Principal Project Manager

We are seeking a seasoned Principal Project Manager to enhance and standardize our project management processes. This role will be a Delivery Lead and will act as a Release Train Engineer (RTE) within the Project Management Office (PMO).

As a Principal Project Manager, you will oversee a large-scale project, coordinate the assigned teams, and act as an RTE to ensure seamless Agile delivery across multiple teams. You will manage high-level delivery responsibilities to ensure project goals are met on time and within scope, measure and report on key performance indicators, and coach team members to work collaboratively. As a leader, you will leverage strong situational awareness skills to provide tactical and team leadership throughout the project life cycle and oversee the development of critical project integration points with a broader foundation and associated deliverables. You will assist in developing company processes and help guide their implementation and drive organization-wide adoption while maintaining up-to-date guidelines. At this level, you are comfortable navigating organizational and project ambiguity.

The ideal candidate will boost PMO efficiencies, maintain comprehensive project documentation, track key metrics, and provide training and leadership within the PMO. As a self-motivated and quick learner, you’ll adapt to both team and client needs while maintaining consistent high standards of excellence and a focus on agile delivery. A high performer in this role will have a demonstrated comfort with ambiguity and drive for clarity, and view problems as opportunities.

If you’re passionate about improving lives through digital products and services, then Coforma is an excellent company for you.

$170,980 to $183,340 Annual Salary + Benefits + Growth Potential

Placement within this range will be based on the competency level of the candidate. An offer will be made at one of the following tiers:

Tier 1: $170,980 — Meets minimum qualification/experience requirements. Beyond onboarding, will need additional guidance and training to perform key responsibilities of the role.

Tier 2: $177,984 — Experienced and fully-competent. Beyond onboarding, can independently perform key responsibilities of the role.

Tier 3: $183,340 — Highly-experienced and can perform all responsibilities of the role at a higher level than expected once onboarding is completed.

To honor our company-wide equitable pay system, the posted salary range and corresponding tier salaries are non-negotiable.

The job posting for this role will close by 5:00pm PT on Monday, July 1, 2024.

The desired start date for this role is early August 2024.

This is a US-based remote position open to applicants in the states listed below. Some travel may be required.

Note: To ensure we remain compliant with all state, county, and local employment and tax regulations, applicants must currently reside in one of the following states to be considered for employment with Coforma. This list will be updated periodically as our PeopleOps team works to open up hiring in additional states.

-Arizona

-California

-District of Columbia

-Florida

-Georgia

-Idaho

-Illinois

-Maine

-Maryland

-Massachusetts

-Montana

-Nevada

-New Jersey

-New York

-North Carolina

-Oregon

-Tennessee

-Texas

-Virginia

-Washington

-Wisconsin

What You'll Do (Responsibilities): Release Train Engineer

• Facilitate the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) Agile Release Train (ART) processes and program execution, including scheduling SAFe ceremonies, escalating impediments, managing risk, and driving program-level continuous improvement.

• Orchestrate and optimize the Agile Release Train, collaborating with Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and other stakeholders to ensure strategy and execution alignment.

• Facilitate Scrum of Scrums

• Coordinate, plan, and facilitate the Program Increment (PI) Events with tasks such as pre-PI planning, scheduling and setting up the facility, lining up speakers, creating presentation material, gathering and publishing PI objectives, attending feature development and prioritization meetings.

• Maintain the PI Program Board throughout the Program Increment (PI), tracking features and capabilities.

• Communicate feature burnup rates to ensure readiness for PI planning and support Product and Solution Management, POs, and stakeholders in executing and aligning strategy.

• Ensure PI Confluence pages are kept up to date. 

• Drive relentless improvement through Inspect and Adapt working sessions, assessing the agility level of the ART and Solution Train and helping them improve.

• Provide guidance in Agile, Scrum, and SAFe methodologies, leading Agile delivery teams to consistently deliver value.

• Create and collaborate with communities of practice to facilitate continuous learning and practice sharing, develop and conduct Agile-oriented training, and identify and deploy key metrics to enable continuous improvement.

