Required Skills & Experience
- Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification, active and in good standing, is required.
- 7 or more years of progressive IT program and project management experience, including demonstrated experience managing programs comprising multiple, interdependent projects rather than single-project delivery alone.
- Demonstrated experience in benefits management: defining, tracking, and reporting on program benefits across a multi-year program life cycle.
- Knowledge of program management standards and frameworks, including PMI's Standard for Program Management, and their distinction from project-level frameworks such as the PMBOK Guide.
- Knowledge of cross-project resource, schedule, and dependency management, including techniques for resolving conflicts between concurrent projects competing for shared resources.
- Knowledge of program governance structures, including steering committee design and program-level decision rights distinct from project-level governance.
- Skill in producing integrated, executive-ready program status reporting that synthesizes multiple projects into a coherent program-level narrative.
- Skill in facilitating governance and steering sessions with senior stakeholders across multiple agencies or business units.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, ambiguous requirements, and organizational complexity across a multi-project program in a fast-paced, multi-agency government environment.
- Ability to build trust and credibility with senior agency stakeholders, navigating political dynamics with professionalism and diplomacy.
- Ability to lead a single project directly and effectively when assigned, while maintaining primary orientation toward program-level responsibilities.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to adapt message and format to audience.
Nice to Have Skills & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business Analysis, Data Science, Information Systems, Computer Science, Public Administration, or a closely related field; equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in addition to PgMP.
- Experience working within or in direct support of Commonwealth of Virginia state agencies, particularly in an IT program or portfolio delivery capacity.
- Familiarity with Commonwealth IT governance frameworks, including VITA's PMD/ITIM framework and the IT Strategic Planning (ITSP) process.
- Experience with Planview Portfolios or a comparable enterprise PPM platform for program and cross-project scheduling, resource management, and status reporting.
- SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), SAFe for Government, or comparable program-level Agile scaling certification.
- Experience managing programs that involve multiple third-party vendor contracts, including oversight of vendor deliverables, SLA compliance, and contract change management across concurrent projects.
- Experience leading program-level recovery or stabilization efforts spanning multiple at-risk or troubled projects.
- Experience preparing governance documentation such as program charters, benefits realization reports, and stage gate review packages.
Job Description
The IT Program Manager is a senior delivery professional within the PMCOE's Manage and Perform tier, responsible for orchestrating multiple interdependent IT projects and initiatives across Commonwealth agencies toward a shared set of program benefits. This role is distinct from single-project execution: the primary mandate is program-level integration, cross-project resource and schedule sequencing, benefits realization, and program governance spanning initiatives too large or interdependent for any one project manager to coordinate alone. An IT Program Manager may lead a single project directly when Commonwealth need requires it, but that is a secondary capability, not the role's core function. The ideal candidate holds the Program Management Professional (PgMP) credential and brings a demonstrated record of managing programs, not only projects: benefits management, cross-project resource and schedule integration, and program governance structures across multiple concurrent, interdependent initiatives. Experience working within or alongside Commonwealth agencies is a strong advantage.
Pay Range:55-75/hr