Manager, Project Development and Planning

Lone Star College; Texas; On-site; USD 77,000 - 89,000; Full time

Job summary

Lone Star College seeks a Manager, Project Development and Planning to oversee financial, operational, and administrative functions for the department. You will partner with leadership to manage capital project financials, budgeting, and process improvements across campuses.

The role requires strong project management, budgeting, and cross-functional communication, with travel across LSC locations as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and at least 5 years of experience in related fields.
• At least 3 years of project management experience.
• At least 2 years in a management-level position.
• Preferred: MBA and experience in higher education or construction industries.

Responsibilities

• Manages daily financial operations for the department including accounts receivable, accounts payable, journal entries, procurement, position management, and resolving complex accounting issues.
• Supports department leadership in managing the annual budget process, including development and monitoring of budgets.
• Oversees project development budgeting, expenditures, and reconciliations for capital projects.
• Coordinates and tracks board agenda items (BAls) and vendor contracts; ensures procurement compliance.
• Provides administrative support and ensures compliance with regulations and policies.

Skills

Project management

Budgeting

Financial analysis

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance or Accounting

Tools

PowerBI

Excel

Job description

Commitment to Mission

At Lone Star College System, every employee contributes to our mission of providing transformational educational opportunities that help individuals get from where they are to where they want to be. Guided by our vision to lead higher education through high-quality, affordable, and innovative learning opportunities, employees are expected to exemplify professionalism, integrity, accountability, and collaboration.

Through our One LSC Philosophy, we deliver excellent and uniform customer service, providing consistent information, and uniformly helping every student regardless of physical location, modality, college, campus, center, or medium.

This commitment supports Lone Star College System's strategic goals:

1. Opportunity through financial resilience
2. Leading in academic excellence
3. Strength in culture and talent development
4. Connections through bridges of prosperity

Great Colleges to Work For

Lone Star College System is proud to be recognized as a Great Colleges to Work For institution by The Chronicle of Higher Education. This recognition reflects our commitment to creating an organizational culture where employees are valued, supported, and empowered.

Campus Marketing Statement

Lone Star College-System Office, University Park

With 100,000 students and counting, Lone Star College System provides transformational educational opportunities that help individuals get from where they are to where they want to be. The two-year institution is training tomorrow's workforce today, offering more than 200 degrees and certification programs that empower students to take the next step.

Lone Star College System has eight main campuses and more than 20 locations in the Houston area. Learn more at LoneStar.edu .

Lone Star College System Office employees are based at one of two System Office locations: The Woodlands and University Park. Both are sites for multiple administrative departments and systemwide training programs.

The address is 20515 SH 249 (SH 249 and Louetta Road), Houston, Texas 77070-2607. All applicants must reside in Texas.

Job Description

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

The Manager, Project Development and Planning is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the financial, operational, administrative, procurement, budgeting, compliance, and business support functions for the department. This position serves as a strategic partner to departmental leadership by managing business operations, supporting capital project financial management, ensuring compliance with organizational policies and regulatory requirements, and implementing process improvements that enhance operational efficiency and transparency. The position serves as the primary business operations resource and subject matter expert for department personnel, campus stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

1. Manages daily financial operations for the department including accounts receivable, accounts payable, journal entries, procurement, position management, and resolving complex and unpredictable accounting issues
2. Conducts research, compiles and analyzes data, and develops detailed reports, proposals, and presentations in alignment with approved branding and tools
3. Serves as the point of contact and Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Business Operations team, providing ongoing support and collaboration with department leadership, responsibilities include creating and delivering finance training, creating job aids, and leading information sharing sessions to campus teams, department personnel, and peer groups. Responsible for Project Development and Planning team member onboarding and training
4. Supports department leadership in managing the annual budget process, including the development and monitoring of annual operational and capital budgets, as well as monitoring costs, budgets, and providing proactive budget recommendations
5. Oversees Project Development and Planning year-end processes, providing reports and query data to ensure all expenses are processed and cleared
6. Manages and advises on Capital project budgeting, overall transactions, and reconciliations
7. Performs grants budget analysis to ensure associated expenditures are compliant with grant restrictions
8. Responsible for owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP), project insurance verification and vendor communication
9. Collaborates across LSC functional units to identify, develop, and implement consistent best practices, key performance indicators and re-engineer SOPs to ensure efficiency, documentation, adhere to best practices and transparency. Interface with internal and external contacts as needed to carry out the functions of the position
10. Coordinates, compiles, and tracks board agenda items (BAls), monitors their expiration, and oversees the implementation of new BAls and related contracts, this includes adhering to procurement processes, communication with external vendors, and ongoing vendor relationship management
11. Manage the creation, entry, tracking and closeout of processes, projects, contracts, assets, and initiatives utilizing standard department tools such as service tickets (IT, CMMS, Legal, Marketing, etc.) database entries, Excel sheets, PowerBI, and AIR dashboards
12. Provides comprehensive administrative support to assigned department including, supply management, meeting scheduling, inbox management, intranet updates, form and document creation, and communications. Ensures compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and LSC policies and procedures
13. Acts as a resource to the division across LSC campuses to maintain normal business operations as needed
14. Responsible for other reasonable, related duties as assigned

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Advanced financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and reconciliation skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to evaluate complex financial and operational issues
• Excellent project management and organizational skills
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to prepare reports, executive summaries, presentations, policies, procedures, and business correspondence
• Skilled in developing and delivering training programs, on-boarding materials, and instructional resources
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including data analysis, formulas, pivot tables, reporting, and financial modeling
• Process improvement and workflow design skills
• Ability to utilize reporting and business tools

PHYSICAL ABILITIES:

The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items, such as papers, books, or small parts; or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

WORK SCHEDULE AND CONDITIONS:

• Equipment used includes, PC workstation running on a LAN in a Microsoft Windows environment, calculator, phone, and other general office equipment
• Interface with internal and external contacts as needed to carry out the functions of the position
• Work is performed in a climate-controlled office with minimal exposure to safety hazards
• May regularly travel to different LSC locations
• May be fully reassigned to a different LSC location if necessary
• May need to work weekends and untraditional hours if necessary

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree and at least 5 years of experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Experience must include at least 3 years in project management
• Experience must include at least 2 years in a management level position

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance or Accounting
• Experience working in higher education
• Experience in bond construction projects
• Experience in the construction Industry

Salary

Hiring salary range is: $77,356 - $88,959

Lone Star College provides a hiring salary range for all posted full-time non-faculty positions. Where your salary offer would fall in that range is determined by your related experience and education. Should you receive an offer of employment from Lone Star College, the resume submitted in the application process will be utilized to calculate your salary offer. The information outlined below will provide the Office of Human Resources everything needed to determine an accurate starting salary.

Lone Star College participates in the E-Verify program, under which Lone Star College provides the federal government with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm that the employee is authorized to work in the United States.

Benefits Marketing Statement

By joining our top-notch institution, you will enjoy being a part of an organization that offers a supportive, collegial work environment and excellent work/life balance. This includes a full comprehensive and competitive benefits package, a generous number of paid holidays and vacation days, wellness programs, tuition waiver, professional development opportunities and more.

Lone Star College is an EEO Employer. All positions are subject to a criminal background check.