Program Manager - CMS

Program Manager - CMS
Location: Tysons Corner, VA (Hybrid)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Position Overview:
Sky Solutions is seeking an experienced Program Manager to lead the delivery of a large-scale federal healthcare IT program supporting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The role will oversee application development and maintenance, legacy system modernization, production operations, and technical delivery supporting Medicare claims processing.
The ideal candidate brings strong federal program management experience, knowledge of CMS and Medicare systems, and the ability to lead cross-functional technical teams while managing contractual commitments, budgets, schedules, risks, quality, and customer relationships.
Key Responsibilities:

·         Lead end-to-end program execution, ensuring delivery aligns with contractual requirements, customer expectations, performance objectives, and program milestones.

·         Manage application development, maintenance, production support, and modernization activities for mission-critical federal healthcare systems.

·         Serve as the primary point of contact for government stakeholders, including CMS representatives, Contracting Officer's Representatives (CORs), and other program stakeholders.

·         Oversee integrated project plans, schedules, resource allocation, staffing, budgets, deliverables, risks, issues, and dependencies.

·         Lead cross-functional teams across software development, mainframe engineering, quality assurance, DevSecOps, infrastructure, security, and operations.

·         Coordinate legacy modernization initiatives, ensuring enhancements and technology transitions maintain system stability, data integrity, security, and business continuity.

·         Monitor program performance against contractual Service Level Agreements (SLAs), quality standards, and delivery commitments.

·         Manage change requests, release planning, operational risks, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.

·         Ensure compliance with applicable federal security, privacy, accessibility, quality, and healthcare information requirements.

·         Provide regular executive-level status reports covering program health, financial performance, staffing, delivery progress, risks, and mitigation plans.

·         Drive team accountability, stakeholder collaboration, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement across the program.

Required Qualifications:

·         Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.

·         10+ years of experience managing IT programs or large-scale technology delivery initiatives.

·         Demonstrated experience leading federal government IT programs, preferably supporting HHS, CMS, Medicare, or other federal healthcare agencies.

·         Experience managing application development and maintenance (AD&M), systems integration, production support, or legacy modernization programs.

·         Strong understanding of federal contract delivery, program governance, resource management, financial oversight, risk management, and performance reporting.

·         Experience managing cross-functional technical teams and multiple concurrent workstreams.

·         Demonstrated ability to manage customer relationships and communicate effectively with government executives and technical stakeholders.

·         Experience with program planning, integrated master schedules, deliverable management, quality assurance, and issue escalation.

·         Strong leadership, problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct experience with CMS Medicare Fee-for-Service systems, claims processing, eligibility, benefits validation, or Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs).
• Experience with legacy mainframe environments, including COBOL, IBM z/OS, JCL, CICS, DB2, or related technologies.
• Experience leading modernization of mission-critical, high-availability healthcare or financial systems.
• Familiarity with federal contracting mechanisms, including contract modifications, task orders, funding, deliverable acceptance, and performance metrics.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum, hybrid delivery models, DevSecOps, automated testing, and continuous integration/continuous delivery.
• Familiarity with federal security and compliance frameworks, including FISMA, NIST, and applicable CMS security requirements.
• PMP certification or equivalent program management certification.

What Success Looks Like:

• Consistent delivery of contractual milestones and high-quality program deliverables.
• Effective management of program budgets, staffing, risks, and customer expectations.
• Reliable operation and continuous improvement of mission-critical healthcare systems.
• Successful coordination of modernization initiatives with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
• Strong government stakeholder relationships and measurable improvements in delivery performance.