Project/Program Manager IT 4

Client : Caterpillar

Project/Program Manager IT 4

Requisition IDs: #115168-1, #114959-1, #114958-1
Location: Chicago, IL or Peoria, IL
Work Arrangement: Hybrid initially; must be willing to work onsite 5 days/week if the requirement changes
Duration: 12 months

• IT Project/Program Management: Seeking a senior Program Manager with approximately 8+ years of relevant IT project/program management experience; candidates with 6+ years may be considered if highly relevant and supported by a master’s degree.
• Project Delivery: Must have experience driving multiple complex IT projects end-to-end, managing approximately 2–3 projects simultaneously, multiple epics/features, engineering teams, delivery phases, and testing activities.
• Stakeholder Management: Top priority. Strong communication, presentation, expectation management, and coordination skills are required across technical and business stakeholders.
• Azure DevOps/Jira: Hands-on experience is important, with Azure DevOps preferred and Jira considered transferable. Candidates should understand queries, project tracking, epics, features, and work items rather than simply listing the tool on their resume.
• Technical Understanding: Candidate should understand application development, front-end/back-end, web/mobile applications, platforms, SDLC, integration, system, application, and performance testing.
• Certifications: PMP or Agile certification
• Supplier Screening: Validate actual IT PM experience, stakeholder management, Azure DevOps/Jira knowledge, technical understanding, location flexibility, and availability before submission.

Interview Process

• 2 interview rounds
• Virtual/phone interviews
• Panel and/or manager interview
• Interview process planned to begin ASAP

Position Overview

Caterpillar is seeking an experienced IT Project/Program Manager to join the Cat Digital Application Program Management team. This role will lead cross-functional project teams responsible for delivering software solutions that integrate common services across Caterpillar's application portfolio and enterprise systems used by customers and dealers.

The Project/Program Manager will manage projects from initiation through implementation, ensuring successful delivery on schedule, within budget, and according to quality expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead project planning and execution from initiation through completion.
• Manage cross-functional and multifunctional project teams across business and engineering organizations.
• Develop and maintain project charters, schedules, plans, budgets, communications, metrics, and reporting.
• Establish project scope, ways of working, milestones, and completion dates with stakeholders.
• Coordinate projects through concept, prototype, pilot, implementation, and follow-up stages.
• Monitor project progress, identify risks/issues, and communicate impacts to appropriate stakeholders.
• Recommend solutions and alternatives to resolve project challenges.
• Lead change management and support timely decision-making.
• Develop detailed project schedules reflecting scope, dependencies, timelines, costs, and affected functions.
• Use professional project management tools and techniques for reporting, tracking, scheduling, and delegation.
• Work closely with Product Owners, Engineering teams, Business Partners, Product Managers, and other stakeholders.
• Manage approximately 2–3 projects concurrently, with an annual volume of approximately 8–10 projects depending on project and Agile sprint cycles.
• Coordinate with distributed teams across the U.S., India, and Slovakia.

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university plus 8+ years of experience, OR
• Master's degree in a relevant field such as Engineering, Business, or a related discipline plus 6+ years of experience.
• 6+ years of direct project management experience working with software engineering teams in an Agile software development environment.
• 6+ years of experience managing projects from inception through completion, including leading teams toward alignment.
• Experience leading end-to-end program management within a cross-functional/matrix organization.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, business partners, and product managers.
• Experience managing large organizational change initiatives.

Technical Skills

• Strong experience with project management concepts, including:
• Project charters
• Project planning and scheduling
• Scope definition
• Project execution and delivery
• Risk/issue management
• Experience working with ticketing/project management systems such as Jira, Microsoft Azure/Azure DevOps, or similar tools.
• 2+ years of experience with Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) and Confluence.
• Advanced proficiency with:
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Project
• Strategic thinking, alignment, and direction-setting capabilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
• PMP Certification
• Change Management Certification
• Six Sigma Black Belt
• Scrum Master experience in addition to project/program management experience.
• Experience working within large enterprise organizations.
• Experience with eCommerce applications/projects.
• 2+ years of Power BI experience.
• Experience working with Agile software development teams.

Key Soft Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong project management and team leadership abilities.
• Excellent written, verbal, communication, and presentation skills.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects effectively.
• Ability to influence stakeholders and drive alignment across teams.
• Ability to handle sensitive issues and work effectively with stakeholders at multiple organizational levels.

Team & Work Environment

The role supports distributed engineering and business teams across the United States, India, and Slovakia.

The Project/Program Manager will work with Product Owners, Engineering teams, Business stakeholders, and multifunctional teams and will typically manage 2–3 projects simultaneously.

The position is currently hybrid, with office attendance determined by the Work Director. However, this requirement may change, and candidates must be willing to work onsite 5 days per week in the future.

Important Candidate Requirements / Disqualifiers

• Candidates must be Project/Program Managers, not candidates whose primary experience is only as a Scrum Master.
• Candidates must demonstrate experience managing multifunctional/cross-functional teams.
• Consistently short employment tenures, particularly repeated tenures of less than one year, are a concern.
• Education must clearly include the degree completion/graduation year.
• Candidates must be local to Chicago or Peoria, or clearly indicate that they are willing to relocate at their own expense and be onsite from Day 1.
• Choppy tenure/job hopping may result in disqualification.

Candidates must be comfortable with the possibility of transitioning to a 5-day onsite schedule 

Profiles with experience working for large manufacturing or engineering-focused organizations are highly preferred, as their background will align closely with the technical environment and operational standards required for this role.

For example, candidates who have worked with companies such as Caterpillar, John Deere, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Ford, Tesla, Cummins, Honeywell, GE Aerospace, or Raytheon Technologies would be strong fits.

Preferred companies include:
Navistar, Komatsu, PACCAR, Caterpillar, General Motors (GM), Ford, Tesla, Toyota, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, John Deere, Honeywell, General Electric, Rockwell Automation, Rivian, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Volvo, Bosch, Cummins, CNH Industrial, Kubota, Bobcat, Terex, AGCO, JCB, Hitachi Construction Machinery, New Holland, Yanmar, Liebherr, SANY, Wirtgen, YASH Technologies, or similar organizations. Additional relevant companies include:
Oshkosh Corporation, Samsara, Verizon Connect, Powerfleet, Lytx, Trimble Inc., ABB, Siemens, Dana Incorporated, BorgWarner, Schneider Electric, Eaton Corporation, Hitachi Energy, Metso, Sandvik, Epiroc, and Proterra.