IT Special Projects Manager

Job Description

Responsibilities

• Partner directly with the CIO to coordinate and advance high-priority strategic and operational initiatives across ITS.
• Translate the CIO’s vision and executive priorities into structured plans, clear next steps, owners, timelines, and deliverables.
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives involving ITS Directors, managers, and campus stakeholders, ensuring alignment and continued progress.
• Support strategic planning and special initiatives, including departmental planning, governance, continuity of operations, organizational climate, and culture.
• Develop executive-ready presentations, briefings, talking points, status updates, decision materials, and strategic summaries.
• Track project milestones, actions, decisions, risks, dependencies, and follow-up commitments to ensure initiatives stay on track.
• Anticipate potential gaps, roadblocks, or stakeholder concerns and proactively work to resolve them.
• Bring structure and momentum to new or evolving priorities that may not yet have clearly defined ownership, scope, or governance.
• Develop and improve dashboards, trackers, templates, workflows, and other tools that increase visibility and execution across special projects.
• Conduct research and synthesize complex information to support CIO decision-making and strategic initiatives.
• Manage sensitive executive communications, planning materials, and confidential information with discretion and sound judgment.

Day-to-Day

• Work directly with the CIO to understand strategic priorities and determine how to move them from vision into execution.
• Meet regularly with ITS Directors and other stakeholders to coordinate initiatives, establish ownership, and keep projects moving forward.
• Take loosely defined or ambiguous projects and create structure around the scope, tasks, stakeholders, timelines, and next steps.
• Proactively follow up with stakeholders rather than waiting for direction, ensuring commitments and deliverables stay on track.
• Maintain project trackers, dashboards, status reports, action-item lists, risk logs, and decision documentation.
• Prepare polished presentations, executive summaries, briefing materials, and talking points for leadership.
• Identify risks, dependencies, gaps, or stalled work and determine the appropriate path forward or escalation.
• Research new initiatives or organizational priorities and quickly get up to speed on unfamiliar subject matter.
• Build relationships across ITS and the broader university to gain stakeholder buy-in and facilitate collaboration.
• Operate as a flexible right hand to the CIO on special projects, stepping into whatever high-priority initiatives require additional organization, coordination, or momentum.

Skills and Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Communications, Information Systems, Higher Education Administration, Public Administration, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience supporting executive-level initiatives, managing strategic projects, or coordinating complex cross-functional work.
• Proven self-starter who can independently identify what needs to happen and move work forward with minimal direction.
• Demonstrated ability to translate executive-level vision into actionable plans and manage initiatives through completion.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to work confidently and credibly with CIO-, VP-, Director-, and other senior-level stakeholders.
• Highly proactive with the ability to anticipate needs, identify gaps, and address potential issues before they become roadblocks.
• Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills with the ability to bring together stakeholders across different teams and priorities.
• Persuasive communicator capable of building alignment, influencing stakeholders, and gaining support without necessarily having direct authority.
• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Strong organizational, analytical, facilitation, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to quickly learn new concepts, environments, organizational structures, and technology-related priorities.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into concise, polished, executive-ready materials.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities independently in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• Excellent judgment, professionalism, and discretion when handling sensitive or confidential information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and collaboration/project management tools such as Smartsheet, Microsoft Teams, or similar platforms.
• Experience directly supporting a CIO, VP, dean, or other senior executive.
• Experience working in higher education, particularly within higher education IT or administrative operations.
• Experience coordinating strategic initiatives spanning multiple departments, business units, or organizational functions.
• Experience preparing executive briefings, leadership presentations, board/cabinet materials, or strategic summaries.
• Familiarity with project and portfolio management concepts, although this is not a traditional PMO/project delivery role.
• Experience developing dashboards, governance documentation, reporting processes, operational workflows, or policies.
• Understanding of enterprise IT environments, technology organizations, and governance structures.
• Exposure to ERP and/or Student Information System (SIS) planning initiatives.

We are a company committed to creating diverse and inclusive environments where people can bring their full, authentic selves to work every day. We are an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer that believes everyone matters. Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, genetic factors, age, disability, protected veteran status, military or uniformed service member status, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to [email protected].