The Opportunity The Project Specialist will report to the Manager, MGB HealthCare Information Systems (IS) in the Dana-Farber Cancer Center Institute (DFCI) Project Management Office (PMO). The project specialist provides strong project management knowledge and proven experience for both the IS DFCI department and the institute in areas impacted by and benefitting from IS systems and services. The focus of this position is: 1) to serve as a project manager for medium-to-large-scale initiatives, 2) to grow and mature the PMO with proven methodologies and tools, and 3) to support MGB and DFCI staff in project management best practices through coaching, mentoring, and training. These skills will be leveraged to assist in the use and continued improvement of standards throughout DFCI. Standards include project charters, schedules, success metrics, system deliverables, processes, etc. The project specialist will assist teams in project design; aid in the periodic review and auditing throughout a project's lifecycle; and guide projects in process content, application of tools, and knowledge management. Project Management * Manage medium- to large-scale projects within the context of the larger environment, including competing priorities, staffing levels, and budgetary concerns * Plan and manage projects following recognized project management methodology * Lead projects throughout full lifecycle with respect to scope, schedule, cost, and quality * Establish and maintain respectful relationship with project sponsor and stakeholders * Collaborate with the business in needs definition, business assessment, requirements gathering, vendor selection, resource allocation, project prioritization, risk analysis and mitigation, implementation, testing, training, and project closeout * Become familiar with associated business processes, strategic goals, and systems * Establish success metrics with project constituents * Proactively identify, analyze, mitigate, and manage risks * Navigate and comply with MGB and DFCI policies and procedures - finance/budget, infrastructure, human resources, legal and compliance, etc. * Identify, prepare, and coordinate all necessary project documentation * Regularly communicate with project stakeholders regarding schedule, status, issues, risks, scope changes, and milestone achievements * Direct cross-functional team resources, manage conflict, and escalate problems to management as needed * Ensure quality assessment is performed throughout the project, leading to high customer satisfaction PMO Support and Improvement * Drive the deployment, support, and continuous improvement of standard project management processes and tools, including templates and applications * Conduct periodic project reviews and compliance checks at various stages of the lifecycle * Learn PMO tools to assist in supporting their use at the institute * Help administer PMO software tools (MS Project, Quickbase, RationalPlan, Smartsheet, Teams, SharePoint, Confluence, etc.) * Train new employees on tools such as the IS Project Portfolio and Time Reporting * Communicate the PMO's mission and purpose throughout the IS and user community * Assist other project managers in project reporting and lessons learned * Review final project deliverables and assess content for publication within the collaboration space portal for knowledge management and historical archive * Identify project planning improvements and deficiencies * Work on special projects and assignments for the PMO manager * Provide administrative support to project, training, and tools specialists as needed * Author blog posts * Facilitate monthly lunch and learn sessions for the IS department * Author and review IS newsletter articles as needed * Participate in PM community * Review project proposals prepared by other IS domains as requested as part of the annual budgeting process Project Management Training and Mentoring * Formally and informally serve as PM mentor to other IS staff * Provide guidance to project managers and technical leads in the development of a project through the review of supporting materials (charters, plans, logs, metrics, etc.) * Develop and deliver project management training classes to IS and institute staff * Instruct staff and demonstrate use of project management tools, including project scheduling, time reporting, and project portfolio * Share project management knowledge, PMO news, methodology updates, etc. through quarterly IS newsletter articles * Share lunch and learn coordination responsibilities with colleagues Qualifications * BA/BS required, MA/MS degree preferred * Project Management Professional certification (PMP) from PMI * 5 years of experience in project management, preferably within information services or a healthcare environment * Demonstrated experience with productivity tools, such as Teams, MS Project, Word, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, Quickbase, Smartsheet, and/or other collaboration software Skills And Abilities * Proficiency in managing medium-to-large projects, their dependencies, team members, other resources, schedules, and in prioritizing and delegating accordingly * Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously * Diplomacy and professionalism in working with project sponsors, executives, stakeholders, and steering committees * Accomplished development of charters, project management plans, work breakdown structures, schedules, status reports, success metrics, etc. * Experience with managing organizational change * Notable follow-through and dependability * Polished customer service skills, especially negotiation/persuasion * Excellent oral, written, and presentation skills * Ability to prioritize tasks, motivate staff, and achieve goals and objectives * Autonomous decision-making whenever needed, as well as group consensus facilitation * Proven analytic and problem-solving skills * Desire and ability to coach, mentor, and train other staff members * Demonstrated creativity on process improvement initiatives * Ability to facilitate and work within a complex, multi-site environment * Process improvement knowledge helpful