Associate Project Manager

Move forward with us! At NJ TRANSIT, you'll join us in transforming the third-largest transportation agency in North America. We are committed to delivering safe, reliable service that gets customers to their destinations on time–and we're looking to hire talented folks with a commitment to excellence to make it all possible.

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Summary:

This position will lead key cloud migration initiatives and on premise infrastructure projects, including a major data center relocation. This role is responsible for driving cross functional planning, coordination, and execution across cloud (AWS), on premise VMware, and legacy systems critical to transportation operations. This position sits at the intersection of technology, operations, and delivery, bringing structure, visibility, and predictability to an organization that is early in its cloud journey. The ideal candidate is highly organized, comfortable with evolving environments, and experienced in both cloud transformation and large-scale infrastructure projects.

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Roles and Responsibilities:

• Lead the planning and delivery of AWS cloud migration initiatives across applications, infrastructure, and data services.
• Partner closely with the Cloud Computing team to sequence migration waves based on readiness, operational constraints, and business impact.
• Establish structured migration plans suited to an early maturity cloud environment (foundation building, pilot migrations, iterative improvement).
• Maintain program-level roadmaps, risks, dependencies, and executive reporting.
• Oversee planning and execution of a full data center relocation, including infrastructure inventory, dependency mapping, move groups, and cutover planning.
• Coordinate with network, storage, security, and facilities teams to ensure safe, efficient physical asset migration and re establishment.
• Manage timelines and risk mitigation strategies for relocation activities that impact operationally critical transportation systems.
• Ensure rollback plans, communication protocols, and downtime windows are clearly defined, approved, and executed.
• On-Premise Technology Project Delivery: (VMware (vSphere/ESXi, HA/DRS, vSAN, NSX)
• Enterprise storage systems (SAN, NAS)
• Physical server deployments, rack/stack, cabling
• Network upgrades (firewalls, switching, routing)
• Disaster recovery testing and fail over planning
• Legacy application migrations or modernization enablement
• Act as the primary liaison among engineers, transportation operations teams, business units, and external vendors.
• Coordinate AWS, VMware, data center facilities, and third-party consulting partners.
• Provide clear, consistent communication to technical and non technical audiences, including executives.
• Facilitate decision-making, alignment, and expectation-setting across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Process, Governance & Delivery Maturity: Develop structured project management artifacts: schedules, risk logs, status reports, communication plans, and migration playbooks.
• Help build governance frameworks for cloud adoption, data center transitions, and infrastructure and change management.
• Introduce repeatable processes to improve project execution discipline across the organization.
• Ensure all cloud and on-prem infrastructure plans account for transportation operational constraints (service windows, safety requirements, regulatory obligations).
• Develop cutover, testing, and rollback strategies that minimize impact to mission-critical systems.
• Track operational readiness and communicate impacts well in advance.
• Metrics & Continuous Improvement: Deliver predictable, measurable outcomes across migrations and infrastructure projects.
• Conduct retrospectives to improve repeatability and reduce risk over time.
•  Maintain KPIs around stability, delivery milestones, risk reduction, and stakeholder satisfaction.

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Education, Experience and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; PMP certification strongly preferred.
• Additional four (4) years equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Seven (7)+ years of project or program management experience, including multi-phase technical projects.
• Experience managing both cloud (preferably AWS) and on-prem infrastructure projects.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating or managing data center moves, hardware refreshes, or large-scale infrastructure transitions.
• Familiarity with hybrid cloud environments, VMware virtualization, and basic cloud migration approaches.
• Strong risk management, schedule management, and stakeholder communication skills.
• Comfortable operating in environments with evolving processes, limited documentation, and changing priorities.

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Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience in the transportation, logistics, or critical operations industries.
• Familiarity with AWS terminology, services, and migration methods (no deep technical expertise required).
• Exposure to CI/CD, DevOps concepts, and modern tooling such as Jira or Azure DevOps.
• Experience working in coordination with Technical Managers, Engineers, and Infrastructure Architects.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and proactive in identifying issues early.
• Strong communicator who can translate technical concepts into business language.
• Ability to create order and structure in low-maturity or high-change environments.
• Collaborative mindset with a focus on alignment and accountability.
• Strong problem-solving ability with a practical, outcomes-driven approach.

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Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:

• Certification such as AWS Solutions Architect (Associate or Professional), VCP-DCV, or CKA.

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At NJ Transit you will enjoy a competitive salary and excellent benefit package:

• Comprehensive Family Health Insurance – Medical, Prescription, Dental, Vision 
• Flexible Spending Account 
• Life Insurance 
• Paid Leave 
• Tuition Assistance 
• Pre-Tax Commuter Benefits Plan
• Retirement Plans
  • 401(a) - Retirement plan with a 6% employer contribution
  • 401(k) - Retirement saving plan with up to an 3% company match
  • 457(b) - Deferred Savings Plan