Project Officer in Stirling

The Programme Management Office (PMO) is central to the management and coordination of programmes of work across Information Services and the University. The PMO is governed by a Programme Board and encompasses all programmes and projects underway or being planned. It provides a standardised methodology, templates and approach to managing projects, and enables transparent reporting against progress and objectives, and early intervention where corrective action is required.

The Project Officer provides project and administrative support to the PMO and to projects of strategic importance, contributing to multiple projects at any given time. The Project Officer will contribute to the development and ongoing maintenance of project management template documentation and tools, the wider methodology, and other resources including the PMO SharePoint Hub. They will support the PMO to build project management skills and capacity across the Information Services team, in order to ensure that all projects, no matter how small, are managed and governed effectively and consistently by others.

The postholder will be required to be digitally adept and able to work efficiently and confidently across new technologies in support of the PMO and emerging tools in support of project or programme management and governance. The postholder will be a highly efficient coordinator, who will support the PMO by scheduling and administering project governance at all levels including project boards and the IS Programme Board. They will keep meeting records, pursue members for updates on progress against agreed actions, coordinate and share project documentation in a timely manner.

They will have a good level of familiarity with project management and will provide advice and support to other IS colleagues who may be assigned smaller projects to manage and will occasionally be required to manage small projects themselves. The team provides a second-line support service in their field of specialism within Information Services, underpinned by ITIL and Customer Service Excellence standards.

Description of Duties

• Provide project management support to IS colleagues who have been assigned projects to manage and undertake aspects of project management for small projects assigned through the full project management lifecycle.
• Ensure the completion and ongoing maintenance of detailed project documentation for each lifecycle stage including, for example, the PID, project plan, project reports, closure and evaluation documentation.
• Coordinate the ongoing refinement of the project management arrangements and documentation, ensuring lessons learned are shared.
• Work with the wider team to develop a project timeline and manage the budget and oversee progress to make sure goals are met on time. Regularly report on milestone progress and budget.
• Coordinate and manage project close-out activities with the support of the project manager as required.
• Provide informal training (e.g. one-to-one or small teams) in the IS project methodology or other general project management concepts, processes or procedures.
• Manage the PMO mailbox and triage support enquiries from IS colleagues in support of project management, escalating more complex issues when required.
• Take a lead role in the administration of the PMO SharePoint Hub, ensuring that all documentation and data is kept up-to-date and shared appropriately.
• Maintain the PMO project lists (requested, pipeline, active and archived), liaising with project sponsors and project managers to ensure the timely update and accuracy of data held.
• Maintain the PMO SharePoint hub with updated documentation, using appropriate document version control, and ensuring that sharing permissions are regularly reviewed and maintained.
• Support the Project Managers with the delivery of a range of workshops and other engagement activities or techniques.
• Support the business area in requirements gathering using a range of techniques, including, for example, requirements workshops, document analysis, interviews, use cases, task/workflow analysis, process mapping, etc.
• Identify issues, recognise opportunities and propose solutions to help establish and maintain successful collaborations and demonstrate agility in response to unexpected challenges.
• Support the PMO with performance management, including the monitoring of PMO service level agreements, and sharing performance data with staff and stakeholders.
• Collate and record performance data and/or management information.
• Edit and compile data into appropriate project reports in liaison with the project manager/project manager lead.
• Provide comprehensive project and administrative support to the PMO including specific projects of strategic importance.
• Coordinate PMO governance meetings including project boards, workshops and IS Programme Board, including the scheduling of meetings, preparation and distribution of documentation, keeping meeting records, and following up with board members to ensure progress against agreed actions.
• Support procurement activity or contract reviews, maintain project documentation, through the documentation of business analysis/user requirement workshops, etc.
• Ensure that engagement activity outputs are documented and shared in a timely manner.