Risk / Issue Manager Overview We are seeking an experienced Risk / Issue Manager to support a large-scale State government technology modernization initiative.
The Risk / Issue Manager will be responsible for establishing, managing, and continuously improving the program's risk and issue management framework. This individual will work closely with program leadership, project teams, and State stakeholders to identify potential risks, manage active issues, drive mitigation planning, and provide visibility into overall program health.
The ideal candidate will possess experience supporting large-scale enterprise or government technology programs and have a strong background in risk management, issue resolution, governance, and stakeholder communication.
Responsibilities - Establish and maintain formal risk and issue management processes, standards, and tools across the program
- Develop and manage program risk and issue registers
- Facilitate recurring risk and issue review sessions with project leadership and workstream teams
- Identify, document, assess, prioritize, and track risks and issues throughout the project lifecycle
- Coordinate development and execution of mitigation and remediation plans
- Monitor risk trends and identify emerging threats to schedule, budget, scope, quality, operations, or program objectives
- Escalate high-priority risks and issues to appropriate leadership levels
- Support governance meetings, executive reviews, and Steering Committee reporting
- Develop risk and issue dashboards, reports, and executive summaries
- Ensure risk ownership and accountability are maintained across all workstreams
- Collaborate with PMO, testing, infrastructure, development, release management, and operational teams
- Support continuous improvement of program governance and risk management practices
Required Qualifications - 5+ years of experience in risk management, issue management, program governance, program controls, or PMO leadership supporting large-scale IT programs
- Experience establishing and managing formal risk and issue management processes
- Familiarity with industry-standard risk management frameworks and methodologies
- Strong facilitation, documentation, and stakeholder engagement skills
- Experience preparing risk reports and executive-level communications
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
- bility to manage competing priorities in complex program environments
Preferred Qualifications - State government experience
- Federal government experience
- Public sector consulting experience
- Healthcare, Human Services, or Medicaid program experience
- PMO governance experience
- Program Controls experience
- Enterprise transformation experience
- Experience supporting large-scale technology modernization initiatives
- Experience preparing Executive Steering Committee materials
- PMP, PMI-RMP, or related project management certifications
Work Environment - Chicago, IL
- Primarily remote
- pproximately 40 onsite days annually
- Full-time dedication to the program required
