Project Manager (Finance Focus)

University of Wisconsin-Madison; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 115,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Wisconsin-Madison is seeking an IT Project Manager II (MSN) to lead complex IT initiatives within the WEST program. The role focuses on vendor management, planning, and delivering projects aligned with Finance, HR, and Research Administration needs.

Collaboration with Finance and Research leaders is essential for successful outcomes. The position emphasizes governance, stakeholder engagement, and driving measurable value through careful planning, risk management, and process

Qualifications

• Experience leading IT projects with complex vendor partnerships.
• Strong communication with clients and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to develop and manage project plans, risks, and schedules.

Responsibilities

• Schedules and coordinates vendor workflows for complex projects.
• Drafts and delivers project status communications and reports.
• Serves as main client contact for multi-unit projects.
• Collaborates with stakeholders to align goals with priorities.
• Fosters a respectful, inclusive, and safe team environment.
• Provides advanced technical and analytical guidance to project teams.

Skills

Vendor management

Project planning

Stakeholder communication

Cross-functional teamwork

Tools

Workday

MS Office

Job description

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Job Category:

Academic Staff

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Profile:

IT Project Manager II (MSN)

Job Summary:

Common: Provides advanced technical, analytical, and strategic guidance for information technology (IT) projects. Manages vendor workflow and deliverables for complex projects and facilitates project status communication to clients to support IT developments necessary for mission related functions.
Unique: The Workday Enterprise Solutions Team (WEST) is responsible for the administration and optimization of Workday and related systems for Finance, Human Resources, and Research Administration across the Universities of Wisconsin System, while focusing on people, processes, and technology. This team will concentrate on continuous improvement and system maintenance, release enhancements, support, and strategic integration of the Workday ERP and related systems to achieve business objectives.
The Project Manager plays a critical role within the WEST Project Management and Administrative Operations team, driving successful planning and execution of initiatives for the Workday Finance and Research Administration teams.
This position will be aligned with the Workday Finance functional area, partnering closely with Finance and Research Administration Director to support the planning, coordination, and execution of finance-related initiatives across the WEST portfolio. The project manager role provides project leadership for efforts impacting Workday Financial Management, Adaptive Planning, Huron Research Suite (RAMP), and ChemManager/ShopUW+ to ensure alignment with institutional financial processes and priorities.
Success in this role requires the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives on behalf of WEST Finance with varying cross-functional domain impacts, including financial business processes, reporting and analytics, integrations, data warehousing, security, enterprise document management, and HCM partnership.
This individual will serve as a liaison between WEST functional finance teams and WEST technical, translating business needs into coordinated project delivery. By fostering collaboration, managing governance and stakeholder engagement, and aligning project outcomes with institutional financial goals, this position ensures initiatives deliver measurable value and support the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of Workday Finance capabilities.
The Project Manager is responsible for creating and managing project plans, coordinating resources, identifying and mitigating risks, and ensuring timely delivery of high-quality outcomes. This position also provides leadership in adopting best practices in project management, contributing to the overall success and consistency of WEST PM activities.
To be successful in this position, you will need to intentionally collaborate with peers across WEST and work to actively foster a respectful, inclusive and safe team environment.
Schedule will be determined with the selected finalist upon hire. Primary schedule will be during business hours Monday through Friday, beginning no later than 9:00AM CST and ending no earlier than 3:00PM CST, with an on-call or weekend rotation as required by the department.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Schedules and facilitates communication for the integration of vendor workflow and tracks and reviews vendor deliverables for moderately complex, multi-unit projects
• Drafts and delivers project status communications and reports
• Serves as a main point of contact for clients in the development and implementation of multi-unit, moderately complex projects
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to align project goals with broader organizational priorities and requirements.
• Works actively to foster a respectful, inclusive and safe team environment
• Provides advanced technical and analytical guidance to project teams. Identifies and estimates tasks, applies established project management, process improvement, and budget and cost analysis methodologies to identify obstacles and drive project completion

Department:

Workday and Enterprise Solutions Team

Compensation:

Well qualified applicants can expect to earn between $115,000 - $140,000, with final salary based on experience and qualifications.
In addition to salary, this position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund. For a summary of benefits, please see: https://www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/fasl.pdf.

Required Qualifications: