Information Technology Project Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

Role Overview

The IT Project Manager is a strategic and technical leadership role, serving as the primary bridge between the organization's business vision and its technology execution. This individual is accountable for the efficient and successful delivery of all IT initiatives, encompassing in-house maintenance/enhancements and outsourced product development. The role demands a strong focus on strategic alignment, aggressive cost control for outsourced work, vendor performance management, and providing hands-on technical guidance and mentorship to the internal development team.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Planning & Business Alignment

• Business Translation & Roadmap: Actively engage with the Business Head and end-users to understand immediate and future business requirements, translating them into actionable, prioritized technical roadmaps and detailed technical task lists for developers.

• Technology Foresight: Proactively anticipate relevant technology changes, trends, and architectural evolution, leading the research, evaluation, and successful onboarding of new technologies and tools to enhance system performance, security, and scalability.

• Requirements Management: Own the requirement gathering and analysis process, interacting directly with users for small changes and coordinating with external Business Analysts/Functional Consultants for larger modules.

2. Vendor & Partner Management

• Contracting & Cost Control: Take primary ownership of cost control for all outsourced projects, driving efficiency, negotiating contracts, ensuring projects are delivered on budget and scope.

• Relationship & Performance Management: Manage all aspects of existing and new vendor/freelancer relations for outsourced product development, ensuring clear alignment on scope, quality, and delivery timelines.

• Sourcing & Onboarding: Define criteria, evaluate, select, and formally onboard new external vendors and technical freelancers to augment development capacity or specific expertise.

3. Execution Oversight & Team Mentorship

• Delivery Management: Oversee and drive the execution of all projects (in-house and outsourced) using appropriate methodologies (e.g., Agile/Scrum), including leading sprint planning and daily stand-ups, to ensure milestones are delivered on time and to the required quality.

• Technical Unblocking & Support: Monitor the in-house team’s progress on maintenance/CRs, providing expert technical direction and mentorship to help resolve roadblocks—whether technical, design-related, or roadmap alignment issues.

• Quality Assurance & Standards: Work with Technical Architects to establish and enforce development standards, code review processes, and quality gates across both internal and external teams.

4. Governance, Release & System Management

• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Coordinate with business users for thorough acceptance testing of new releases/modules from both vendors and internal developers.

• Release Management: Manage the release process, version migrations, incremental system upgrades, and collaborate with tech teams and end users to analyze, prioritize, and resolve bug reports.

• Knowledge Transfer & Documentation: Ensure critical project documentation, architectural diagrams, and system knowledge transfer are maintained and accessible to the in-house team for long-term ownership and support.

• Resource Planning: Drive internal resource planning and augmentation, tracking needs, and supporting the recruitment, evaluation, and onboarding of new internal team members.

Qualifications & Experience

• Education: BE/B.Tech/MCA in Computer Science or equivalent from a reputed institute. (MBA/Management degree desirable).

• Total Experience: Minimum 10+ years of professional IT experience, including substantial experience in software development and project management.

• Specific Experience:

o Minimum 5 years in a managerial or senior lead role overseeing development teams.

o Demonstrable experience managing outsourced development, negotiating contracts, and handling external vendor relationships.

o Proven ability to manage project budgets and drive cost efficiencies.

o Prior experience in manufacturing/distribution/warehouse management is preferred. 

• Technical Depth: Strong understanding of the full SDLC, system design, databases, and modern software architecture principles. Programming language agnostics with a strong appreciation for software maturity and best practices.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strategic & Business Acumen: Exceptional ability to link technical decisions directly to business outcomes and financial results.

• Vendor Management: Excellent negotiation, contracting, and relationship management skills to ensure vendor accountability and performance.

• Mentorship & Coaching: Proven ability to coach, guide, and technically unblock internal developers.

• Financial Accountability: Strong focus on cost management, budgeting, and optimizing resource utilization across all projects.

• Communication: Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills across all levels of the business and with external partners.