Technical Project Consultant

ETS; Princeton (NJ); On-site; USD 130,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Educational Testing Service, Inc. in Princeton, NJ is hiring a Technical Project Consultant to lead NAEP quality assurance, manage IT projects, and coordinate cross-functional teams.

Under the Program/Product Relationship Manager, this role plans, schedules and monitors activities to meet delivery, cost and time objectives while ensuring staff productivity. The position requires 10–15 years of PM/IT management experience, a bachelor’s degree, and strong communication skills.

Qualifications

• Excellent project management and organizational skills.
• Comprehensive knowledge of project management and SDLC methodologies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support QC, UAT and OT.
• Define, organize, guide, coordinate, monitor and execute the work effort to deliver new products, services and methods.
• Accurately forecast time, resource needs and work estimates for required work.
• Communicate effectively in writing and verbally with stakeholders.
• Monitor customer satisfaction and project fulfillment while maintaining budget.

Skills

Project management

Organizational skills

Written communication

Verbal communication

SDLC knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

• Will this position have direct reports? :No
• Salary : $130,000 USD Annually - $176,000 USD Annually

Job Description

About ETS:
ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners worldwide to be future-ready. For more than 80 years, we've been advancing the science of measurement to build benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment across cultures and borders. Our worldwide impact extends through our renowned assessments including TOEFL®, TOEIC®, GRE® and Praxis® tests, serving millions of learners in more than 200 countries and territories. Through strategic acquisitions, we've expanded our global capabilities: PSI strengthens our workforce assessment solutions, ACT solidifies our impact in higher Ed and Workskills while Edusoft enhances our educational technology and assessment platforms across critical markets worldwide.

Through ETS Research Institute and ETS Solutions, we're partnering with educational institutions, governments, and organizations globally to promote skill proficiency, empower upward mobility, and unlock opportunities for everyone, everywhere. With offices and partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, we deliver nearly 50 million tests annually. Join us in our journey of measuring progress to power human progress worldwide.

About ETS:

ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners worldwide to be future-ready. For more than 80 years, we've been advancing the science of measurement to build benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment across cultures and borders. Our worldwide impact extends through our renowned assessments including TOEFL®, TOEIC®, GRE® and Praxis® tests, serving millions of learners in more than 200 countries and territories. Through strategic acquisitions, we've expanded our global capabilities: PSI strengthens our workforce assessment solutions, ACT solidifies our impact in higher Ed and Workskills while Edusoft enhances our educational technology and assessment platforms across critical markets worldwide.

Through ETS Research Institute and ETS Solutions, we're partnering with educational institutions, governments, and organizations globally to promote skill proficiency, empower upward mobility, and unlock opportunities for everyone, everywhere. With offices and partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, we deliver nearly 50 million tests annually. Join us in our journey of measuring progress to power human progress worldwide.

Under minimal direction from the Program/Product Relationship Manager (PRM), Manager, Director or Executive Director, the Technical Project Consultant (TPC) is responsible for set up, planning, scheduling and controlling of project/initiative activities to achieve deliverables, performance, cost and time objectives and business benefits for a given scope of work, while using resources efficiently and effectively. The TPC assists their respective management in monitoring the quality of deliverables and staff productivity. This is a hands-on role that is deeply involved in the daily operations, goals, and troubleshooting activities of the department. This role is committed to successful and timely delivery across the organization. The TPC may oversee and coordinate multiple projects and services, manage large-scale, multi-functional projects to completion. The TPC may also be responsible for managing day-to-day operational activities for any system.

This specific TPC role will lead the NAEP quality assurance activities, both with internal teams, external partners, and the client.

Responsibilities

• Implement IT strategy consistent with individual business unit goals and IT team direction.
• Participate in the creation of technical project teams.
• Provide learning and development opportunities by sharing Subject Matter Expertise.
• Anticipate, assess, and mitigate issues, coordinating across teams as a single point of contact as necessary and escalat when necessary.
• Define, organize, guide, coordinate, monitor and execute the work effort to deliver new products, services and methods to business customers within defined constraints for time, cost, quality/scope.
• Accurately forecast time, resource needs and work estimates for required work.
• Effectively collaborate across IT teams and Domains to mitigate risks and solve problems in order to meet business commitments.
• Regularly update leadership on progress and status of assigned projects and ensure production goals are successfully met.
• Oversee and manage the assignment and completion of staff projects, task, and duties.
• Apply project management skills to perform ongoing review of program status; identify risks along with mitigation plans.
• Document project progress including implementation, timelines, issues, risks, and successes to maintain program course.
• Communicate effectively in writing and through verbal communications, face to face and through collaborative communication tools.
• Be able to communicate effectively to a wide range of people (including presentations/meetings), including effective and timely escalation when necessary.
• Identify and flag changes that need to be addressed. Changes may be internal to IT or broader outside of IT. Identify appropriate change owner/group and effectively communicate the change to the responsible individual or group.
• Monitor customer satisfaction and project fulfillment while maintaining budget.
• Close the project, evaluate project success, document lessons learned and release project resources.
• Lead and Support QC, UAT and OT.
• Adhere to ethical standards and comply with the laws and regulations applicable to your job function.

