Senior Manager, IT Project Management

The Blueprint
We are looking for an experienced Senior Manager, IT Project Management, to lead strategic technology initiatives and strengthen project and portfolio management practices across the organization.

This is a hands-on functional leadership role for someone who can bring structure, visibility and accountability to complex technology initiatives while maintaining a practical, proportionate approach to project governance.

Working closely with IT leadership, business stakeholders, solution architects, technical teams, vendors and consultants, you will lead initiatives spanning infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, enterprise applications, data, digital transformation and emerging technologies.

You will provide leadership across projects and programs, influencing cross-functional teams and delivery partners without necessarily having direct reporting relationships.

A Glimpse of Your Daily Activities

Project & Program Delivery

Lead complex technology projects and programs from initiation and business case development through planning, implementation, transition and closure.
Define project scope, objectives, deliverables, timelines, budgets, resource requirements and measurable success criteria.
Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, budgets, RAID logs, decision logs and executive status reporting.
Coordinate business, technical and vendor resources to keep projects aligned and on track.
Ensure projects include appropriate testing, documentation, training, operational readiness and transition into support.

Portfolio Management & Governance

Establish practical and scalable project management standards, governance and templates.
Partner with the CTO and IT leadership to evaluate, prioritize and sequence technology initiatives based on strategic value, risk, dependencies, resource capacity and organizational readiness.
Maintain consolidated visibility across active and planned IT initiatives, including priorities, status, budgets, resources, risks and dependencies.
Maintain visibility into resource demand and capacity across the IT portfolio and identify conflicts that could affect delivery commitments.
Identify cross-project dependencies, resource constraints and competing priorities and escalate them appropriately.
Provide clear project and portfolio reporting to IT and executive leadership.
Continuously improve project delivery, governance and portfolio management practices.

Technical Delivery & Integration

Work closely with solution architects, technical leads and business analysts to identify and manage technical dependencies, integration requirements, data migration considerations and architectural risks throughout the project lifecycle.
Partner with technical leaders to ensure architectural decisions, integration requirements and technology risks are appropriately reflected in project plans.
Understand solution architecture and data flows sufficiently to challenge technical assumptions and translate technical complexity into project dependencies, risks and delivery requirements.
Coordinate planning across enterprise applications, infrastructure, cloud platforms, security controls, data sources and third-party systems.
Ensure architecture and security decisions remain with the appropriate technical owners while maintaining accountability for their impact on project delivery.

Stakeholder, Vendor & Change Management

Build strong relationships with executive sponsors, business stakeholders, IT teams and external partners.
Translate technical information, risks and dependencies into clear business language.
Facilitate steering committees, project meetings, working sessions and executive updates.
Establish clear responsibilities and accountabilities across project sponsors, business teams, technical teams and vendors.
Manage vendors, consultants and implementation partners and hold them accountable for commitments and deliverables.
Ensure projects appropriately address business readiness, communications, training, process changes and user adoption.
Manage competing priorities and expectations across stakeholder groups.

Financial, Resource & Risk Management

Develop and manage project budgets, forecasts, commitments and expenditures.
Identify resource requirements, capacity constraints and competing priorities early in the project lifecycle.
Ensure cybersecurity, privacy, operational resilience and business continuity risks are appropriately considered throughout project delivery.
Engage the appropriate architecture, cybersecurity, privacy and operational owners when specialist decisions or approvals are required.
Escalate significant delivery, financial, resource, vendor or technology risks to leadership.

Benefits & Outcomes

Work with project sponsors to define measurable business outcomes and project success criteria.
Maintain alignment between project deliverables, business objectives and expected benefits.
Establish clear ownership for benefits realization and post-implementation outcomes.
Support post-implementation assessments to determine whether expected business and operational benefits have been achieved.

Strategic Technology Initiatives

Lead or support initiatives including cloud and Microsoft 365 technologies, cybersecurity, infrastructure modernization, enterprise applications, ERP systems, data migration, systems integration, IT service management, automation, AI-enabled solutions, and technology modernization programs.

The Architect of Your Success

Eight or more years of progressive IT project or program management experience.
Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional technology initiatives.
Strong knowledge of project management methodologies, governance and controls.
Experience leading projects involving enterprise applications, system integrations and data migration.
Experience delivering initiatives across infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity and/or enterprise applications.
Working knowledge of relational database concepts, data structures, data modelling and enterprise system integration patterns.
Ability to understand solution architecture and data flows, challenge technical assumptions, and translate technical complexity into project dependencies, risks and delivery requirements.
Experience managing technology vendors, consultants and implementation partners.
Strong financial, resource, risk, issue and dependency management capabilities.
Excellent executive communication, facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
Ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and bring structure to complex or ambiguous situations.

Nice to Have

PMP certification or an equivalent formal project management qualification. Equivalent demonstrated experience will also be considered.
Experience working in a Microsoft-centric technology environment, including Microsoft 365 and Azure.
Experience delivering infrastructure modernization, cybersecurity, cloud migration or ERP initiatives.
Experience establishing or improving PMO and technology portfolio management practices.
Experience applying Agile, Waterfall and hybrid delivery methodologies.
Familiarity with ITIL and IT service management practices.
Familiarity with recognized cybersecurity and governance frameworks, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CIS Controls or ISO/IEC 27001.
Experience supporting organizational change, business readiness and technology adoption.