Program Manager; Enterprise​/Portfolio Level in Washington

Short Description

Client is looking for a PMO Lead to drive and manage the PMO from a senior leadership perspective. This Position is ON SITE 3 DAYS A WEEK.

The PMO Lead will serve as a senior member of the DC Program Management Office and is responsible for driving consistency, discipline, and excellence across the full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This role requires a highly organized, process-driven, proactive leader with deep expertise in SDLC practices, project governance, vendor management, and cross‑agency collaboration. The PMO Lead will provide senior‑level project management oversight and ensure consistent execution of the Client Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), serving as the lead for PMO structure, process adherence, cross‑agency coordination, and project governance.

• Ensure full SDLC compliance for all client projects (JAR, design, QA, UAT, OCM, readiness).
• Establish, maintain, and enforce PMO processes, procedures, templates, and governance structures.
• Oversee the client 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 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.

This position will directly support the client PMO Program Manager and will ensure that projects move through each phase of the SDLC with complete documentation, stakeholder alignment, and adherence to established processes and procedures. The ideal candidate is a self‑starter, takes initiative without waiting for direction, and anticipates risks and issues before they escalate.

• Own, enforce, and continuously improve client 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.

• 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.

• Manage and oversee a diverse portfolio of large‑scale client 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.

• 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.

• Establish a consistent cadence of meetings, reporting rhythms, dashboards, and executive updates that…