Sr. Portfolio Manager

Department Information Technology

Exempt, Regular, Full Time, Pay Grade 4.4

Location: Adelphi, MD (Hybrid)

The Senior Portfolio Manager plays a critical role in supporting leadership by overseeing and optimizing the full life cycle of IT initiatives. By aligning these efforts with UMGC's strategic goals and our customers strategy, this position ensures that resources are effectively managed and that all projects deliver maximum value and benefits. Acting as a key liaison and advisor to the EPMO, steering committees, and senior executives, the Sr Portfolio Manager serves as the primary resource for clear and effective communication across the organization's leadership.

In this role, the Sr Portfolio Manager helps focus leadership efforts by providing strategic guidance and actionable insights. The individual escalates critical data and recommendations to aid in achieving an optimized mix of project investments. By balancing resource allocation and monitoring progress, the manager ensures that all initiatives align with organizational priorities while maximizing resource utilization.

Additionally, the Sr Portfolio Manager is responsible for identifying, prioritizing, and coordinating the resources engaged across multiple projects and programs within the portfolio. This includes maintaining oversight of key initiatives to ensure their alignment with enterprise objectives and facilitating collaboration across diverse teams. This role brings a combination of strategic vision, operational expertise, and a deep understanding of portfolio management to drive value across all IT initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Liaison with the customers' EPMO to ensure alignment with business and resolve any dependencies between IT and other business portfolios.
• Supports AE leadership in overseeing, managing, and using the entire life cycle of investments and initiatives to achieve UMGC's IT goals and objectives.
• Provides and escalates data on achieving an optimized mix among project investments, making the best possible use of all resources, and delivering the maximum value and benefits from projects and programs within the IT portfolio.
• Identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates project and program resources engaged with all or many of the initiatives within the IT portfolio.
• Determine the short- and long-term roadmaps for the IT portfolio and adjust as priorities change. 
• Collaborate across business and technology functions to monitor dependencies and provide centralized visibility across the initiatives.
• Manage issues and risks within the portfolio. Make key tradeoff decisions to do the “right” thing for the portfolio, considering all perspectives.
• Ensures consistency and excellence in the execution and efficiency of workflow across methodologies and frameworks within the portfolio.
• Provide delivery management with demand views that enable the ability to appropriately plan resource assignments and needs and understand demand versus capacity.
• Stay current with business and technology trends. Champion change and innovation and socialize a forward-thinking roadmap.

Education & Experience Requirements:

Experience:

• 10 or more years of experience in Technology or EdTech.
• 7-10 years in diverse roles with increasing leadership responsibilities across major projects and programs.
• Exceptional leadership skills. 
• A high degree of political sensitivity and astuteness.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong business acumen, including industry- and domain-specific knowledge of the organization and its business units.
• A high level of empathy and the ability to vary styles of interaction to match the needs of a variety of business and technical audiences.
• Experience with one or more agile or lean methodologies (Lean, Scrum, Kanban, Devops, SAFe)
• Program management skills and experience, plus significant knowledge of productivity tools with evidence of practical application
• A distinctive blend of business, IT, financial and communication skills.
• Effective influencing and negotiation skills in an environment where resources are often not in direct control of this role.
• Excellent analytical, strategic conceptual thinking, strategic planning and execution skills.
• A strong facilitator with experience engaging teams in a collaborative, distributed environment
• Listens and supports people in problem identification and decision-making, creating an environment of mutual influence
• Empathizes with others and encourages the personal development of teams

Preferred Experience Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree

All submissions should include a cover letter and resume.

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination. UMGC is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, ancestry, political affiliation or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Workplace Accommodations:

The University of Maryland Global Campus Global Campus (UMGC) is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive working environment for people of all abilities. UMGC is dedicated to the principle that no qualified individual with a disability shall, based on disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of the University, or be subjected to discrimination. For information about UMGC's Reasonable Workplace Accommodation Policy or to request an accommodation, applicants/candidates can contact Employee Accommodations via email at employee-accommodations@umgc.edu. 

Benefits Package Highlights:

• Generous Time Off: Enjoy 22 days of paid vacation, 15 days of sick leave, 3 personal days, and 15 paid holidays (16 during general election years). For part-time employees, time off rates will be prorated based on the number of hours worked.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Access to health care, medical with vision, dental, and prescription plans for both individuals and families, effective from the 1st of the month following your hire date.
• Insurance Options: Term Life Insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, and Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance. Part-time employees working less than 0.5 FTE are not eligible for LTD.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Available for medical and dependent care expenses.
• Retirement Plans: Choose between the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) or the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS).
• Supplemental Retirement Plans: include 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), and various Roth options. The university does not provide matching funds.
• Tuition Remission: Immediate availability for Regular Exempt Staff. Spouses and dependent children are eligible for undergraduate tuition remission after two years of service. NOTE: For part-time employees (at least 50 percent of the time), tuition remission benefits are prorated.

Hiring Range: