment and work effectively in a team environment.
• Ability to supervise and train assigned staff.
• Ability and skill in data analysis and metrics.
• Skill in examining and evaluating operations and developing and/or redesign operating strategies, systems, and procedures.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with a wide variety of people.

Institutional Values & Behavioral Expectation

In this role, the successful candidate will be expected to:

• Seek out new approaches to improve outcomes; remain open for feedback and new ideas.
• Lead with integrity; consistently produce high-quality work; persevere to overcome obstacles to meet deadlines and achieve deliverables.
• Share information and insights thoughtfully; build partnerships across departments; communicate respectfully; support colleagues to achieve common goals.

Pay Grade 22

FGCU is a State University System of Florida member and an Equal Opportunity and Equal Access employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.