PRINCIPAL PROJECT MANAGER bei South Florida Water Management District

This position is a senior leadership role for an accomplished and highly motivated project management professional who will direct major resiliency and flood control initiatives within the Division of Flood Control and Water Supply Planning, leading multi-disciplinary teams and contractors in the planning, design, and delivery of complex infrastructure projects. The successful candidate will bring extensive experience in flood control and water supply–related engineering projects, strong leadership skills, and a proven ability to manage high-profile, multi-agency programs that protect South Florida’s communities, economy, and ecosystems from the impacts of flooding, sea level rise, and changing climate conditions.

The position is responsible for managing resiliency and flood control projects – inclusive of grant-funded projects – and overseeing ongoing and future contracts and multiple major projects of regional significance. Projects within this Division are being implemented with the goal of reducing the risks of flooding, sea level rise, and other impacts on water resources and water management infrastructure, while increasing community, economy, and ecosystem resiliency in South Florida.

Projects include large-scale, multi-jurisdictional planning, design, and construction efforts. The Project Manager Principal should be able to oversee contracts and execute the project delivery process by managing and coordinating a variety of projects and teams – and working in close coordination with internal teams, including high-profile/high-priority projects which support one or more of the District’s strategic plan goals and the Division’s objectives.

The Project Manager Principal will report directly to the Division Director of Flood Control and Water Supply Planning. This position includes direct supervision of assigned staff, providing guidance, workload management, mentoring, and performance evaluation. The candidate must demonstrate strong leadership in advancing project controls, budget planning and monitoring, technical quality assurance, and policy compliance. The successful candidate will take full ownership of responsibilities, be proactive in project delivery, and ensure all assigned work is executed on time, within scope, and aligned with District priorities.

The Project Manager Principal should support the Division leadership to ensure the overall project goals and implementation strategies are based on attainable deliverables, best utilization of technical and financial resources, and elimination of redundancies and non-value-added work efforts; and maintain current process maps in MS Teams and other forms of workflow documentation required for the team’s mission. The Project Manager should be able to present analysis, recommendations, and status information to the Division Director and District Management Teams as needed.

This position requires collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, proactively engaging with them and addressing review comments and suggestions, and responding, explaining, and defending projects and initiatives to federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies and venues. The Project Manager Principal may also represent the District at seminars, conferences, and task forces, as directed by Division leadership.

The Project Manager Principal must be highly organized, a strong leader, and a great team player. The candidate should demonstrate knowledge of South Florida’s water management and resiliency issues; excellent analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills; hands-on and results-driven ability; and capacity to manage multiple, high-priority and complex projects leading diverse in-house and external contractors and project teams with representatives from multiple agencies, under tight deadlines. Management of multiple, sometimes unrelated, projects simultaneously must ensure multi-discipline projects are implemented as one cohesive process.

The selected candidate must also demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills in sharing complex and sensitive technical information with internal and external stakeholders; and capacity to apply a global perspective for the comprehensive and consistent application of team and project management concepts and methods to:

• Effectively develop and monitor unit and project budgets;
• Identify and measure critical success factors, ensuring technical consistency;
• Identify team members that are technically proficient to represent the various disciplines needed to implement overall unit projects;
• Influence decision-making and resolve conflict among stakeholders; and
• Effectively manage the expectations of project sponsors.

Project management concepts and methods incorporate scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, procurement, and integration management skills. The selected candidate will interface with the project controls team to assure understanding and compliance with South Florida Water Management District project management methodology, and actively assist in training, mentoring, and driving project and program management improvement.

Project-related efforts also include: overall meeting scheduling, attendance tracking, and expedited summary notes in support of team engagement and communication; identification and evaluation of alternative plans in coordination with project teams; development of statements of work and memorandums of understanding in support of real estate acquisition, design, and construction; contract procurement and administration; technical review of multiple project deliverables; reporting and documentation of project findings and accomplishments; support to research, conceptual design formulation, and development of grant proposals and other funding requests; application of innovative and strategic approaches to project delivery; feedback to staff augmentation on project management and effectiveness; providing input on performance plans and evaluations; and ensuring resiliency objectives are incorporated into all project phases.

This position may be filled at a lower level.

Education/Experience Guidelines:
Bachelor’s Degree in a related discipline and a relevant specialty license, or a Master’s Degree in a related discipline and 11+ years of experience. Prior experience should include a blend of project management and business/line department roles (i.e., Science, Engineering, IT, etc.), including grant applications.

Examples of disciplines for education and experience requirements include engineering, environmental science, hydrogeology, planning, and other water-related fields. Knowledge of South Florida resiliency issues and ongoing planning efforts is desirable. Experience in resiliency planning, flood control and water supply projects, water and climate monitoring, flood risk management, vulnerability analysis and adaptation planning, grants, project and contract management is preferred.

License(s) / Certification(s):
Valid State of Florida Driver’s License required.

Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred. Examples of relevant specialty licenses include State of Florida Professional Engineer (PE), Professional Geologist (PG), Professional Hydrogeologist, Certified Planner (AICP), Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM), and Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP). 

Physical Requirements/Working Environment:
Due to the District’s response role and scope of emergency management, this position may be required to provide support before, during, and after major storm events and emergency situations, such as hurricanes or other declared emergencies, depending on assigned emergency response role.

VETERANS’ PREFERENCE: Pursuant to Chapter 295, Florida Statutes, candidates eligible for Veterans’ Preference will receive preference in employment for vacancies and are encouraged to apply. Candidates claiming Veterans’ Preference must attach supporting documentation with each submission that includes character of service (for example, DD Form 214 Member Copy #4) along with any other documentation as required by Rule 55A-7, Florida Administrative Code. All documentation is due by the close of the job posting.

Americans with Disabilities Act 
The South Florida Water Management District is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the selection process, please contact the Human Resources Bureau at [email protected]  
 

$79,788.80

$114,254.40

$148,699.20

PROJECT MANAGER PRINCIPAL

Internal / External