IT Project Engineer
$125k - $135k/yr+ Performance bonus
Senior
Bachelor's
Weatogue, Simsbury, CT, USA
In PersonBased in Weatogue, Connecticut.
IT OperationsIT Project Management
About the job
Requirements
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including managing stakeholders from site staff to senior leadership and producing clear, accurate project documentation.
- Very strong working knowledge of firewalls and network infrastructure, including managed switching and wireless; experience with SonicWall, Cisco Meraki, or comparable technologies.
- Very strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 and Azure, including Active Directory / Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, and endpoint or mobile device management tools.
- Command of project management fundamentals, including charters, scope control, scheduling, risk management, budgeting, and change control.
- Experience managing vendors, carriers, and implementation partners against defined scope, schedule, and cost.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision across multiple concurrent projects and sites.
- Disciplined documentation habits, including consistently recording work in a ticketing or IT service management system.
- A bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field is required; an equivalent combination of education, industry certifications, and hands-on experience may be considered in place of a degree.
- Seven to eight or more years of IT project management experience with demonstrable, quantifiable results in infrastructure projects, software development lifecycle projects, and enterprise resource planning projects.
- Successful completion of a background check and drug screening.
- A valid driver's license and clean driving record.
Responsibilities
- Lead IT projects from intake through closeout across infrastructure, software development lifecycle, and enterprise resource planning and property management platform projects, using Agile, waterfall, or hybrid approaches as appropriate.
- Define project charters, scope, schedules, budgets, resource needs, risks, and success criteria, and secure approval from the VP of Information and affected stakeholders before work begins.
- Maintain an up-to-date view of the IT project portfolio, including status, milestones, risks, dependencies, and budget, in departmental project tracking tools.
- Run project kickoffs, weekly status calls, risk and issue logs, change control, and formal closeout with lessons learned.
- Prioritize and sequence competing demands against the VestaTech long-term plan initiatives and available team capacity, and escalate trade-offs to the VP of Information with recommendations and options.
- Own the IT workstream for properties entering the portfolio, including new construction, acquisitions, and management takeovers, from site assessment through post-cutover validation and handover to steady-state support.
- Maintain and apply the standard property onboarding checklist, IT-ready standard, and cutover runbook, and keep completion status current in the property transition dashboard for weekly start calls.
- Coordinate network, firewall, telephony, internet service, endpoint, and peripheral work required at each site, sequencing vendors, carriers, and internal teams to meet committed dates.
- Perform selected hands-on work, including site assessments, firewall and switch configuration, telephony port-overs, and cutover-night validation, while directing vendors and other team members on remaining work.
- Conduct post-cutover validation and structured follow-up with site teams to confirm stable service before closing a transition.
- Plan and coordinate technical work for enterprise resource planning and property management platform initiatives, including the EliseAI migration, with the Director of MIS & Platforms and third-party migration partners.
- Manage software development lifecycle activities for software, integration, and automation projects, including requirements gathering, vendor selection and statements of work, build or configuration, testing and user acceptance, training, go-live, and hypercare.
- Coordinate cutover plans and dependencies across platform, infrastructure, security, and AI enablement teams so systems, data, networks, and users are ready together.
- Manage third-party implementation partners and software vendors against scope, schedule, and deliverables.
- Own day-to-day relationships with infrastructure vendors, carriers, and resellers for project work, including escalation of service faults and warranty claims.
- Source competitive quotes for network equipment, endpoints, and connectivity, and support pricing and contract-term negotiations with the VP of Information.
- Plan and schedule maintenance windows and infrastructure refresh projects, providing affected staff advance written notice of expected impact.
- Contribute project-driven inputs to the annual IT budget, including end-of-life replacement forecasts and licensing expirations, and track annualized savings from vendor, carrier, and licensing actions.
- Support security remediation projects led by the Manager of IT Security and Service Delivery, including firewall hardening, network segmentation, and replacement of end-of-life devices.
- Build and maintain working relationships with regional managers, site staff, Accounting, department heads, and external partners, and keep stakeholders informed proactively.
- Provide written status updates covering progress, blockers, needs, and recommendations, and set expectations up front on timelines, especially when vendors or dependencies may cause delays.
- Produce project documentation, including charters, plans, runbooks, standards, decision logs, and closeout summaries.
- Record all project and technical work in Zendesk so that effort is visible and accurately reported.
Desired Qualifications
- Hands-on experience with Yardi Voyager, RentCafé, EliseAI, or comparable property management platforms.
- Prior experience in property management, real estate, or affordable housing.
- Working knowledge of VoIP and unified communications as a service platforms, such as Zoom Phone, and carrier port-over processes.
- Experience with Zendesk or a comparable IT service management platform, and with portfolio tools such as Smartsheet.
- PowerShell scripting for account, device, and reporting automation.
- Project Management Professional certification, preferably with an IT focus.
- Additional relevant credentials such as PMI-ACP, Certified ScrumMaster, ITIL, CompTIA Network+ or Security+, or SonicWall or Cisco Meraki certifications.
About the company
Vesta Corporation develops, operates, and owns multifamily and senior rental housing communities, with a focus on affordable housing. It makes strategic real estate investments, then builds, manages, and maintains these properties to create thriving communities for residents while delivering returns to investors and partners. Its approach covers the whole lifecycle of a project—from financing and development to ongoing operations—backed by a track record of over $1 billion in financings and more than 20,000 affordable units across 12 states and the District of Columbia. Compared with others, Vesta emphasizes acting as developer, owner, and manager in one integrated effort, leveraging a long history of financing and hands-on management to meet the needs of residents, partners, and local communities. The company’s goal is to exceed expectations for investors, residents, and community stakeholders, and to grow the supply of safe, affordable housing while generating solid returns.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Simsbury, Connecticut
Founded
1981
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- MLK Apartments opened in Hartford in 2026, adding 155 affordable units.
- Longfellow Senior Housing in Cleveland continues leasing 80 senior apartments and amenities.
- The Camelot ribbon-cutting in West Hartford reinforces Vesta's Connecticut market credibility.
What critics are saying
- Vesta depends on LIHTC, HUD, and state subsidies; funding freezes stall pipelines.
- Construction and entitlement delays on public projects compress returns and damage reputation.
- A prolonged affordable-housing financing crunch would choke new starts and threaten Vesta's model.
What makes Vesta Corporation unique
- Historic adaptive reuse like Longfellow and MLK Apartments creates rare, preserved affordable housing.
- Vesta pairs senior housing expertise with multifamily development, leasing, and on-site resident services.
- The Camelot and MLK openings prove execution with nonprofit and state-financed partnerships.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- 401(k) Company Match
- Unlimited Paid Time Off
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Sick Leave
- Paid Holidays
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Pet Insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Long & Short-Term Disability Insurance