Senior Project Manager - Remote work

Position: Senior Project Manager (PMO Lead) Work: Remote Type: Contract 9+ months Interview Type: Webcam 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 the 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. Core Responsibilities: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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 • PMP Certification required or must complete the PMP certification within 1 year of hire. • Apply tot his job