• Identify Coaching opportunities for the ART

• Clearly identify and communicate program-level issues and concerns, provide recommended actions for resolution to the product management team, and track the execution of features and capabilities with timely updates and insights.

• Serve as a conduit between teams and business stakeholders, including communicating the Product Management Team’s strategy and vision, ensuring effective communication and alignment.

• Report to Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) and facilitate PO Sync Meetings.

• Ensure that the business scope aligns with IT standards and best practices for CMS initiatives.

• Provide business/Program support for scope of work

• Provide input on staffing and resourcing to address critical bottlenecks.

• Set up and facilitate System and Solution Demos to showcase progress and gather feedback.

• Maintain a solid understanding of the security infrastructure required for deploying secure, scalable, and reliable applications, conducting preventive and adaptive maintenance to enhance security, performance, and reliability.

• Optimize the flow of value using various tools, such as the Program Kanban, Program Backlog, DevOps Mindset, Communities of Practice, and more

What You'll Do (Responsibilities): Delivery Lead

• Oversee all aspects of the project including scope, schedule, finance, risk, quality, and resources

• Lead the team and drive results related to contractual objectives

• Build and develop the project team to ensure maximum performance by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, creating holistic success for everyone

• Coordinate partnered teams on projects to bring alignment, build understanding, identify and resolve conflicts, and ensure successful outcomes

• Collaborate with the Account Director to manage team members

• Proactively build relationships with stakeholders and project partners, serving as the primary point of contact

• Manage account finances, including tracking project costs to meet budget requirements

• Develop staffing models, writing SOWs, and tracking burn rates

• Monitor team time tracking, ensuring all members track time regularly and accurately

• Implement and manage team onboarding processes, including educating team members on roles, responsibilities, processes, and templates

• Assist in enforcing planning and strategy deadlines throughout Coforma to ensure meetings and delivery happen, and support any other key internal deadlines

• Assist with contract coordination by verifying invoices, data checking modifications, tracking options exercised and funding, providing deliverable reporting, and supporting compliance and risk efforts

• Maintain documentation related to procedures on build and release, various notifications lists and dependencies

Who You Are (Requirements)

• 10+ years direct work experience in a Project Manager capacity

• 3-5 years of experience acting as a Release Train Engineer (RTE) or Agilest/Scrum Master with Agile teams implementing scaled Agile principles

• 5+ years of experience of experience in managing the software development life cycle and leading large-scale Agile implementations

• RTE Certification or SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC) certification required

• Proven experience in leading teams, delivering projects on time and within budget, and managing complex project tasks and contract operations

• Expertise in Agile methods, influencing decision-making, and working with business and product owners

• Proactive and adaptable approach with strong problem-solving and organizational skills

• Skilled in facilitating and mediating resolution of complex program/product issues with differing objectives and priorities

• Experience in coaching, guiding, and developing team member skills, with effective leadership abilities

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with stakeholders and team members

• Ability to manage milestones, dependencies, and stakeholder expectations, while driving continuous improvement.

• Strong situational awareness, leadership, and conflict-resolution skills

• Ability to break down ambiguous problems and propose impactful solutions, guiding others through ambiguity to execution

• Strong knowledge of software development processes and tools in an Agile environment

• Experience with briefing leadership and customers on key status of project progression

• Applicants selected for this position may be subject to a government security clearance and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information related to the nature of some of our client's work

Preferred Qualifications and Experience

• Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM), SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM), SAFe® Agilist (SA) or similar agile project management certification (PMI-ACP)

• Prior professional services, government, federal, or private consulting experience

• Experience writing or editing requirements for government proposals

• Ability to draw connections between work streams, track dependencies, recognize oncoming impediments, and clear the path forward proactively before they become blockers throughout the PI

• Strong coaching skill set with considerable experience in coaching teams with various profiles

• Promote smooth execution of team processes

• Ownership mindset and track record of getting things done; pragmatic and calm under pressure

• Strong problem solver with ability to lead the team to push the solution and quickly structure and break down problems

• Strong communication skills with ability to communicate complex and sensitive messages at all levels of the organization

