Lead Project Manager (Houston, TX)

FLSA Status

Exempt

Earliest Start Date

Immediately

Salary

Salary commensurate with experience

Hours per Week

40 hours weekly

Hiring Department

University Lands

Required Application Materials

A resume is required to apply. Candidates under final consideration will also be required to submit professional references, college degree information, and employment history to an online third-party vendor.

About Us

For more than 140 years, The University of Texas System has improved the lives of Texans - and people all over the world - through education, health care, and research. The System consists of nine academic institutions, four health institutions, and The University of Texas System Administration. The institutions of the UT System employ more than 160,000 faculty, health care professionals, researchers, support staff, and student workers.

The UT System Administration is primarily based in Austin, Texas. It supports the missions of the System's thirteen institutions by providing financial, legal, planning, purchasing, government relations, communications, development, and other central services. Serving a growing state, the UT System Administration strives to provide a welcoming, supportive work environment that embraces different perspectives - not only because it enables the organization to be stronger, creative, and thoughtful, but because it is the right thing to do. To that end, UT System Administration embraces state laws on military and former foster children employment preferences.

Purpose of Position

The Lead Project Manager serves as a subject matter expert and lead practitioner within University Lands' Project Management Office (PMO). This role provides leadership in developing and implementing UL's project management framework and tools, driving consistent adoption across the organization. The Lead Project Manager partners with IT and business leaders to align the project portfolio with strategic objectives, facilitates Agile and traditional project delivery, and mentors PMO staff on best practices. The position focuses on enabling project success across land management, oil & gas, royalty accounting, enterprise data, and other UL-specific initiatives.

Essential Functions

• Framework & Standards - Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of UL's project management framework and tools, ensuring methods are practical, scalable, and aligned to UL's diverse needs (Agile, Waterfall, hybrid). Promote consistent adoption across teams.
• Roadmap & Prioritization Support - Partner with IT and business leaders to coordinate development and maintenance of UL's project roadmap. Support the Business Decision Review Board in prioritizing initiatives and ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Project Leadership - Lead and manage multiple projects concurrently, ensuring that schedules and resource allocations meet business goals and stakeholder expectations.
• Planning & Execution - Develop project charters, scope, schedules, and resource requirements. Track progress through issue logs, risk assessments, change logs, and RAID documentation to ensure timely delivery and resource alignment between teams.
• Stakeholder Engagement - Collaborate with internal stakeholders and external partners to gather requirements, manage expectations, and provide regular status updates and project communications.
• Process Mapping & Documentation - Act as a subject matter expert in process mapping and documentation efforts to improve clarity, accountability, and alignment across projects and business units. Develop standards for documentation repositories utilizing change management and document / diagram templates for consistency and governance.
• Metrics & Reporting - Monitor project performance, analyze metrics, and deliver dashboards, reports, and presentations to leadership, promoting transparency and informed decision-making.
• Continuous Improvement - Conduct post-project evaluations and recommend process improvements to strengthen UL's project delivery capabilities.
• Mentorship & Coaching - Mentor other project managers and business analysts in project management methodologies, tools, and business processes, fostering growth and consistency within the PMO.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Required Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

Working Conditions

Additional Information

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to a minimum of 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. Participation in TRS is mandatory.

A background check will be conducted on candidates under final consideration. The background check may include any or all of the following : criminal history check, prior employment verification, education verification, professional references check, and motor vehicle records check. Background checks are conducted by third-party vendors. Upon request form the third-party vendor, candidates under final consideration must provide the required information for the background checks to be completed.

EO / AA Statement

The University of Texas System Administration is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all qualified applicants and employees in all terms and conditions of employment. U. T. System will provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified persons and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity / expression, pregnancy, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state laws.

For information on accommodations for individuals with disabilities, please contact the Office of Talent and Innovation at oti@utsystem.edu .