Our large local client seeks a very experienced Project Management professional with solid MS Project Server skills for a long term engagement. Will serve as Project Manager for a major, very visible effort which is using new and innovative technologies. The specific projects include making improvements to the existing systems performance, monitoring and reporting capability, capacity planning and testing. This role may lead to other project management assignments in this area of the client. Facilitate, with the key stakeholders, the definition and approval of the project approach, success criteria and deliverables required to ensure project success. Solicit input to ongoing and future project initiatives, and schedule project resources for delivery in accordance with priorities and methodology. Work closely with stakeholders (business and IT) to resolve conflicts in prioritization and staffing. Track and communicate status at both a detailed (task) level and a summary (sub-project or release) level for a variety of audiences, from the project team to executive sponsorship. Track project issues and assign responsibility to resolve. Schedule/facilitate meetings to provide project status / reviews as required to keep stakeholders adequately informed on project status. Communicate any concerns with issues that may impact project schedule, budget or quality to the project sponsor and stakeholders. Required skills: 3yrs experience as a Project Manager Detailed project planning using Microsoft Project 2007 Professional, Microsoft Project Server, Portfolio Server and Earned Value Management. Requirements gathering and change management capabilities. Deep commitment to solid project planning and managing to a workplan. Ability to gain consensus and buy-in with regard to project schedule by gathering detailed task estimates, gathering/balancing priorities, and managing expectations. Reporting both detailed and summary-level status for both IT and business unit management. Experience managing multiple project initiatives as part of an overall long-term project plan. Experience managing delivery of IT application development deliverables for a variety of platforms and varying technologies. Deep knowledge of Systems Development Lifecycle and creating/managing project plans in adherence with established methodology. Experience with project planning for release-based delivery. Strong written and oral communications skills, with emphasis on the ability to communicate to various constituencies including technical staff, IT management, business subject-matter experts and business staff with varying degrees of IT familiarity. PMP certification required.