GTRI Careers

Project/Unit Description

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) seeks an accomplished project management professional who will lead the Project Management Office (PMO). The GTRI PMO enables GTRI to exceed the programmatic expectations of our external research sponsors and enables GTRI to influence PM industry standard practice by leveraging our project management expertise and experience. The PMO accomplishes this by providing PM expertise to the organization, preparing GTRI for expanded PM requirements, guiding the organization through continuous improvement activities, sharing domain knowledge within GTRI, being a source of influencing information to others outside of GTRI, and maintaining a team culture where everyone in the PMO is there to assist everyone else. The PMO provides GTRI with a full project life cycle perspective when considering new organizational initiatives.

Job Purpose

The Director will be responsible for maintaining a dynamic and productive team culture, fostering productive relationships across Georgia Tech, securing PM work with GTRI laboratories, and providing the best of class PM subject matter expertise to DoD research projects and all other organizational projects in which the PMO is involved.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide executive oversight and leadership to the PMO office.  Maintain accountability for all PMO activities.  Represent the PMO to GTRI leadership, laboratories, and other applicable organizations.
• Maintain the PMO culture of customer service, robust relationship building, and support of PM related activities within the board Georgia Tech community.
• Develop and report project management compliance metrics, and devise other means of assessing project management capability and maturity. Develop remediation and improvement plans. Drive PMO revenue generation from sponsored project execution to achieve a balanced overhead and sponsor direct charge ratio.
• Expand, manage, implement, and constantly improve a set of efficient and consistent project procedures, templates, approaches, and tools.  Provide related mentorship, training and support to assure that they: 
• Are compliant with GT/GTRI and other regulations & policies, including the required procedures now part of the standard training for all projects;
• Are compatible with existing and planned GT/GTRI information systems and tools;
• Provide building blocks that will result in a fully EIA-748 compliant Earned Value Management System (EVMS) implementation.  These tools should include, for example:  Standard WBS templates, sub-budgeting guidelines and mechanisms, IMP/IMS templates and tools with schedule analysis and statusing capabilities, time-phased budgeting, work-package, work authorization and control account structures, estimate-at-complete procedures, management reserve procedures, risk management tools and procedures, and subcontracting support.
• Best meet the ever-evolving needs of GTRI laboratories and support units.

• Provide continued unit development for a PMO strategic vision that aligns with the goals of the GTRI Strategic Plan. Work with GTRI executive leadership to gain support for PM initiatives that will benefit GTRI.
• Develop and maintain an understanding of laboratory projects and needs through effective business relationships with laboratory leaders and project directors.
• Recruit, hire, coach, and maintain a team of qualified project management resources that can be deployed to PMO supported sponsored research projects, as requested, to support Principal Investigators/Project Directors (PI/PDs) with project management duties.  Provide training, development, and mentoring for project management performers.  Ensure cross-project consistency of practice and ensure the transfer of lessons learned and best practices. Maintain a PMO team of diverse PM practitioners that share a broad range of PM related skills and knowledge resulting in a highly functional dispersedly talented team.
• Develop relationships, processes, and plans to promote the PMO’s strategic goals including providing industry leading PM related expertise, prediction of PM requirements GTRI will be facing, encouraging continuous improvement within the PMO and from an organizational perspective, sharing knowledge within GTRI and with the PM industry, and providing a team first culture. 
• Lead and provide assistance to complex and smaller projects, as requested, to include, at start-up:  standard templates and best-practice examples, PD/PI/Task Lead training; at critical project phases (proposal, negotiation, sponsor project reviews, project crises):  project management process reviews and remediation and PD labor assistance.  Example services include:

• SOW/PWS review
• Facilitation of work breakdown structure (WBS) development and documentation
• Facilitation of schedule (IMP/IMS) development, documentation, statusing
• Orchestration of major sponsor reviews or project events
• Facilitation of budget allocation and tracking mechanisms
• Facilitation/documentation of risk analysis and mitigation planning
• Subcontracting support:  SOW/Spec review, quotation and negotiation support, (subs) project management process audits, red team/tiger team participation
• Own the curriculum for the GTRI PD Core Training class under the Project Director Certificate to provide a consistent GTRI PM approach for managing research projects.  
• Coordinate and manage information sharing and data management across PMO engagements and activities.  Engage with and broker information needs across the Institute.
• Assist GTRI complex projects in assessment and compliance with quality assurance, mission assurance, safety engineering, and other compliance needs.
• Develop trust and partnership through Interactions with Georgia Tech campus, the GTRI Director’s Office, Operations Units, and Laboratories.

Significant prior leadership experience and strong executive presence is required.  Candidates must possess excellent communication skills and have a strong background facilitating dialogue, collaboration, and partnerships among research personnel, contracts personnel, and operations units.

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree plus 14 years experience in applicable field and industry experience in finance, project management, operations, and/or enterprise systems.
• 10 years hands-on experience in project management
• A demonstrated depth and breadth in business acumen across the major functional disciplines such as Project Management, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Contracts, and Project Development.
• Track record in project management process development, training, improvement, and deployment.
• Supervisory/leadership experience.
• Top Secret (TS) clearance eligible.
• Must relocate or be based in to Atlanta area.
• Significant in-office presence required.
• Presence and ability to interact with executive leaders and boards.
• Proven ability to develop and foster a collaborative team culture.
• Proven history of team and leader development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Top Secret Clearance
• Master’s degree with 12 years experience in applicable field and industry experience in finance, project management, operations, and/or enterprise systems.
• Engineering or Science Degree (MS/MA or higher preferred), with technical background to support advanced research projects in sensor, information science, and communication systems.
• Experience in a Higher Ed institute or a research-based organization.
• PMI Project Management Professional (PMP).
• Experience in data analytics, management, and information sharing.
• 10+ years hands-on experience in DoD or other relevant government project management; to include experience in defense projects (e.g. DoD 5000) and subcontract management.
• Experience service model revenue generation and fiscal management.
• Experience in team utilization management.

Travel Requirements

10% - 25% travel

Education and Length of Experience

This position vacancy is an open-rank announcement. The final job offer will be dependent on candidate qualifications in alignment with Research Faculty Extension Professional ranks as outlined in section 3.2.1 of the Georgia Tech Faculty Handbook

• 14 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, business, finance, social sciences, or related field
• 12 years of related experience with a Masters’ degree inengineering, science, business, finance, social sciences, or related field
• 9 years of related experience with a Ph.D. in engineering, science, business, finance, social sciences, or related field

U.S. Citizenship Requirements

Due to our research contracts with the U.S. federal government, candidates for this position must be U.S. Citizens.

Clearance Type Required

Candidates must be able to obtain and maintain an active security clearance.

Benefits at GTRI

Comprehensive information on currently offered GTRI benefits, including Health & Welfare, Retirement Plans, Tuition Reimbursement, Time Off, and Professional Development, can be found through this link: https://hr.gatech.edu/benefits

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) at Georgia Tech Research Institute aims to enhance the Institute’s mission of solving the world’s most complex technical problems by creating a workforce with a shared appreciation for diversity, raising awareness around inclusiveness, and fostering a sense of belonging and appreciation for all members of our community.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Georgia Tech Research Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and actively seeks diversity among its employees. Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law.