Senior IT Project Manager

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior IT Project Manager to oversee vendor management, contract compliance, system operations, enhancements, testing, release coordination, and governance for a complex enterprise technology platform.

The Project Manager will serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders, technical teams, agency leadership, security/compliance teams, and the external platform vendor. This role is responsible for ensuring vendor deliverables meet contractual, operational, technical, compliance, and service-level expectations.

The ideal candidate must have strong experience managing IT vendors and complex systems, monitoring SLAs, coordinating releases, leading UAT and disaster recovery testing, managing change requests, and maintaining project governance documentation. A PMP certification is required.

Work Location Requirement

This position requires a hybrid work schedule with 3 days per week onsite in Harrisburg, PA. Candidates must be willing and able to attend in-person interviews.

Key Responsibilities

Vendor & Contract Management

Serve as the primary point of contact for the system vendor.

Manage vendor obligations, deliverables, timelines, contract terms, amendments, renewals, and change orders.

Act as the key liaison between internal stakeholders and the vendor to communicate requirements, resolve issues, and coordinate enhancements.

Lead weekly, monthly, annual, and special project vendor meetings.

Ensure deliverables meet quality expectations, timelines, and contract requirements.

Maintain documentation related to contract amendments, renewals, vendor performance, and change orders.

Conduct vendor compliance reviews and support background check verification processes as needed.

System Performance & SLA Monitoring

Monitor and report on Service Level Agreement performance.

Track system uptime, downtime, incidents, failures, escalations, and root cause analysis reports.

Identify trends in system performance and escalate recurring or critical issues.

Review and validate vendor-provided compliance artifacts, including SOC reports and disaster recovery test results.

Coordinate disaster recovery test planning, execution, validation, and reporting.

Change Management & Enhancements

Oversee the change request process, including scoping, prioritization, approvals, tracking, and delivery.

Manage planning and delivery of system enhancements and new functionality.

Track change request hours, budgets, schedules, and vendor resource usage.

Manage blackout dates, release schedules, impact assessments, and implementation planning.

Conduct lessons-learned sessions and identify recommendations for continuous improvement.

Testing & Release Coordination

Plan and coordinate User Acceptance Testing activities with internal teams and the vendor.

Support production deployment planning and post-release validation.

Coordinate load testing, accessibility testing, disaster recovery testing, and release readiness reviews.

Ensure testing results, defects, approvals, and deployment outcomes are properly documented.

Work with stakeholders to validate that releases meet business, technical, and compliance requirements.

Compliance & Governance

Ensure vendor and system activities comply with security, audit, governance, and accessibility requirements.

Support compliance with accessibility standards such as WCAG and Section 508.

Maintain project documentation, risk logs, issue logs, operational procedures, meeting notes, decision records, and status reports.

Coordinate with security, legal, compliance, business, and technical teams to ensure project activities follow applicable policies and regulations.

Support audits and reviews related to project activities, vendor performance, system changes, and compliance obligations.

Required Qualifications

PMP Certification is required.

10+ years of experience managing IT vendors and complex enterprise systems.

Strong understanding of SLAs, contract management, vendor management, and IT governance.

Experience managing enterprise application vendors or platform vendors.

Experience coordinating UAT, load testing, disaster recovery testing, production releases, and post-release validation.

Familiarity with accessibility compliance standards such as WCAG and Section 508.

Strong understanding of system performance monitoring, compliance documentation, audit support, and operational governance.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Strong meeting facilitation, documentation, coordination, and stakeholder management skills.

Ability to manage multiple priorities, risks, deadlines, and vendor dependencies.

Ability to work independently and collaboratively with technical and nontechnical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience supporting public sector, government, licensing, permitting, conservation, outdoor recreation, or resource management systems.

Experience reviewing SOC reports, disaster recovery results, compliance documentation, and vendor performance reports.

Experience working with security,…