• Ability to influence a diverse group of stakeholders – strong leadership skills

• Critical thinker and passion to challenge status quo to find new solutions and drive out of the box ideas – loves and embraces change

• Ability to both grasp big picture and have rigorous attention to detail

• Believes in a non-hierarchical culture of collaboration, transparency, and trust across the team

Other

• Internet: Will prioritize and maintain access to strong, reliable internet for the remote nature of our work, except when on vacation or holiday

• Security: Will keep the highest security practices to ensure privacy and security of Coforma and client information given the nature of our work, even when on vacation

• Travel Flexibility: On request and with advanced notice, will attend in-person events such as meetings, workshops, and trainings as assigned for projects that require it

• Brand Representation: Will represent Coforma professionally and sincerely, modeling our Company Values in all interactions

We Don't Care About

• Whether or not you have a degree of any kind

• Whether your educational major, if you had one, is related to this role

• Whether or not you have GitHub contributions

• Whether or not you have worked at a well-recognized company

• Whether you’re sure that you check every single box perfectly

We Do Care About

• Your passions, professional or otherwise

• Your well-informed opinions about design, technology, teams, and process

• You

$170,980 - $183,340 a year

The salary range for this position is $170,980 to $183,340 per year, in line with our company-wide equitable pay scale.

Placement within this range will be based on the competency level of the candidate. An offer will be made at one of the following tiers:

Tier 1: $170,980 — Meets minimum qualification/experience requirements. Beyond onboarding, will need additional guidance and training to perform key responsibilities of the role.

Tier 2: $177,984 — Experienced and fully-competent. Beyond onboarding, can independently perform key responsibilities of the role.

Tier 3: $183,340 — Highly-experienced and can perform all responsibilities of the role at a higher level than expected once onboarding is completed.

To honor our company-wide equitable pay system, the posted salary range and corresponding tier salaries are non-negotiable.

We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

Due to the nature of our work with the federal government, all roles at Coforma are required to work from the contiguous United States.

We're Coforma

The stress of job searching can make you wonder if you’re enough. Studies have even shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs when they don’t meet every qualification. We believe that you ARE enough, and that it’s okay not to meet every requirement. We’re building a culture that’s authentic, inclusive, and diverse. If you’re excited to work with us but not sure you check every box, apply anyway! You may be just right for this role or another one.

About Us

We use creativity to get results for clients and the communities they serve.

We’ve honed a modern, agile, user-centered approach that elevates human needs through thoughtfully-designed systems and products.

From connecting families in crisis at the US border to improving the way governments consume COVID-19 mobility data through a more accessible and user-friendly tool, we’re dedicated to improving people’s lives through thoughtful technology products and services. Together. Our cross-functional team works closely with each other and with our government, nonprofit, and commercial partners to research, design, and build better products and services.

Coforma employs over 150 talented creators. Our leadership has decades of experience in improving government digital services from a civic service mindset, and a strong record of developing innovative technology solutions for government, enterprise, and nonprofits.

We thoughtfully integrate design into product development. We are experts in leading the design and development of products to meet business goals, build alignment, and deliver value through technically feasible and iterative design activities.

Business objectives and human beings are at the center of our work. We work very closely and collaboratively with our partners, from solicitation through to delivery, to ensure that the solution provides a high level of value to the business. Accessibility is never overlooked in our work, and our iterative approach validates the utility and delight of the final product.

Equal Opportunity & Inclusive Workplace

Coforma is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factors that are protected from employment discrimination under federal law.

We are committed to ensuring accessibility and equal opportunity and offering reasonable accommodations to those with disabilities. We adhere to the guidelines set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act and all relevant federal, state, and local laws concerning disability discrimination and accommodation. To request a reasonable accommodation for the application or interview process, please email talentops@coforma.io.

About Public Trust and Other Background Investigations

Due to the nature of our client and project work, most roles may require a National Agency Check and Inquiries (NACI), Moderate Background Investigation (MBI), Background Investigation (BI) or other relevant investigations as needed. Additional information regarding background evaluations or investigations can be found on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website (opm.gov).