Director, Program Management (Campus Modernization) (supporting Kern Community College District[...]

Ellucian; Bakersfield (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health coverage

Flexible time off

401k with match

Parental Leave

Employee referral bonuses

Job summary

Ellucian is seeking a Director, Program Management in Bakersfield, California, to lead strategic initiatives for campus modernization. This role focuses on project management within the higher education sector, ensuring effective communication and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.

The ideal candidate has proven SaaS implementation experience, strong relationship-building skills, and exceptional communication abilities. Comprehensive health benefits, flexible time off, and professional development opportunities are included.

Qualifications

• Proven project management experience in SaaS or cloud environments.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills with stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and presentation capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead SaaS modernization initiatives through implementation phases.
• Communicate project plans and critical activities to stakeholders.
• Identify and mitigate project risks proactively.

Skills

Project management

Relationship building

Communication

SaaS implementation

Continuous improvement

Tools

Smartsheet

Job description

About Ellucian Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

About The Opportunity

• LOCATION - will be ONSITE in California.
• TYPE - F/T Salaried + yearly bonus (will be employee of Ellucian)
• OPEN to Relocation as well (Relocation $$$ offered)

The Director, Program Management, Campus Modernization will lead both strategic and tactical activities and campus communications to build consensus around the value of collaboration in a public higher education institution as a member of the CCC community and engaging with the entire Kern Multi-Campus District. The incumbent must have the ability to challenge conventional thinking with new ideas, approaches, and solutions through personal influence to promote transformation. The position requires professionalism, confidentiality, organization, prioritization, excellent interpersonal skills, strong written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to garner respect and confidence of colleagues through listening, learning, and forging working relationships and synergies across the district. You will bring both talent and passion to drive project management for a successful campus modernization initiative. Leveraging project management expertise, leadership capabilities, and a collaborative mindset, you will ensure successful project execution, ongoing process improvement, project status/reporting with intuitive dashboarding and presentations. Your ability to balance direct project delivery with adaptive, continuous enhancement of project management practices will be critical to our shared success.

Where you will make an impact

• Lead SaaS modernization and organizational change initiative through all phases of the Ellucian Implementation Methodology
• Build and maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with internal team members, client stakeholders, and district-wide personnel (Inclusive of Union/Classified Employees)
• Clearly communicate project plans, roles, constraints, milestones, and critical path activities to team members and stakeholders
• Apply standardized project management methodologies, delivery frameworks, and tracking practices to develop effective project plans and deliver high-Quality solutions
• Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate project risks while recognizing and leveraging opportunities
• Co-lead project team status meetings to monitor progress, manage dependencies, and ensure milestones are achieved
• Co-coordinate and manage both customer and internal resources
• Provide timely, proactive communication of project activities, decisions, and updates to all relevant parties up to and including Board Members
• Help translate goals into executable tactics through identifying responsible parties, needed resources, deadlines, and assessments
• Facilitate discussions with leadership and key sponsors to support decision-making related to project/initiative milestones and key decision points
• Build and maintain positive professional relationships, acting as a change agent to guide customers through transformation and modernization initiatives
• Lead project governance committees, managing resources effectively and guiding cross-functional teams in resolving risks and issues

What You Will Bring

• Proven project management experience, ideally within SaaS or cloud implementation environments, leading complex, cross-functional initiatives with change leadership methods
• Exceptional relationship-building skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with both internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with an emphasis on clarity, professionalism, and impact
• Demonstrated commitment to customer satisfaction and delivering high-quality project outcomes
• Demonstrated expertise in leading CRM or ERP SaaS implementation projects, with deep knowledge of cloud-based project delivery practices
• Demonstrated experience leading projects with Ellucian solution set highly desirable
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed to support business objectives and project activities
• Current knowledge of use and trends of technology in higher education preferred
• Working experience within the higher education industry preferred
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required
• Experience with Smartsheet is preferred

What makes #Ellucianlife

• Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision
• Flexible time off
• Thrive Flex Lifestyle Account (LSA) that allows you to contribute towards your health, financial or learning interests
• 401k w/ match & BrightPlan - to help you save for the future
• Parental Leave
• 5 charitable days to support the community that supports us
• Telemedicine
• Wellness
• Headspace Care (mental health)
• Wellbeats (virtual fitness classes)
  • RethinkCare & Wellthy – caregiver support
  • Diversity and inclusion programs which provide access to internal employee resource groups
• Employee referral bonuses to encourage the addition of great new people to the team
• We Foster a learning culture with:
  • Education Assistance Program
  • Professional development opportunities
  • LinkedIn Learning