Senior Project Manager

Ascend is the largest credit union in Middle Tennessee and one of the largest credit unions in the United States, with over $4 billion in assets. With an occupation-based field of membership, Ascend is focused on the expansion and diversification of the select employee groups it serves, which creates greater security for the credit union and its member-owners. Approximately 650 employees serve more than 260,000 members from 27 Middle Tennessee branch locations, Regional Operations Center, Teller Center and Corporate Headquarters. Ascend recognizes that its employees are critical to the credit union's sustained success and future growth. Our employees are the face of the credit union and their personal successes fuel the success of the team. Through collaboration between employees, management, our membership and our Board, we fuel an engine that propels the credit union forward.

Thank you for your interest in a career with Ascend Federal Credit Union! Being employed by Ascend is vastly different than just holding a job. The credit union prides itself on providing employees rewarding career opportunities, competitive benefits and a unique work culture. The credit union's commitment to its employees is fostered by its commitment to the member-owners, ensuring dedicated and engaged employees to serve the membership. Ascend's vision to be the most loved credit union in our market by employees and members alike has earned the credit union distinctions including Federal Credit Union of the Year (NAFCU, 2015), Best Credit Union to Work For (2016-2025) and Training MVP Awards (2015-2025).

As a Senior Project Manager, you will be responsible for partnering with project sponsors, stakeholders, and external vendors throughout the full project life cycle to successfully deliver and implement critical strategic initiatives that are designed to enable the growth and service objectives of the enterprise. The Senior Project Manager will manage multiple concurrent projects and workstreams of medium to large size, visibility, and complexity levels. This role serves as a primary communication lead, coordinating across leadership levels, including but not limited to, Information Technology, senior leadership, and Business Operations to define business requirements, scope, schedule, budget, resourcing, and governance. Execute with minimal supervision to provide excellent leadership to the project team during implementation fostering collaboration, driving accountability, and while proactively mitigating and escalating risks to ensure successful project delivery. #LI-Onsite

Establish and lead enterprise-wide, cross-functional strategic initiatives that include a variety of projects including implementation of new tools, products, services, applications, system integrations, efficiency improvements, and infrastructure upgrades and deployments, throughout the project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with multiple stakeholders across various departments to develop and document detailed project plans, including project requirements, scope, work breakdown structures, work effort, milestones, timelines, budgets, staffing needs, communication plans, and risk assessment/management plans.
• Effectively build, manage, and lead matrixed project resources to ensure that the team works efficiently and effectively in order to meet project objectives and goals.
• Proactively manage program and project constraints including but not limited to resources, budget, and time.
• Successfully delegate project tasks based on individual project team members' strengths, skill sets, and experience level.
• Effectively manage project scope by ensuring any changes to scope are documented and approved with proper change management workflows.
• Document and manage the vendor selection process for all assigned projects to ensure proper due diligence is performed in order to deliver agreed upon project deliverables outline within the project plan.
• Proactively analyze and mitigate project risk while escalating potential project risk to management that threaten the successful delivery of key milestones and/or project deliverables.
• Effectively identify and mitigate obstacles which enable the project team to complete project objectives on time and within budget.
• Coordinate, schedule, and prepare meetings, conference calls, and events as needed.
• Prepare meeting materials, outlines, presentations, reports, meeting minutes and other project documentation.
• Conduct project closure activities to include final reporting, lessons learned, knowledge transfer, and project documentation.
• Actively analyze, document, and report project performance to project team, key stakeholders, and supervisor throughout the life cycle of all assigned projects.
• Effectively communicate, both written and verbally, with stakeholders throughout the enterprise to ensure project transparency.
• Collaborate with outside vendors across multiple regions to effectively plan and execute project timelines and deliverables while maintaining proper vendor relations.
• Adhere to best practice project management processes.
• Actively build and maintain strong positive business relationships with project teams, key colleagues and stakeholders throughout the enterprise by utilizing both formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen said relationships.
• Deliver end results that are quantifiable to the business and stakeholders.
• Work with established processes to measure, track and forecast available resource capacity across the enterprise.
• Attend various meetings and training sessions to keep updated on job duties or as assigned.
• Read all internal publications including HUB and Possibilities.
• Perform other duties as required or assigned.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Project Management, Information Systems, Computer Science or equivalent work experience is required

Work Experience

• 8-10 years Proven experience leading complex, large-scale projects, preferably within a bank or credit union is required and
• PMP or PgMP Certification is required and
• CPMI Certification or M & A Integration Management experience is preferred
• Certified ScrumMaster or equivalent Agile training/experience is preferred
• Prosci Change Management Certification is preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Experience building systems and solutions within a regulated environment.
• Prior experience using Smartsheet, Wrike, Asana, Azure, or MS Project preferred.
• A high degree of poise and tact to represent the credit union positively in outside contacts and with employees.
• Advanced knowledge of project management tools and methodologies.
• Ability to meet deadlines and proactively report progress/issues to senior executives.
• Demonstrates expert-level influence and impact through exceptional, concise, and effective written and verbal communication.
• Hours may be unpredictable because of unforeseen problems arising, updates, etc.
• Regular and reliable attendance is required.

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Ascend Federal Credit Union is an Equal Opportunity Employer.