Roland Mannshardt - Senior Project Manager

At HMS, most of our colleagues are friendly and open-minded people who want to make a difference. When selecting employees, we consider not only professional qualifications but also whether a candidate is a good fit for the team.

I work closely with people, so it's never boring. I also enjoy being the communication link between clients, project teams, sales, and department heads.

Working as a project manager involves significant fluctuations in workload. You have to be well-organized to keep everything under control, and you should use the quiet periods to recharge. You’ll get the support you need from management.

I am currently leading a project at a financial services provider that is migrating its on-premises data warehouse to the cloud. In this role, we are collaborating with many workstreams that are also migrating other business applications to the cloud. In addition, I’m leading an internal project to improve internal reporting with three junior team members. Here, I’m also involved in the conceptual aspects. Furthermore, I’m responsible for training new project managers and supporting the mentors. My most important task is to continuously improve the quality of training so that we can successfully implement projects with our clients.

In terms of context, it was a project for an airport’s security control center, where we implemented a reporting system for security incidents. It was very impressive to stand in the security control center and watch the various staff members at work. From a technical standpoint, it was a project at a pharmaceutical manufacturer where we migrated clinical trial data to the SDTM format using machine learning methods.

In addition to mastering the methodological toolkit, I find soft skills to be almost even more important. In addition to respectful communication and facilitation skills, a project manager should ensure good team chemistry so that everyone can work together to achieve the project goals in the best possible way. It’s important to always address problems openly and resolve them early on, before they can escalate into conflicts. Furthermore, the project manager should exude a sense of calm in stressful situations.

As a project manager at HMS, you have additional responsibilities beyond the “usual” project management tasks. You work closely with the account management team, whether to acquire new clients or to provide optimal support to existing ones. You’re also closely involved in the processes of preparing proposals and billing, and you serve as an important source of feedback for the managers responsible for project team members.

Personally, I've been working exclusively as a project manager for several years now. However, at HMS there are many projects in which the project manager also handles development tasks.

I find communication with the internal teams to be extremely pleasant and constructive. Everyone is highly motivated to support client projects so that they run smoothly. The same applies to our collaboration with clients. We share a common goal that can usually only be achieved as a team. Respectful communication is one of the most important aspects of this.

I worked at a large company for a long time, and at some point I felt like I was just doing the same thing over and over again. HMS offers me varied, challenging tasks and gives me the confidence I need to tackle them.

HMS prioritizes a good work-life balance and family-friendly policies. Another key aspect is knowledge and competency management.

Despite its growth, HMS strives to keep its hierarchies as flat as possible and communication channels short. HMS does not want to expand at all costs, but rather in a way that allows its internal processes and structures to grow along with the company.

HMS employees are highly skilled in many different industries and have received excellent training in best practices. Through our competency and knowledge management programs, our employees’ knowledge remains up to date, and new hires receive comprehensive, customized onboarding.

In addition to the annual reviews, there are plenty of opportunities to discuss your own professional development with your manager. You’ll always find a listening ear - after all, it benefits the company as well when an employee wants to grow professionally.

I think this is described very well on our website. None of it is just empty promises.