Senior Project Manager /PMO Leadership, Process Governance, and Standards Management

Title: Senior Project Manager Employment Type: Contract Start Date: 12/22/2025 Last Day to Submit: 12/10/25 Term: 9+ Months Location: Washington, DC # of Positions: 1 Interview type: Webcam Work location : Remote Remote but will require 4-6 trips to DC (no expenses billed). Job Summary: Description This position is housed under the Department of Health Care Finance in direct support of the DC Access System. The PMO Lead will serve as a senior member of the DCAS 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 DCAS Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).This position serves as the lead for PMO structure, process adherence, cross-agency coordination, and project governance. The PMO Lead must be highly organized, proactive, and capable of enforcing standards across a portfolio of technical projects.

Key Responsibilities

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

Core Responsibilities 1. SDLC Leadership & Compliance

• Own, enforce, and continuously improve 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.

2. PMO Operations & Structure

• 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.

3. Project Portfolio Oversight

• Manage and oversee a diverse portfolio of large-scale 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.

4. Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• 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.

5. Communication & Reporting

• Establish a consistent cadence of meetings, reporting rhythms, dashboards, and executive updates that keep leadership informed and avoid surprises.
• Translate technical information into clear, actionable updates for leadership and stakeholders.
• Ensure PMs communicate proactively—not reactively—about risks, delays, and dependencies.

6. Governance, Quality Control & Accountability

• Ensure all project artifacts meet quality standards before approval and before moving to next SDLC phase.
• Validate completeness of JAR, design signoffs, UAT entry/exit criteria, and implementation readiness checklists.
• Track, audit, and enforce compliance with agency policies, procedures, and federal requirements.
• Leverage corrective action plans for PMs or vendors when repeated issues occur.

7. Change Management & Continuous Improvement

• Lead transformation efforts to enhance PMO efficiency, transparency, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Identify gaps in processes and implement improvements to strengthen governance.
• Support OCM efforts by ensuring project planning and communication align with operational changes.

Required Skills & Qualifications Technical & Process Expertise

• 10+ years of progressive project/program management experience within complex technical environments.
• Deep knowledge of SDLC, system integrations, and public sector or eligibility systems preferred.
• Strong experience with Smartsheet, JIRA, and other project management tools.
• Proven ability to enforce processes and maintain structure across multiple teams.

Leadership & Management

• Demonstrated success leading and mentoring project managers and cross-functional teams.
• Strong decision-making, conflict resolution, and escalation management skills.
• Experience with multi-vendor coordination and holding teams accountable.

Professional Competencies

• PMP Certification required or must complete the PMP certification within 1 year of hire.
• Extremely organized, detail-oriented, and structured.
• Proactive and anticipatory—able to identify needs, risks, or gaps before they become issues.

Job Type: Contract Pay: $42.87 - $51.62 per hour Work Location: Remote Apply tot his job Apply To this Job