Manager, Program Management Office

About CENIC

Join the team that connects California to the world — advancing education and research statewide by providing the world‑class computing network essential for innovation, collaboration, and economic growth. Our organization operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high‑capacity computer network with more than 8,000 miles of optical fiber. The network serves over 20 million users across California, including the vast majority of K‑20 students, together with educators, researchers, and individuals at other vital public‑serving institutions.

The Manager, Program Management Office (PMO), will be responsible for developing and scaling our program and project management functions to meet the growing demand for services and ensure delivery excellence across all projects for external customers and internal stakeholders.

• Supervision of Program Management Office staff.
• Ensure that all supervised personnel are aware of and adhere to general security principles, as well as CENIC‑specific security policies, both established and evolving.

• Build out the program and project management functions in our organization in order to ensure the Program Management Organization consistently performs to the highest standards of excellence.
• Develop project management processes that work seamlessly across all functions of the organization, delivering world‑class service to customers, both external and internal.
• Coach and mentor the Program Management team so they consistently perform to the highest standards across the organization.
• Organizing and facilitating activities for the PMO team – including staff meetings, 1:1 meetings, and working sessions.
• Work to ensure that Project Management best practices are standardized across projects in order to maintain consistent delivery excellence in every project.
• Create individualized professional development plans for Program Management team members.
• Ensure that all project management tools are used and optimized for maximum efficiency.
• Regularly review team process under the lens of continuous improvement for efficiency and automation opportunities.
• Maintain and publish dashboards related to member projects, internal company software projects, and initiatives.
• Identify any gaps in the project management toolset and be a proactive member of a cross‑functional team in identifying and developing new tools.
• Work with project managers to ensure that all projects stay in scope and on schedule and course‑correct as needed when projects encounter issues, including providing an escalation path whenever necessary.
• Lead grant programs managed by CENIC on behalf of state agencies, leading regular meetings, providing regular written and oral reports, and ensuring CENIC executives are kept aware of program progress and challenges.
• Assist in member engagement activities for existing and prospective CENIC members.

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent people skills.
• Strong business acumen.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced and dynamic environment.
• Ability to consider, understand, and prioritize security (and privacy, where applicable) principles, practices, and procedures.

• B.S./B.A. degree in a related field or equivalent work experience.
• Five years of experience leading a Project Management function with a customer‑facing organization.

• Master’s degree preferred (additional relevant experience may be substituted for education).
• Project Management Professional Certification (PMP) and/or formal coursework/training in project management strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated mastery of project management…