Program Management Office Lead

Job Summary

The Business Program Management Lead is responsible for designing, implementing, and overseeing the governance frameworks that ensure the organization's strategic priorities and annual goals are executed effectively across departments.

This role leads the planning and monitoring of company programs, establishes operational structures that enable consistent project execution, and ensures that priority initiatives receive appropriate focus and resources. The Business Program Management Lead oversees the team of Program Managers, ensuring that governance standards are applied consistently and that departmental work aligns with organizational objectives.

Acting as a central coordination point between departments and executive leadership, the Business Program Management Lead maintains visibility into program progress, identifies systemic risks, resolves cross-functional roadblocks, and ensures that departments remain on track to achieve their annual goals.

The role focuses on program planning, governance design, operational oversight, and strategic alignment, rather than direct ownership of project execution.

Core Responsibilities

Governance Framework Planning and Oversight

• Monitor and maintain program governance frameworks that guide how work is prioritized, tracked, and executed across departments.
• Establish standards for project intake, prioritization, sprint planning, reporting, and risk management.
• Monitor the effectiveness of governance frameworks and continuously refine processes to improve delivery predictability and transparency.
• Ensure governance standards are consistently applied by Project Managers across all departments.

Strategic Planning and Goal Execution

• Translate company strategy and annual goals into structured programs, initiatives, and operational workstreams in partnership with Dept Leaders.
• Ensure departmental initiatives support and contribute toward organizational objectives.
• Monitor departmental progress toward annual goals and key initiatives.
• Identify gaps between strategic priorities and operational work, and realign programs as needed.

Priority Program Management

• Ensure that high-priority company initiatives are clearly defined, appropriately prioritized, and progressing according to plan.
• Monitor the execution of priority projects across departments to ensure adequate focus and resources.
• Identify initiatives that are stalled, misaligned, or under-resourced and coordinate corrective action.
• Ensure prioritization decisions reflect company strategy and operational capacity.

Leadership of the Program Management Function

• Lead and manage the team of Project Managers responsible for departmental project execution.
• Provide guidance, support, and oversight to ensure PMs follow governance standards and maintain delivery discipline.
• Review departmental reporting, sprint outcomes, and risk escalations from PMs.
• Coach PMs on prioritization, stakeholder management, and escalation practices.

Cross-Department Coordination

• Facilitate coordination between departments for initiatives involving multiple teams.
• Identify and manage cross-team dependencies affecting program delivery.
• Escalate prioritization conflicts and operational constraints across departments to leadership.
• Ensure collaboration between PMs and department leads when initiatives span multiple teams.

Roadblock Resolution and Risk Management

• Monitor delivery risks and blockers escalated by Project Managers.
• Coordinate with department leads and stakeholders to escalate operational barriers.
• Escalate unresolved risks or resource constraints to executive leadership when required.
• Identify recurring operational challenges and propose systemic improvements.

Executive Reporting and Program Visibility

• Provide leadership with structured weekly and monthly reporting on the progress of strategic programs and priority initiatives.
• Consolidate departmental reporting into program-level summaries and dashboards for executive review.
• Maintain real-time visibility into program health through dashboards and reporting metrics, working with technical analysts.
• Ensure leadership has timely information to support prioritization, resource allocation, and decision-making.

Change Management and Organizational Implementation

• Lead the rollout of governance frameworks, operational processes, and program management standards across the organization.
• Guide departments through operational changes related to program governance and delivery practices.
• Ensure adoption of new processes by coordinating training, communication, and ongoing support.
• Monitor organizational adoption of governance frameworks and address barriers to implementation.

Job Requirements

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in program management, strategic operations, or organizational program leadership.
• Proven experience designing and implementing governance frameworks or operational structures across multiple teams or departments.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing large programs or portfolios aligned to organizational strategy.
• Experience managing or mentoring Project Managers or leading a program management office (PMO).
• Demonstrated experience overseeing enterprise/company-wide portfolio of work
• Experience reporting program progress and operational performance to C-Suite and senior leadership.

Skills

Program and Portfolio Governance

• Strong expertise in monitoring and maintaining program governance models, prioritization systems, and execution frameworks.
• Ability to manage complex portfolios of initiatives across multiple departments.

Strategic Planning and Execution

• Ability to translate company strategy and annual goals into operational programs and measurable workstreams/sprints across various departments.
• Strong prioritization and program planning capabilities.

Organizational Leadership

• Ability to lead program management functions and mentor project management teams.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and collaboration skills.
• Kind and Agile Leadership Style with a focus on Collaborative Teamwork

Change Management

• Experience leading organizational change initiatives, including the implementation of governance frameworks, operational structures, or new program management processes.
• Ability to drive the adoption of new workflows and operational practices across departments.

Stakeholder and Executive Communication

• Strong ability to communicate complex program progress, risks, and operational insights to executive leadership.
• Skilled in creating structured reports and dashboards for decision-making.

Risk and Issue Management

• Ability to identify systemic delivery risks, escalate appropriately, and coordinate solutions across multiple teams.

Tools and Systems

Experience with program and work management platforms such as:

• Azure DevOps (ADO)
• Jira or similar project management systems
• Reporting dashboards and analytics tools
• Microsoft Office or Google Workspace

Preferred Certifications

Must have any of the following certifications:

• Project Management Professional (PMP) – Project Management Institute
• Program Management Professional (PgMP) – PMI
• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) or Professional Scrum Master (PSM)
• SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) or other scaled Agile certifications
• Or equivalent Scrum or PM certifications/training