IT Project Manager / Program Manager

Company Overview

Farmers Business Network®* (*FBN®) is on a mission to power the prosperity of family farmers and rural communities around the world, transforming how the world farms with an integrated, technology-enabled agricultural platform.

We offer high ROI farm inputs, fintech and sustainability products and services powered by network data, and farm-tested insights from our global farmer community. Our platform helps FBN® members make confident decisions to ensure the economic viability of their farms, while also empowering them to be a part of the solution as the global community confronts its most pressing issues: providing food security for a growing population, transitioning to more sustainable agriculture, and responding to climate change.

We are a dynamic, innovative, and mission-driven AgTech company that offers competitive compensation and benefits as well as boundless career mobility. We are backed by top investors, including Fidelity, ADM, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, DBL Partners, T Rowe Price and Temasek. We have been featured in these articles by the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, and were also named "One of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World" by Fast Company Magazine.

The Role:

The Program Manager will lead and manage moderately sized enterprise-level projects consisting of multiple internal teams and/or requiring integration with external vendor teams as well as tactical execution to plan. Provide program oversight and organize activities to improve company efficiencies, building long-term goals for company projects and developing programs to ensure that project goals align with the company’s objectives. This person is expected to operate at both strategic and tactical levels.

Some of their primary duties include:

Large Project Responsibilities:

• Manage large scale cross functional projects with high technical scope.
• Work closely with project sponsors to ensure that the project delivers the agreed upon requirements.
• Drive accountability for executing our SDLC.
• Lead the onboarding and adoption of Agile, Scrum and Kanban for IT and non-IT Team Members.
• Assist with project activities related to organizational change management, development, execution of user adoption implementation, and deployment plans as defined by the project.
• Proactively develop contingency and mitigation plans.
• Proactively Identify and manage potential risks or issues.
• Track milestones and deliver status reports on a weekly basis for projects.
• Contribute independent thought to tactical planning and execution efficiencies.
• Manage resources, schedules, spend, documentation and overall completion of the multiple projects.

Program Management Responsibilities:

• Build long-term relationships with business partners to ensure strategic alignment.
• Create, manage and organize programs and activities in accordance with the mission and goals of the organization.
• Develop new programs to support the strategic direction of the organization.
• Lead portfolio management by creating presentations of the overall health of projects for executive leadership visibility.
• Develop budgets, ROI and resource operating plans for the program.
• Develop an evaluation method to assess program strengths and identify areas for improvement.
• Deliver portfolio reports to support the overall IT Pipeline and Roadmap.
• Vendor management for multiple projects and multiple softwares.
• Mentor project teams and Project Managers to ensure standard policies and practices are used during the project life cycle.

Key Expectations:

• Takes up a business problem and defines a solution. Delivers independently and seeks leadership direction.
• Influences their customers, roadmap priorities, and decisions. May influence external entity interactions.
• Manages complex cross-functional projects/goals. Defines program requirements and drives team(s)/partner(s) to meet goals.
• Accelerates progress by driving timely decisions.
• Able to spot risks, ask the right questions, remove blockers and escalate appropriately.
• Drives detailed discussions and high-level alignment. Is clear and concise in verbal and written communication.
• Trusted to present decisions to leaders up to 3 tiers above level. Able to communicate across an increasing diversity of areas.
  

Successful Candidate

• Eager to work with an “A” Team of Project Managers that are building the IT PMO framework.
• Organized and able to jump in and manage multiple projects.
• Utilizes soft skills that bring people together as a team.
• Ability to quickly adjust and improve the process.
• Successful candidates will be strong leaders who can prioritize well, communicate clearly, and have a consistent track record of delivery.
• This role requires experience and capability to create and present documentation for senior executives.
• Ability to align your roadmap with extended key partners and the team's strategic objectives.
• Willingness to roll up your sleeves and do whatever is necessary to get things done.

Qualifications:

• High on Business Acumen with ability to think logically.
• Strong influencing skills and negotiation skills.
• BS/MS Computer Science, Information Science, Management Information Systems, or Business Administration.
• 10+ years relevant experience in a project management capacity for IT projects in the areas such as infrastructure implementation/replacement, various enterprise software upgrades/maintenance releases, database management, commercial cloud software implementations and various system integrations.
• Agile Certification or Scrum Master experience preferred.
• PMP or equivalent certification preferred.
• Strong communicator with ability to maintain open communication with internal employees, managers, executive leadership and external sources as needed.
• Strong proficiency with project management software, such as Jira, Smartsheets and others.
• Good organizational skills including tool utilization (spreadsheets, project management tools, mind maps), information capture, attention to detail, and prioritization.
• Knowledge and experience managing projects for various employee productivity and collaboration systems and tools such as Jira Software, Google Enterprise Apps, Google Drive.
• Solid understanding of software development life cycles, contemporary project management methodologies (agile, iterative and incremental) and the ability to blend them together in the right proportions to fit a project and business environment.
• Previous hands-on IT solution development, systems analysis, or software QA experience are highly desirable.

*The following represents FBN's reasonable estimate of the US national average base salary range of possible compensation for this role based on market data and placement of internal employees: $120,000 - $135,000. *

This salary range may vary based on geography and variations in cost of labor. Beyond the above or adjusted to market salary range, FBN also offers all full-time employees competitive equity compensation, health and wellness benefits, and various perks.

FBN is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. FBN considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. ******We participate in the E-Verify program in certain locations as required by law. Learn more about the E-Verify program here.****** FBN is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please email fill out this form.#LI-REMOTE