Technical Project Manager / Sr Business Analyst

Job title: Technical Project Manager / Sr Business Analyst
Location: Trenton, NJ

About the Role

We are seeking a dynamic and seasoned Technical Project Manager with robust Senior Business Analyst expertise to spearhead complex software development initiatives. This hybrid role, requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days remote, demands a sharp, highly organized professional who thrives in high-pressure environments with diverse and demanding stakeholders. The ideal candidate will bridge the gap between program office priorities and development team execution, ensuring clear requirements, streamlined backlogs, timely feature delivery, and swift bug resolution. Success in this position hinges on exceptional communication, resilience, and the ability to transform competing demands into a cohesive, actionable roadmap.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary liaison between the program office, stakeholders, and development teams, fostering alignment despite competing priorities.
• Collaborate closely with developers to ensure requirements are clearly understood, features are delivered, and bugs are resolved within agreed timelines.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and defect triage sessions.
• Partner with the program office to streamline and prioritize the product backlog, clarify requirements, and remove impediments.
• Coordinate with internal teams, third-party vendors, and leadership to ensure flawless project execution.
• Review vendor Statements of Work (SOWs) and provide actionable recommendations to the CIO.
• Prepare and manage project budgets, recommending adjustments as needed.
• Maintain and update project epics, user stories, and tasks in Jira, ensuring clarity and accountability.
• Generate executive-level reports and updates for the US Department of Education (DOE) and internal leadership.
• Lead business analysis efforts for Phase 3 of the Student Longitudinal Data Systems project, focusing on student and staff data collection requirements.
• Conduct stakeholder meetings to gather, document, and validate requirements.
• Translate business needs into actionable user stories for Agile delivery.
• Evaluate business processes, identify gaps, and recommend innovative solutions or improvements.
• Demonstrate leadership across the full software development lifecycle (SDLC) in both Agile and Waterfall environments.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of combined experience in project management and business analysis roles supporting software development projects.
• Deep understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban).
• Proven ability to manage challenging stakeholders, resolve conflicts, and build consensus in complex environments.
• Hands-on expertise with Jira or similar project management tools, particularly in backlog management and defect tracking.
• Familiarity with testing tools and practices to support QA efforts, including UAT and test case development (5+ years).
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders effectively.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Demonstrated experience in vendor relationship management and executive-level reporting (5+ years).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Salesforce (CRM, Service Cloud, or custom applications.
• Exposure to data warehousing and reporting tools such as Snowflake or Tableau.
• Familiarity with AWS cloud services for hosting and data integration.
• Prior experience in education sector projects or with statewide longitudinal data systems.
• Knowledge of vendor and contract management, including SOWs and budgets.
• Strong skills in conflict resolution and negotiation.

Awareness of change management principles

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.