Finance Project Manager - MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Job Description

MIT Lincoln Laboratory seeks a Finance Project Manager to join the Finance Strategy & Transformation Team in the Financial Services Department. This role demands a robust understanding of finance and accounting processes, financial management systems, the systems development life cycle, and business process re-engineering. The successful candidate will contribute to the development and implementation of an integrated financial management strategy, including ongoing modernization efforts as part of the digital enterprise transformation program.

For exceptionally well-qualified candidates, remote work arrangements may be considered.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead projects in collaboration with the Senior Manager, Strategy and Transformation Team, and Laboratory IT to achieve departmental strategic goals.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the Laboratory to identify pain points, optimize finance processes, and implement system enhancements for the finance modernization initiative.
• Oversee project execution, serving as a liaison between project management, planning teams, and line management.
• Develop integrated project plans/schedules and identify resource dependencies across the organization.
• Monitor project scope, schedule, resources, and budgets, preparing regular status reports and addressing risks and issues proactively.
• Facilitate the analysis of system capabilities, identifying gaps between business needs and existing processes/systems.
• Document business requirements from stakeholders and translate them into functional system requirements.
• Communicate pending changes and project status across the Laboratory.
• Coordinate testing and validation of new systems, upgrades, and patches, including planning, execution, and documentation of results.
• Conduct related training and act as a change agent, coaching business leaders to drive organizational transformation and adoption of solutions.
• Assist in enhancing portfolio and project management templates and tools.

Qualifications - Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business Management, Finance, Accounting, or related field.
• 5-8 years of project management experience.
• Proven experience in change management leading large, complex, transformational programs.
• Strong working knowledge of the systems development life cycle and SDLC models (agile and waterfall).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and attention to detail.
• Ability to work effectively in a cross-functional environment and manage multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
• Hands-on experience with project management tools such as MS Project, Jira, etc.
• Expert knowledge of financial management systems (preferably SAP), ERP strategy, and business process re-engineering.
• Experience in developing and measuring KPIs to assess financial systems and processes.
• Ability to develop project plans and schedules, manage multiple simultaneous projects on time and budget.
• Presentation skills and ability to create presentations for all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and lead multi-functional teams.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.

Qualifications - Preferred

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or demonstrated progress towards obtaining it.
• Agile certification (SAFe, CSDM, CSPO, PSM, etc.).
• Expertise in SAP Finance and Controlling functions.
• Experience in a DoD research, acquisition, and contracting environment.
• Prior experience in a DoD Federally Funded Research and Development Center with an understanding of ceiling management.
• Six Sigma or Lean experience or certification.