Request ID: MS-105439 (911090614)3p
Onsite Project Manager with MDE, lifecycle with LEAs Experience
Location: Jackson, MS
Duration: 12 Months
Required Skills/Experience
Provide the minimum required skills and/or experience the contractor must possess to qualify for this position. These
requirements will be transferred to the Score Sheet and candidates without these requirements reflected on their resume will
NOT be presented to the manager for consideration.
Educational background including a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in Information
Technology or another closely related field
Special Experience: The Project Manager should have at least five (5) years of experience with the development of
large-scale, complex IT projects involving multiple partners.
Contractor should have a minimum of three (3) years of experience in work related to IT Project Management using the
Agile Methodology
General Experience: In addition, the Project Manager must possess the following skills:
Leadership: ability to develop and refine the vision for the project with the MDE Executive Leadership, MDE
staff, contractors, LEAs and other stakeholders, and to operationalize the vision
Ability to communicate the vision to others in ways that inspire them to act
Communication: superior oral and written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex ideas
into simple concepts and explain them to various stakeholder groups
IT Project Management: Excellent project management skills, including experience managing the full lifecycle
of complex public sector IT projects
Financial Management: demonstrated ability to monitor product development budgets and forecast cash flow
needs
Ability to establish good interpersonal relationships and work across organizational boundaries
Superior analytic and problem-solving skills
Strategic planning experience
Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously
3
Experience with public sector systems and with participatory design are preferred.
Description of the job functions the contractor will be expected to perform.
The MDE requires professional project management services from a highly skilled individual(s) to provide
comprehensive coordination, administrative and operational support, financial management and documentation, project
tracking and reporting services to keep the system implementation process on task and on budget. The successful
candidate will serve as the primary contact person between the project team (MDE Staff, Project Contractors,
Stakeholders, LEAs) and the Mississippi Department of Education and be responsible for ongoing administrative and
operational oversight of management activities including but not limited to:
Project/Task Management
• Monitor and evaluate project implementation plan and milestone delivery schedule, including adjustments
based on the progress of work and specific recommendations for prioritizing and accelerating critical items
• Keep project participants including the State Superintendent, Chief of Operations (COO), MDE executive
leadership, internal stakeholders, vendors, LEAs, and other relevant third parties informed of all timelines, roles and
responsibilities, and deadlines
• Continuously monitor and document progress of all parties
• Anticipate obstacles to meeting deadlines in advance and work with stakeholders to prevent these
• Reviewing questions received from internal and external stakeholders and contractors during the design,
implementation, and deployment processes
• Monitor and communicate with all internal and external stakeholders recording any identified project risks
Evaluate and approve, in consultation with State Superintendent, Chief of Operations, MDE Leadership and
OTSS staff, any scope change requests
• Review and accept/reject implementation milestones and deliverables, providing feedback on rejections
Communication
• Serve as first point of contact for the State Superintendent, Chief of Operations, MDE executive leadership,
internal stakeholders, vendors, LEAs, and other relevant third parties
• Play a key role in translating technical issues for non-technical stakeholders and early learning systems needs
for technical experts
• Schedule and facilitate meetings and communicate decisions internally to all MDE leadership and staff and
externally to the vendors, LEAs, and third parties
Financial Management
• Monitor expenditures and provide Chief of Operations with expenditure and budget projections
• Review, reconcile and validate, and authorize payment applications and invoices from third-party contractors
• Review and negotiate any requested budgetary changes
• Provide regular financial reports to the State Superintendent and Chief of Operations
Financial Management
• Monitor expenditures and provide Chief of Operations with expenditure and budget projections
• Review, reconcile and validate, and authorize payment applications and invoices from third-party contractors
• Review and negotiate any requested budgetary changes
• Provide regular financial reports to the State Superintendent and Chief of Operations
Project Documentation
• Collect, review and/or develop, and archive the following project documentation components
– Detailed Scope Document that clearly describes the project objectives and the project milestone deliverables
and timelines
– Plans for scope management that include procedures for change control
– Resource and Staffing Plan to document what resources (people, equipment, materials) and what quantities of
each are being used to perform project activities, to include a complete account of key or required staff
– Communication Plan to document the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation,
collection, dissemination, storage, and ultimate disposition of project information to internal and external stakeholders
– Budget Plan and documents to track and provide a complete accounting of costs for staffing, equipment,
software, supplies, consulting, and other costs. A life cycle cost or total cost of ownership, projected out at least 5
years, should be included
– Security Plan to identify and document anticipated s
Testing Plan to document the process for verification and validation of milestone deliverables prior to
acceptance
-Training Plan to outline plans for training of all anticipated and intended users
Deliverables
The contractor shall be responsible for completing all the tasks required below during the term of this
contract. It is anticipated that this shall include, but not be limited to:
Collecting and organizing contracts, reports, logs, and other supporting documentation necessary for project
worksheets
Providing updates for status reports, reviewing status reports, and participating in bi- weekly status meetings with MDE
leadership
Developing detailed project plans as identified in Section 2.1 Project Documentation
Developing of time tracking reports
Providing budget reports
Conducting regular meetings with State Superintendent, Chief of Operations, MDE Executive Leadership, OTSS staff,
MDE Internal Stakeholders, and project contractors
Projecting Progress reports as requested
Providing and documenting areas of improvement needed in the project and providing recommendations to ensure that
the project remains on task, on time, and within budget
Identifying strategic issues to assist the MDE staff in the development and deployment of MSIS 2.0
Develop resources and training materials if needed.
Conducting ongoing evaluations of MSIS 2.0 project team and implementation plan
Availability to travel for planned dates and locations, if applicable.