Senior Project Manager

Job Title: Senior Project Manager (Hybrid)

Location: Washington, DC

Duration: 04 Months with possible extension

Job Description:

The PMO Lead will serve as a senior member of the Program Management Office and is responsible for driving consistency, discipline, and excellence across the full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This role requires a highly organized, process-driven, proactive leader with deep expertise in SDLC practices, project governance, vendor management, and cross-agency collaboration.

The PMO Lead will provide senior-level project management oversight and ensure consistent execution of the Client Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This position serves as the lead for PMO structure, process adherence, cross-agency coordination, and project governance. The PMO Lead must be highly organized, proactive, and capable of enforcing standards across a portfolio of technical projects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure full SDLC compliance for all projects (JAR, design, QA, UAT, OCM, readiness).
• Establish, maintain, and enforce PMO processes, procedures, templates, and governance structures.
• Oversee the project portfolio, ensuring timelines, risks, dependencies, and resources are proactively managed.
• Provide direction, coaching, and quality review of project managers’ deliverables and documentation.
• Serve as primary escalation point for project risks, issues, and stakeholder concerns.
• Lead project intake, prioritization, and reporting cadence, including portfolio dashboards and leadership updates.
• Drive consistent communication across vendors, partner agencies, and internal teams.
• Monitor compliance with federal, local, and agency policies.
• Ensure vendors are meeting deliverables, timelines, and quality expectations.
• Support change management and continuous improvement initiatives across the PMO.

This position will directly support the Client PMO Program Manager and will ensure 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, takes initiative without waiting for direction, and anticipates risks and issues before they escalate.

Core Responsibilities:

SDLC Leadership & Compliance:

• Own, enforce, and continuously improve 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 PMs 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 PMs.
• 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 PMs 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 next SDLC phase.
• Validate completeness of JAR, design signoffs, UAT entry/exit criteria, and implementation readiness checklists.
• Track, audit, and enforce compliance with agency policies, procedures, and federal requirements.
• Leverage corrective action plans for PMs 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:

• PMP Certification required or must complete the PMP certification within 1 year of hire.
• Extremely organized, detail-oriented, and structured.
• Proactive and anticipatory—able to identify needs, risks, or gaps before they become issues.