Senior Project Manager

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This position requires a criminal background check. Therefore, you may be required to provide information about your criminal history in order to be considered for this position.

Senior Project Manager

Department of Correction

Planning Division

Nashville, TN

Annual Salary: $89,496.00 - $

Closing Date: 07/13/2026

The Tennessee Department of Correction operates and oversees 14 adult prisons across the state, housing some 21,000 offenders. In the community, TDOC supervises 79,000 offenders on probation, parole, or community corrections. The department operates 44 probation/parole offices in 13 districts across the state.

The Tennessee Department of Correction operates safe and secure facilities and provides effective community supervision in support of successful reentry.

At the Tennessee Department of Correction, project management is more than just timelines and deliverables. It is directly tied to public safety, rehabilitation outcomes, and the successful reintegration of thousands of individuals into society. For those applying to be Senior Project Managers, they will be leading high-visibility, mission-critical initiatives that shape correctional operations, modernize systems, and improve outcomes across institutions and communities statewide.

The Senior Project Manager leads TDOC’s most complex, high-risk, and agency wide initiatives, particularly those affecting correctional operations, security systems, rehabilitation programs, and regulatory compliance. This role is responsible for establishing project strategy and directing execution from concept through completion, ensuring all initiatives are delivered within scope, schedule, budget, and in alignment with TDOC policies, safety and security protocols, and applicable state and federal requirements.

The incumbent oversees cross functional project teams, supervises project staff, sets performance and quality standards, and drives proactive risk mitigation and issue resolution. The position collaborates closely with executive and senior leadership, institutional administrators, external partners, and community stakeholders to maintain clear, executive level communication and remove barriers to progress. The Senior Project Manager also provides technical guidance, mentors Project Managers, and aligns resources to support and advance TDOC’s strategic priorities.

This role requires frequent statewide travel to TDOC institutions to conduct onsite project oversight, engage stakeholders, and address operational challenges in real time.

• Leads cross functional, agency wide projects by developing and maintaining comprehensive project plans (scope, schedule, budget, communications, risk) and adjusts resource allocation to align with strategic priorities.
• Supervises and mentors Project Managers/project staff, setting priorities, balancing workloads across institutions, providing coaching and technical guidance, and monitoring performance and deliverables.
• Establishes and enforces project governance standards, including documentation protocols, milestone definitions, reporting cadences, and risk/issue escalation pathways to ensure consistency and accountability.
• Conducts portfolio level risk management by analyzing data, identifying gaps and dependencies, assessing operational impacts, and implementing mitigation strategies across projects and regions.
• Plans, facilitates, and directs executive facing and cross team meetings, aligning objectives, timelines, and deliverables; tracks decisions, actions, and commitments through completion.
• Prepares and delivers executive level presentations and reports, synthesizing complex project information (status, risks, budget, schedule, operational impacts) for leadership and external stakeholders.
• Oversees budget stewardship for assigned initiatives, monitoring expenditures, validating funding sources, and coordinating with finance and grants teams to maintain compliance and value.
• Champions continuous improvement by researching best practices, evaluating tools and data, and recommending process…