IT Program / Senior Project Manager

IT Program / Senior Project Manager

Client: Minnesota Department of Information Technology Services (MNIT), partnering with the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC)
Job Type: Full-Time
Location: Minnesota / Remote

We are seeking an experienced IT Program / Senior Project Manager to support the Minnesota Department of Information Technology Services (MNIT) in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) .

The selected professional will lead a complex, high-visibility technology project and will be responsible for providing strong program and project leadership from planning and initiation through implementation and closeout.
Key Responsibilities

- Provide overall program and senior-level project management for a complex MNIT/DOC technology initiative.

- Lead project planning, initiation, execution, monitoring, control, and closure activities.

- Establish and maintain project scope, schedule, milestones, dependencies, deliverables, and resource plans.

- Develop and maintain detailed project plans and ensure activities remain aligned with established timelines.

- Coordinate and manage cross-functional teams consisting of technical, business, operational, vendor, and other project stakeholders.

- Serve as a primary point of contact for project-related coordination, communication, status, and escalation.

- Facilitate project meetings, working sessions, stakeholder discussions, and executive-level reviews as required.

- Track project progress against approved baselines and communicate status, accomplishments, issues, risks, and upcoming activities.

- Identify, document, assess, and proactively manage project risks, issues, assumptions, constraints, and dependencies.

- Develop mitigation and contingency strategies and escalate significant risks or issues appropriately.

- Manage project deliverables and ensure they are completed, reviewed, approved, and delivered on schedule.

- Coordinate requirements, decisions, action items, and dependencies across business and technical teams.

- Monitor project resources and support appropriate allocation of people, time, and other project resources.

- Manage project changes through appropriate change-control processes, including scope, schedule, resource, and priority changes.

- Maintain project documentation, including project plans, status reports, meeting materials, risk/issue logs, decision logs, action items, and other required artifacts.

- Provide regular and accurate project status reporting to MNIT/DOC leadership and other stakeholders.

- Identify project-level conflicts and facilitate resolution among stakeholders and delivery teams.

- Ensure project activities follow applicable MNIT/DOC policies, procedures, standards, and governance requirements.

- Support coordination with vendors, contractors, and other external partners when applicable.

- Monitor project quality and ensure deliverables meet established requirements and acceptance criteria.

- Coordinate testing, implementation, transition, and deployment activities as required by the project.

- Support organizational change, communications, training, and transition activities where applicable.

- Maintain clear communication across technical and non-technical audiences.

- Provide senior-level guidance and recommendations to project stakeholders and leadership.

- Ensure timely escalation of issues that could affect project scope, schedule, budget, quality, or successful delivery.

- Perform other project and program management activities necessary to support successful completion of the initiative.

- 5+ years of professional experience in IT project/program management, with demonstrated responsibility for managing complex technology initiatives.

- Strong experience leading projects involving multiple teams, stakeholders, systems, and dependencies.

- Demonstrated experience managing project scope, schedule, risks, issues, resources, dependencies, and deliverables.

- Experience de