Project Manager III - Technical

Western Governors University; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 108,000 - 162,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses

Medical, dental, vision

Wellbeing program

Tuition discounts

Paid time off

Job summary

Western Governors University seeks a Project Manager III - Technical to lead IT initiatives with agile methods, coordinating cross-functional teams and vendors to deliver on time and within budget. You will plan, monitor, and report project status, risks, and milestones, guiding sprint ceremonies and ensuring quality and compliance.

Applicants should have a Bachelor's degree and 4+ years PM experience, with strong Jira/MS Project and Excel skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, MIS, CS or related field.
• 4+ years of project management experience.
• Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education requirements.

Responsibilities

• Plan, organize, and manage all phases of IT projects, including scope definition, scheduling, resource coordination, and delivery tracking.
• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, work breakdown structures, estimates, and key delivery milestones.
• Monitor and communicate project status, risks, dependencies, and issues to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and timely escalation.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams and ensures collaboration between technical, business, and vendor partners.
• Responsible for ensuring project deliverables meet quality standards, technical requirements, and compliance expectations.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, support backlog clarity, and promote effective teamwork and continuous improvement.
• Identify and remove project blockers, evaluate alternative solutions, and drive alignment on decisions.
• Maintain accurate project documentation, including requirements, test plans, decision logs, and change requests.
• Support testing, validation, and user acceptance processes to ensure successful implementation and smooth transition to operations.
• Manage project budgets, vendor deliverables, and change orders to ensure financial accountability.

Skills

Leadership

Project Management

Agile

Stakeholder communication

Cross-functional coordination

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Business, MIS, CS or related field

Tools

Jira

MS Project

Excel

Job description

If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Technical 407 Pay Range: $108,200.00 - $162,400.00

Job Description

The Project Manager III - Technical position will assist in the planning, organizing, monitoring, and managing information technology projects through completion. Responsibilities include monitoring, reporting, and making visible project status, issues, resource requirements, and project plans. This role leads sprint planning, daily scrum ceremonies, sprint reviews, and retrospectives. To be successful in this role, the individual will need a deep knowledge of Agile principles and help identify and remove impediments to support consistent delivery and continuous improvement. This role is key in directing and supervising departmental or cross-functional teams, focused on delivering new or upgrading existing products using the Agile Project Methodology. This position is responsible for ensuring projects meet or exceed technical specifications, customer requirements, policies, budgets, and deadlines. Keeps stakeholders well informed of area activities and significant problems.

Duties

• Plan, organize, and manage all phases of assigned IT projects, including scope definition, scheduling, resource coordination, and delivery tracking.
• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, work breakdown structures, estimates, and key delivery milestones.
• Monitor and communicate project status, risks, dependencies, and issues to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and timely escalation.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams and ensures collaboration between technical, business, and vendor partners.
• Responsible for ensuring project deliverables meet quality standards, technical requirements, and compliance expectations.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, support backlog clarity, and promote effective teamwork and continuous improvement.
• Identify and remove project blockers, evaluate alternative solutions, and drive alignment on decisions.
• Maintain accurate project documentation, including requirements, test plans, decision logs, and change requests.
• Support testing, validation, and user acceptance processes to ensure successful implementation and smooth transition to operations.
• Manage project budgets, vendor deliverables, and change orders to ensure financial accountability.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned. related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Leadership and project management skills that drive scope, schedule, and delivery outcomes. Creates WBSs, project plans, schedules, and milestone-driven roadmaps.
• Deep understanding of project management methods, including Agile, hybrid, and traditional approaches.
• Proficient in development cycles, system processes, software lifecycle standards, and large-scale technology delivery.
• Critical thinking skills that apply things such as analyzing problems, evaluating technical constraints, identifying and recommending effective solutions at scale.
• Experience using project and productivity tools (e.g., Jira, MS Project, Excel, collaboration platforms).
• Ability to influence, motivate, and coordinate across cross-functional teams.
• Works effectively both independently and within team environments.
• Ability to plan complex work, manage competing priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Ability to maintain accurate documentation and support administrative, reporting, and governance requirements.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Management Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field
• Experience: 4+ years of project management experience
• Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

Preferred Qualifications

• Scrum Master Certification
• Project Management Professional (Project+, PMP, Prince2) Certification
• Experience in technology and/or higher education
• Experience with Agile development
• Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

Accommodations

Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail].

Equal Employment Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.

About the University

In 1997, a coalition of 19 U.S. governors founded Western Governors University with a singular vision: to make higher education more accessible by offering full degree programs online. Starting small, we quickly expanded. Today, we’re one of the largest accredited online universities in the U.S.