Software Project Planning with MS Project

I’m looking for an experienced project planner who can jump straight into an IT / software-development environment and build a reliable, well-structured schedule in Microsoft Project. My core need is to turn a set of high-level requirements, sprint objectives, and resource constraints into a clear timeline that development, QA, and stakeholders can reference with confidence. Here’s what I want to walk away with: • A fully linked Microsoft Project file showing work breakdown structure, task dependencies, and critical path • Logical milestones that map to our internal gates (requirements freeze, code complete, UAT, release) • Resource assignments that highlight overloads or gaps so I can balance the team early • A dashboard view or custom reports I can export to PowerPoint for weekly status reviews Acceptance criteria: 1. No open-ended tasks—everything must have duration, predecessor, and owner. 2. Slack and float values should calculate correctly; critical path must be visible. 3. Schedule must accommodate two-week sprints while still rolling up to program-level milestones. You’ll receive user stories, backlog priority, and team capacity figures as soon as we start. I’m happy to answer detailed questions so the plan reflects reality, not theory. If you’ve taken a software product from concept to launch and lived inside Microsoft Project along the way, let’s do this.