Senior Project Planner/Scheduler

OBJECTIVES

• To provide project planning, scheduling, and ad hoc services for OIST projects;
• To allow the technical Project Managers (PMs) and Project Leads (PLs) to focus more on the solution and delivery of a project; and
• To assist projects in complying with the OIST Project Management Framework (PMF).

SCOPE

The project planning, scheduling, and ad hoc support provided by the OIST Program Management Division (OIPM) shall cover all OIST projects and operational work. The time spent by the Associate Project Planner/Scheduler once assigned to a project shall be charged to the project’s budget accordingly, while costs incurred while the resource is doing operational work or not assigned to a project shall be covered by OIPM (through the AE Budget).

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• The personnel will be part of the project delivery support resource pool of the Portfolio Management Team of OIPM. He/she will report to the IT Specialist (Portfolio Management) and Senior IT Officer (Portfolio Management) under the Director, OIPM for overall project, program and portfolio support activities, report preparation and other related concerns. He/she will report full-time during the engagement period at HQ office.
• Develops the project schedule or operational workplan (i.e., application releases and IT infrastructure operational work) for the PMs and PLs, and ensures that the schedule information are up-to- date;
• Reviews and understands the project schedules and seeks from and provides input to the PMs and PLs for the determination whether the sequence of activities will deliver the product and project scope within the parameters of the project objectives (deadlines and budget and functionality);
• Creates and maintains all project-related records into HQ’s project management tools, such as project information, schedules, resources, financials, exceptions, and other ad-hoc information;
• Performs and may assist the Project Administrator for the following responsibilities:
  • Ensures the integrity and update of the project plan’s baseline and that the published workplan has the latest information;
  • Sets up the assigned resources and corresponding allocation of each resource to a project or operational workplan;
  • Ensures that resource timesheets are up-to- date (for Senior/Lead PA);
  • Fine-tunes the activity and task details if needed by adjusting task relationships, setting up constraints, changing the task types, entering deadline dates, and setting up recurring tasks;
  • Fine-tunes the resources by leveling the load (especially for “shared resources”) and resolving cases of resource over-allocation;
• Assists the PMs and PLs preparing the project artifacts in compliance with OIST’s PMF;
• Develops and maintains the resource plan (including resource utilization, renewals, releases, engagements, etc.).
• Develops and maintains project budget, including expenditure forecast and recording of actual expenditures;
• Monitors actual progress versus planned progress (e.g.., %Completion and Schedule Variance of the project);
• Performs above responsibilities using Microsoft Project, Microsoft Office, Enterprise Project Management software (EPMS), and other tools used by HQ office;
• Advises the PMs and PLs to raise potential schedule risks and issues, including recommendations on how to mitigate the schedule risk or resolve the schedule issue;
• Advises the PMs on the impact of project change requests on schedule, resources, and budget;
• Prepares reports related to the above and other project ad-hoc reporting requirements;
• Conducts rolling-in knowledge transfer for new PS resources;
• Advises both staff (PMs and PLs) and contractor (PAs and Associate PS) users on how to effectively use the project scheduling tools;
• Performs other project-related work and outputs required by OIPM.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, Computer Science or related fields;
• 6+ years of project planning and scheduling experience demonstrated by a proven track record of success in multiple IT projects (preferably related experience in planning and tracking software solution delivery and/or IT infrastructure/network projects);
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in planning and scheduling processes for large IT capital projects;
• Preferably with experience in using “agile” methods in delivering software solutions.

Technical Knowledge:

• Proficient in project planning and scheduling (development of WBS, assigning and sequencing tasks, assigning and leveling of resources, baselining a workplan, and fine-tune the workplan if needed);
• Ability to apply, promote the use of and give advice on how to effectively use project scheduling tools;
• In-depth knowledge and experience on industry project management framework like PMBOK and Prince2;
• Good understanding of the project life cycle and software development life cycle (SDLC) including Stakeholder Analysis, Risk Analysis, Communication planning and Business Cases.

Soft skills

• Capable of working well with teams;
• Strong written and oral communication skills;
• Ability to balance short and long-term priorities;
• Ability to work within a diverse cultural environment;
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
• Self-driven, and can work with minimal supervision.

Project Tools

• Proficient in project management software (preferably MS Project) and MS Office

Certification

• Must either be PMI-SP or MS Project Certified Professional (MCP)
• Preferably CAPM, Agile-PM, PSM/CSM, ITIL certified or other related certifications.