Position SummaryThe Director, Program Management is accountable for the strategic leadership, enterprise alignment, and end-to-end execution of one of the company's most complex and high-profile programs. The program spans multiple interdependent workstreams and requires coordination and leadership across Product, Engineering, Operations, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and other enterprise functions.
This role is a member of the Program Management Office (PMO) and reports through the PMO, with a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Senior Vice President accountable for the program. Working in close partnership with the SVP and Program Principal, the Director serves as a senior leader for both the external stakeholder relationship and internal program, translating contractual commitments, stakeholder priorities, and business objectives into enterprise strategy, priorities, and measurable outcomes.
The Director is expected to operate with significant autonomy, sound executive judgment, and a high degree of discretion. This individual must be equally effective influencing executive decisions, navigating sensitive stakeholder matters, and engaging directly in critical program work when necessary to accelerate progress, resolve complex issues, or protect program and business outcomes.
Key ResponsibilitiesStrategic Program Leadership- Partner with the SVP and Program Principal to establish the strategic direction, priorities, governance, and success measures for the program.
- Serve as a senior, trusted partner to external and internal leadership, building credibility through transparency, responsiveness, sound judgment, and consistent execution.
- Represent the broader enterprise in external stakeholder engagements, balancing contractual commitments and stakeholder priorities with the company's operational, financial, technical, and strategic objectives.
- Anticipate emerging program, stakeholder, and business challenges and lead proactive strategies to address them before they materially impact outcomes.
- Provide the SVP and executive leadership with clear assessments, recommendations, and options on critical program decisions, risks, and opportunities.
Enterprise Program Leadership- Provide overall leadership and accountability for a complex portfolio of interconnected workstreams spanning multiple business and functional organizations.
- Establish an integrated enterprise operating model that creates clear ownership, decision rights, escalation paths, dependencies, and accountability across workstream leaders.
- Set direction and drive alignment across senior functional leaders where competing priorities, resource constraints, or organizational dependencies require enterprise-level resolution.
- Ensure program decisions optimize overall enterprise and stakeholder outcomes rather than individual functional or workstream objectives.
- Establish and maintain disciplined program governance, including executive steering, program reviews, decision forums, and escalation mechanisms.
Program Performance & Financial Management- Maintain executive oversight of program scope, schedule, budget, quality, resources, risks, dependencies, and contractual commitments.
- Establish performance expectations and ensure workstream leaders are accountable for measurable deliverables, milestones, financial targets, and contractual commitments.
- Own program-level risk and issue management, directing recovery strategies and corrective actions when delivery, financial, contractual, or stakeholder outcomes are at risk.
- Provide oversight of program budget, forecasts, expenditures, resource requirements, and financial exposure in partnership with Finance and functional leadership.
- Evaluate and communicate the enterprise impact of material scope changes, schedule adjustments, resource decisions, and external commitments.
- Maintain sufficient depth in program details to independently assess program health, challenge assumptions, and intervene directly when required to drive resolution.
Government Contracts, Compliance & Risk- Ensure program execution aligns with government contract requirements, statements of work, service-level commitments, policies, regulations, and stakeholder-specific obligations.
- Partner with Legal, Commercial, Finance, Security, and Compliance leadership to identify and mitigate contractual, regulatory, financial, and reputational exposure.
- Ensure appropriate controls, documentation, approvals, and evidence are maintained to support contractual compliance and audit readiness.
- Provide leadership for significant contract changes, escalations, remediation efforts, audits, and corrective action plans.
Executive Communication & Stakeholder Leadership- Lead executive-level program reviews, steering committees, escalations, and strategic planning discussions with internal and external stakeholders.
- Communicate complex, sensitive, and high-impact matters with exceptional clarity, precision, discretion, and judgment at every level of the organization and with external stakeholders.
- Synthesize complex program information into concise executive communications that clearly articulate program health, business implications, risks, recommendations, and decisions required.
- Navigate sensitive contractual, organizational, operational, and stakeholder matters with a high degree of professionalism and confidentiality.
- Influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders without reliance on direct authority, building alignment and accountability around enterprise priorities.
- Maintain credibility and composure in high-pressure environments, including executive escalations, service disruptions, contractual disputes, and other critical program matters.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in business, program management, public administration, technology, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
- 12+ years of progressive program, project, or business leadership experience, including responsibility for large-scale, highly complex, cross-functional programs.
- Demonstrated experience leading strategic, high-visibility programs with significant enterprise, financial, operational, contractual, and reputational impact.
- Proven ability to operate effectively with senior executives and serve as a trusted advisor to both internal and external leadership.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information, communicate with precision, and tailor messaging for executive, external stakeholder, technical, and operational audiences.
- Exceptional judgment and discretion, with demonstrated experience managing confidential, politically sensitive, contractual, or high-risk matters appropriately at all organizational levels.
- Strong executive presence and demonstrated ability to communicate difficult messages, influence decisions, resolve conflict, and establish alignment with credibility and composure.
- Significant experience managing programs governed by government contracts, public-sector requirements, or highly regulated contractual environments.
- Advanced expertise in scope, schedule, budget, financial management, resource planning, risk, dependency, governance, and change control.
- Strong understanding of contractual requirements, statements of work, service-level commitments, acceptance criteria, compliance obligations, and audit requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to lead effectively within a highly matrixed organization and drive accountability across teams and leaders outside of direct reporting authority.
- Strong business acumen with the ability to evaluate program decisions through operational, contractual, financial, stakeholder, and enterprise perspectives.
- Exceptional organizational discipline, attention to detail, judgment, and follow-through.
- Ability to move fluidly between strategic leadership and detailed execution, engaging directly in critical work when required to achieve the desired outcome.
Preferred Qualifications- PMP, PgMP, or comparable program management certification.
- Experience supporting state, local, municipal, transportation, public safety, tolling, mobility, or other government entities.
- Experience leading technology-enabled programs involving software, infrastructure, operational services, integrations, data, or regulatory compliance.
- Experience leading significant escalations, service recovery, contract change, remediation, or transformation initiatives.
- Experience operating in a PMO, enterprise transformation, or portfolio management environment.
