Senior Project Manager

We are seeking an experienced PMO Lead to provide senior-level project management oversight for a large-scale public sector technology program. This role serves as the lead for PMO structure, process adherence, cross-agency coordination, and project governance across the full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The ideal candidate is highly organized, process-driven, and proactive, with deep expertise in SDLC practices, project governance, vendor management, and cross-agency collaboration.

This position directly supports the program''s PMO leadership and ensures that projects move through each phase of the SDLC with complete documentation, stakeholder alignment, and adherence to established processes and procedures. The ideal candidate is a self-starter who takes initiative without waiting for direction and anticipates risks and issues before they escalate.

Key Responsibilities

SDLC Leadership & Compliance

•     Own, enforce, and continuously improve program SDLC methodologies, processes, templates, and governance standards.

•     Ensure all projects complete requirements, design, quality assurance (QA), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Organizational Change Management (OCM), and readiness activities before advancing to Go/No-Go or implementation.

•     Partner with technical and business teams to ensure process adherence and quality deliverables at each phase.

•     Develop and maintain SDLC playbooks, workflows, checklists, and RACI charts.

PMO Operations & Structure

•     Provide structure, organization, and consistency within the PMO by establishing expectations, documentation standards, and escalation protocols.

•     Serve as the first escalation point for project managers, stakeholders, and vendor partners.

•     Implement and oversee a repeatable project intake, prioritization, and tracking process.

•     Monitor and validate that project managers are using approved tools (e.g., Smartsheet, JIRA, SharePoint) consistently and accurately.

Project Portfolio Oversight

•     Manage and oversee a diverse portfolio of large-scale initiatives, ensuring timelines, risks, issues, and resource needs are visible and proactively managed.

•     Review and approve project plans, schedules, status reports, and artifacts to ensure completeness and accuracy.

•     Identify and address project roadblocks early, providing direction and coaching to project managers.

•     Provide weekly portfolio summaries with progress, dependencies, risk level, and recommended actions.

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

•     Serve as a senior liaison between internal/external stakeholders and vendor teams to maintain alignment and prevent confusion.

•     Hold vendors accountable to deliverables, timelines, risk mitigation, and communication standards.

•     Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities.

Communication & Reporting

•     Establish a consistent cadence of meetings, reporting rhythms, dashboards, and executive updates that keep leadership informed and avoid surprises.

•     Translate technical information into clear, actionable updates for leadership and stakeholders.

•     Ensure project managers communicate proactively—not reactively—about risks, delays, and dependencies.

Governance, Quality Control & Accountability

•     Ensure all project artifacts meet quality standards before approval and before moving to the next SDLC phase.

•     Validate completeness of requirements sign-offs, design sign-offs, UAT entry/exit criteria, and implementation readiness checklists.

•     Track, audit, and enforce compliance with applicable policies and requirements.

•     Leverage corrective action plans for project managers or vendors when repeated issues occur.

Change Management & Continuous Improvement

•     Lead transformation efforts to enhance PMO efficiency, transparency, and stakeholder satisfaction.

•     Identify gaps in processes and implement improvements to strengthen governance.

•     Support OCM efforts by ensuring project planning and communication align with operational changes.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Technical & Process Expertise

•     10+ years of progressive project/program management experience within complex technical environments.

•     Deep knowledge of SDLC, system integrations, and public sector or eligibility systems preferred.

•     Strong experience with Smartsheet, JIRA, and other project management tools.

•     Proven ability to enforce processes and maintain structure across multiple teams.

Leadership & Management

•     Demonstrated success leading and mentoring project managers and cross-functional teams.

•     Strong decision-making, conflict resolution, and escalation management skills.

•     Experience with multi-vendor coordination and holding teams accountable.

Professional Competencies

•     Extremely organized, detail-oriented, and structured.

•     Proactive and anticipatory—able to identify needs, risks, or gaps before they become issues.

•     PMP Certification required, or must complete PMP certification within 1 year of hire.

Experience & Education

•     Bachelor''s degree in IT or related field, or equivalent experience — required.

•     16+ years of MS Office/PowerPoint experience — required.

•     15+ years of progressive experience in project and program management — required.

•     15+ years managing people, performance, and developing processes and change management practices for medium to large teams — required.

•     10+ years of strong experience and verifiable success delivering high-value, client-facing software projects spanning multiple teams and customers — required.

•     10+ years of track record developing and improving consistent, repeatable outcomes across a Project Management Office — required.

•     7+ years of progressive operational leadership or consultative experience in a hospital or health system setting — required.

•     10+ years of experience with program development relying on synthesis of clinical evidence/outcomes, process flow analysis, and end-user relations — required.

•     15+ years of strong analytical, quantitative, and problem-solving experience — required.

•     7+ years demonstrating thorough understanding of core business processes within healthcare organizations — required.

•     15+ years of management experience of individual contributors and/or supervisors — preferred.