Director Of Project Management (Dpm)

Overview: In 2022, the presidents of Fort Hays State University (KS), Northwest Kansas Technical College, and NorthCentral Kansas Technical College proposed a formal affiliation among the three institutions to provide stronger, forward-looking educational programs and services to the people, businesses, and communities of rural Kansas. This proposal has been accepted by their three governing boards (by unanimous votes) and is expected to have enabling legislation passed by the Kansas legislature in its spring 2023 session. The three institutions are now initiating a set of 12 phased academic and administrative pilot initiatives under the direction of a multi-campus Affiliation Implementation Steering Committee (AISC, or the Committee). The Committee and its presidential sponsors, the Affiliation Governing Committee (AGC), are seeking an experienced individual to serve on a contract basis as the Director of Project Management (DPM) for these pilot initiatives. The DPM will use standard and innovative project management practices to assist AISC implement thepilots on time, on budget, and in a way that achieves the Affiliation’s goals and purposes.Following the Implementation draft structure attached below, the DPM will staff the AISC and also have an independent reporting line to the AGC.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Advise AGC and AISC on all project initiatives, working to ensure that each pilot achieves the Affiliation’s goals andobjectives, working directly with leadership to resolve bottlenecks, conflicts, dependencies, resource constraints, and other issues.
• Communicate and engage regularly with the AISC and AGC; make presentations to other bodies as directed.
• Establish and lead disciplined project management practices for the AISC and across all Affiliation pilots. This includes overseeing risk management, tracking all initiatives against their schedule of deliverables, and providing detailedproject analyses and forecasts.

Professional Qualifications

• A documented history of leading successful projects, especially projects involving complex organizational change across different organizations or business lines. Higher education experience is preferred but not required.
• A Bachelor's Degree. A Masters degree is preferred but not required. Project management certification in a recognized methodology (e.g., PMP, SCRUM) is preferred but not required.
• Demonstrated competence with appropriate software programs.
• A demonstrated history of effective communication of complex issues and information to a range of audiences.

Personal Qualifications:

• Excellent communicator (written and verbal, in a variety of presenting environments).
• Committed to project success, with demonstrated decisiveness in identifying priorities, making decisions, and resolving problems.
• Strong leadership, diplomatic, and motivational interpersonal skills to influence and spur change, and to facilitate and enhance performance in a cross-functional, team-centered environment.
• Nimble, with an ability to think strategically and respond flexibly, thoughtfully and quickly to meet shifting priorities, demands, and timelines.

Employment Details

• Kansas residency is a plus but is not required, although periodic travel to the three campuses will be.
• The successful candidate will begin work on July 5, 2023, or as soon thereafter as possible.
• This is a contract position, reporting to the AGC and ultimately to the FHSU President. It is expected the engagement will be for an initial period of 2 years, with possible extensions, and will be subject to FHSU’s standard contract terms and conditions.
• Position is contingent upon and subject to available funding.

Application Process:

To apply for this position, applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to Joe Bain at [email protected] as part of your cover letter a proposal for compensation based on your experience and education.

The applicant should include details of three representative project management assignments. These details mustinclude each project’s scope and scale, success criteria, methodologies used and resources deployed, as well as project outcomes. The applicant should also include a reference for each project.

Please send application materials to:

Name: Mr. Joe Bain, FHSU General Counsel

Email:[email protected]

Phone: 785.628.5679

Notice of Non-discrimination – Fort Hays State University, NCK, and NWTC are Equal Opportunity Employers and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, national origin, color, age, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability or veteran status.

Background Check: Final candidate will have consented to and successfully completed a criminal background check.