Strategic Operations Project Leader

Penn State University; University Park (IL); On-site; USD 66,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

75% tuition discount

Comprehensive benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Penn State University’s College of Engineering seeks a Project Manager, Strategic Operations to lead initiatives that enhance operational effectiveness, optimize business processes, and improve service delivery across the college.

You will guide projects through initiation to closeout, coordinate with leadership, departments, and research units, and use data and AI-enabled tools to drive performance and strategic outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 1+ years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted.

Responsibilities

• Plan, manage, and execute projects that improve operations, processes, and organizational performance.
• Partner with College leadership, academic departments, research centers, institutes, and administrative units to identify opportunities to improve operational effectiveness and service delivery.
• Facilitate stakeholder discussions, process reviews, workshops, and planning sessions to gather requirements, evaluate current-state operations, and develop future-state solutions.
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, milestones, risk assessments, communication plans, status reports, and project documentation.
• Analyze business processes, workflows, financial data, transactional activity, staffing models, and operational practices to identify opportunities for improvement and organizational efficiencies.
• Lead process redesign, operational improvement, and organizational change initiatives that support the College’s strategic priorities.
• Monitor project performance, manage project scope, risks, issues, dependencies, and change requests, and recommend corrective actions when needed.
• Prepare presentations, reports, dashboards, and executive briefings that communicate project status, findings, risks, opportunities, and recommendations.
• Support decision-making by translating complex analyses into actionable recommendations for College leadership.
• Leverage data, emerging technologies, and AI-enabled tools to improve analysis, project execution, stakeholder engagement, and operational outcomes.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of project management practices, tools, templates, and methodologies across the College.

Skills

Project leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Analytical skills

Communication

Facilitation

Presentation skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

PM tools

Job description

Penn State University’s College of Engineering seeks a Project Manager, Strategic Operations to lead initiatives that enhance operational effectiveness, optimize business processes, and improve service delivery across the college.

You will guide projects through initiation to closeout, coordinate with leadership, departments, and research units, and use data and AI-enabled tools to drive performance and strategic outcomes.