Project Leader, IT

Job Summary

The IT Project Leader is accountable for leading and successfully delivering multiple concurrent Infrastructure Services projects, including the deployment of new infrastructure technologies, application upgrades, and lifecycle replacement of data centre equipment. This role supports the City’s Strategic Plan and Infrastructure Services roadmap by ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope and budget, and in accordance with City adopted project management standards and industry best practices.
The IT Project Leader provides end to end project leadership, including planning, scheduling, cost control, quality assurance, resource and vendor management, stakeholder communications, risk and issue management, business analysis, and organizational change management. The role operates in a hybrid work environment, with office presence required at Mississauga City Hall, 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga.

Duties and Responsibilities

Project Leadership & Delivery

• Lead the full project life cycle for multiple concurrent IT infrastructure projects, including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure, in alignment with City project management standards and recognized methodologies.
• Develop, maintain, and manage all required project artifacts, including project charters, integrated project plans and schedules, resource plans, work breakdown structures, stakeholder and communication plans, risk and issue registers, change management plans, and status reports.
• Ensure project outcomes meet defined business, technical, and quality requirements while minimizing service disruption to the organization.

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with senior management, executive sponsors, business stakeholders, technical teams, and external vendors to ensure alignment, engagement, and timely decision making.
• Lead and facilitate project steering committee meetings, providing clear status updates, risks, issues, decisions required, and recommended actions.
• Monitor vendor performance to ensure contractual obligations, service levels, and deliverables are met, and address performance issues proactively.

Procurement & Financial Management

• Support the procurement of complex technology solutions, including hardware, software, and professional services, in compliance with the City’s Procurement Policy.
• Develop statements of work, requirements documentation, technical specifications, and evaluation criteria; participate in bid evaluations and vendor negotiations.
• Manage project budgets through accurate forecasting, cost control, variance analysis, and approval of vendor invoices in accordance with contractual terms.

Technical & Operational Delivery

• Develop a functional understanding of data centre technologies, including servers, storage, virtualization, and networking, to define project scope and coordinate delivery with technical resources.
• Ensure all infrastructure design, provisioning, configuration, migration, and decommissioning activities follow established data centre standards, processes, and operating procedures.
• Plan and coordinate system implementations, migrations, and cutovers to ensure minimal business interruption and adherence to change management and CAB processes.

Risk, Change & Continuous Improvement

• Proactively identify, assess, and manage project risks, issues, and dependencies, developing mitigation and contingency strategies in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Analyze current state and future state business processes to support solution adoption and effective change management.
• Prepare and deliver presentations to governance forums such as the Change Advisory Board (CAB), Architecture Review Board (ARB), and IT leadership.

Duties and Responsibilities

Core Competencies

Project Management & Delivery Excellence

• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi stakeholder IT projects from concept through implementation and closure.
• Strong planning, scheduling, estimation, and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage competing demands and shifting priorities.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, business focused messaging.
• Proven ability to influence, negotiate, and build consensus across diverse stakeholder groups within a matrix organization.

Financial & Vendor Management

• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, cost control, and contract management.
• Experience managing third party vendors and professional services providers to deliver high quality outcomes.

Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving

• Ability to analyze business needs, technical requirements, and risks to develop practical, value driven solutions.
• Sound judgment and decision making skills in complex and ambiguous environments.

Change Leadership & Adaptability

• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational and technology change, supporting adoption and continuous improvement.
• Resilient and adaptable, with the ability to perform effectively in a dynamic, fast paced environment.

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of data centre infrastructure, including servers, SAN storage, virtualization platforms, and networking components.
• Knowledge of enterprise networking technologies, including Cisco networks, switches, routers, firewalls, VPNs, F5 load balancers, Unified Communications Platform (VoIP, Call Center, Emergency Responder, Voice Mail).
• Experience with Microsoft technologies, including M365 Technologies, Windows Server, Active Directory, and systems management tools.
• Familiarity with cloud and hybrid environments, including cloud networking, Cloud Calling, Cloud Call Centers, virtual firewalls, load balancing, storage solutions, automation tools, and infrastructure as code concepts.
• Understanding of database infrastructure concepts including upgrades, migrations, encryption, HA/DR.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Network, Database, Security, and Application teams to validate technical designs, sequencing, and dependencies.
• Proficiency with project management and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Project, Visio, and SharePoint.

Skills and Qualifications

• Post secondary education in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technology discipline, combined with a minimum of five (5) years of project management experience delivering IT solutions.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in good standing is mandatory; other project management certifications are considered an asset.
• Additional certifications such as ITIL, COBIT, Lean/Six Sigma, PROSCI, Microsoft, or Cisco are considered assets.
• Experience leading infrastructure upgrades, technology refresh initiatives, and enterprise system implementations.