Our client, a leading education innovation company, is hiring an Associate Project Manager on a contract basis.
Job ID: 81705
Work Location:
Minneapolis, MN (Remote Working Model)
Summary:
The Associate Project Manager plays a key role in supporting project planning, coordination, and execution within an Agile environment. This role involves assisting in backlog management, tracking project progress, and facilitating communication across cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate will have strong organizational and communication skills, ensuring that projects stay on schedule, risks are mitigated, and stakeholders remain informed. With a focus on Agile methodologies, this position contributes to continuous process improvement and ensures the successful delivery of high-quality projects.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Agile Project Planning and Coordination:
Support the development of project plans, timelines, and deliverables, ensuring alignment with business objectives. Assist in creating work breakdown structures and tracking progress against deadlines.
2. Agile Ceremonies Participation:
Actively participate in Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives, ensuring that the team stays on track and project goals are clear.
3. Backlog Management Support:
Help manage the project backlog by ensuring user stories are well-defined, prioritized, and clearly communicated to the development team. Work with the Product Owner and stakeholders to refine backlog items as needed.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
Work closely with engineering, design, QA, and other stakeholders to ensure seamless collaboration throughout the project lifecycle. Communicate project status, risks, and blockers across teams.
5. Risk and Issue Management:
Identify project risks and issues early, and collaborate with the team to mitigate or resolve them. Proactively communicate potential roadblocks to relevant stakeholders and ensure timely resolution.
6. Track Project Progress:
Monitor project timelines, resource allocation, and overall progress through metric analysis. Ensure the team adheres to Agile best practices and deliverables are completed according to schedule.
7. Facilitate Communication:
Ensure clear and effective communication among all project stakeholders, including executives, team members, and external partners. Keep all parties informed on project status, dependencies, and any changes in scope or timelines.
8. Support Continuous Improvement:
Assist in collecting and analyzing project performance data to identify areas for process improvement. Encourage and participate in retrospective sessions to enhance team efficiency and project outcomes.
9. Documentation and Reporting:
Maintain accurate project documentation, including project plans, meeting notes, risk logs, and status reports. Help prepare updates for senior management on project status, including key milestones and challenges.
10. Project Delivery and Quality Assurance:
Work closely with the team to ensure project deliverables meet quality standards and client expectations. Assist in conducting quality assurance checks and reviewing final outputs before release.
Key Qualifications:
• Experience:
o 1-2 years of experience in project management, operations, or a related role, ideally in an Agile environment (internships or co-op positions are also acceptable).
o Familiarity with Agile environments and basic project coordination tasks.
o Experience with agile tools (e.g., Jira, Trello, or similar).
•Skills:
o Strong organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
o Attention to detail with the ability to track project progress and identify potential roadblocks.
o Knowledge of agile frameworks (e.g., Scrum, Kanban) and program management best practices.
o Solid understanding of risk management and issue resolution techniques.
o Comfortable working with stakeholders at all levels, including product, technical, and business leaders.
• Education:
o Bachelor’s degree in business, Project Management, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Soft Skills:
o Strong problem-solving and conflict resolution abilities.
o High attention to detail and a focus on results.
o Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to foster collaboration among diverse teams.
o Self-starter with the ability to work independently and take initiative.
Pay Rate: $38 /hour W2