Process Outputs and Deliverables

• Technology initiatives properly aligned to programs/products or strategy
• IT plan and reporting
• Risk, issue, change and decision logs
• Resource skills requirements

• Deployed projects, programs/products or applications
• Project related communications

Complexity

The TPC is accountable for successfully executing all aspects of the project or initiative including the overall plan, schedule and in negotiating/navigating the IT organization and ETS landscape. Projects are often complex and require exceptional management, quality control, issue identification, risk mitigation and negotiation skills. The TPC must lead their project teams and, at times other IT staff, in overcoming roadblocks and barriers that may impact project success. The TPC will be expected to work closely with their Project Owner to anticipate/identify and resolve gaps that may potentially impact the planning and execution of their projects. The TPC must manage project risk by partnering with the Project Owner, Project Team and stakeholders to establish contingency and mitigation plans as necessary.

Experience and Skills

Required Skills

• Excellent project management and organizational skills.
• Comprehensive knowledge of -- and extensive experience in -- project management and SDLC methodologies.
• Knowledge of QC processes, automation frameworks, and the application of AI capabilities and AI agents is desirable.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Access, PowerPoint, Project and Excel) is essential.
• Knowledge of ETS policies and procedures is desired along with the ability to interpret, apply and/or explain policies and procedures.
• Ability to plan, initiates actions, establish and meet deadlines in an individual or team environment to complete projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and attention to detail are essential.

Education, Certifications, or Special Licenses:

Bachelor's degree or the equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired is necessary.

Relevant Years of Experience Required:

This position requires minimum 10-15 years of project management, software development management or IT management of progressively responsible technology experience.

Other Requirements (Specialized skill sets, behavioral/technical):

Functional/Technical Acumen:

• Understand relevant technologies and IT-related processes and be able to influence the work being done in the IT organization (e.g. team, group, vendor).
• Keep up with current technology trend and best practices and be able to introduce innovations.
• Know enough about technology to be able to challenge the work being done in the project.
• Understand technology solutions and the teams' work. Effective management of the work and budget as appropriate for the role.
• Lead, motivate, and set a vision for the project teams.
• Proactively manage the project and the people as it relates to the project so that it meets the desired outcome.
• Demonstrate domain expertise.
• Demonstrates expertise in Project Management principles and/or Agile/Waterfall SDLC methodologies.

Negotiate cross-team and stakeholder resolutions made in their teams.

Results Orientation:

• Makes things happen. Able to identify and appropriately remove obstacles to meet commitments.
• Be creative in applying technology to solve problems.
• Be on-time and on-budget for approved scope, effectively communicating risks and issues, particularly around change management.
• Effectively manage scope, risk and quality.
• Adheres to and adopts project change management principles and processes.
• Ensures there is adherence to SDLC processes.

Relationship Mastery/People Skills:

• Works well across teams and with their peers.
• Able to communicate across IT and ETS as needed for the team's contributions to the work.
• Reading the room and acting accordingly.
• Able to influence where you have no authority.
• Effectively manages 'down, out and up' throughout the organization to achieve desired results.
• Negotiates with clients or partners whether ETS internal or external in a way that maintains a positive relationship.
• Demonstrates effective communication and facilitation skills.

End to end Understanding:

• Understand the end to end business processes and how specific applications fit into the whole.
• Understands the impacts of their decisions and actions on the greater organization and takes into account the benefits and risks to more than just their team but to the larger organization.
• Understands how technologies and IT processes enables, improves & or influences ETS processes, products and services.

Learning Agility:

• Brings new solutions to problems.
• Be able to learn continuously about new technologies and processes and how they might apply to ETS.
• Willing and open to take on new things or challenges.
• Embraces changes and learns on the fly and good at connecting dots.
• Learning from experience and be able to apply.
• Embraces ambiguity and is able to translate into actionable tasks or path forward.
• Looks for opportunities to improve process, quality and productivity.

Market Insight and Service Orientation:

• Understands and communicates downstream impacts of your work.
• Delivers a work output of quality and take accountability for that output and for the end result.
• Bring industry ideas and best practices for your role to solve business problems and improve ETS competitiveness.

Must complete a government security clearance investigation and fingerprint check. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

#LI-NK1

ETS is mission driven and action oriented

• We are passionate about hiring innovative thinkers who believe in the promise of education and lifelong learning.
• We are energized by cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders. In support of this ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you to learn and advance your career growth!
• As a not-for-profit organization we will encourage you to lean in to your passion for volunteering. At ETS you may qualify for up to an additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work on causes that are important to you!
• The base salary range advertised represents the low and high end of the anticipated salary range for this position. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. The base pay is only one aspect of the Total Rewards Package that will be offered to the successful candidate.

ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law. We believe in creating a work environment where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.