Director of Program Management Office (PMO)

Dedicated Computing LLC; Waukesha (WI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Dedicated Computing LLC in Wisconsin is seeking a Director of the PMO to lead and strengthen its Program Management Office, delivering complex health, life sciences, defense, and training and simulation hardware programs with governance and disciplined execution.

The role reports to the CEO and works with cross‑functional teams to ensure credible, on‑time, and on‑budget delivery while preserving DC’s nimble execution model.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 10+ years leading complex program or project management, including team leadership, portfolio ownership, budget accountability, and cross‑functional execution.
• Proven experience building or materially upgrading an enterprise PMO and phase‑gate development process in a growth‑stage environment.
• Deep experience with complex hardware, electronics, board‑level and system‑level development, manufacturing, or regulated technology programs.
• Strong command of integrated schedules, requirements and change control, product cost, development budgets, risk, configuration management, and launch readiness.
• Working knowledge of Defense contracting and compliance expectations including FAR/DFARS, ITAR, AS9100, CMMC, MIL‑SPEC, and EVMS principles; familiarity with DoD 5000‑series acquisition pathways is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Strengthen the Enterprise PMO and DC Gates with scalable governance, standard work, and executive reporting across programs and projects.
• Deliver programs on time and on budget with integrated schedules, milestones, and recovery plans; protect scope and costs.
• Partner with Business Development and post‑award delivery teams to translate opportunities into executable baselines and credible delivery commitments.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree

Job description

Director of Program Management Office (PMO)

About Dedicated Computing LLC

Who We Are

Dedicated Computing is an original design manufacturer (ODM) of proprietary, highly engineered computing systems for blue chip original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers in healthcare, life sciences, training & simulation, and industrial markets.

Our Vision

Dedicated Computing is a global technology company committed to solving the business problems of our customers through the design, development, and deployment of innovative technology solutions.

Our Mission

POWERING THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT DEVICES.

Our customers are building devices that save lives, train people to save lives or improve the lives of others. Dedicated Computing’s products and services are at the core of those devices, powering complex calculation engines, providing near instant access to and serving vast amounts of data, and making sure those devices are secure, supported, and working properly.

What We Do

Dedicated Computing’s systems are integrated hardware and software platforms that are optimized to meet the specific computational and performance needs of OEM applications. These systems are preconfigured with network connectivity and onboard diagnostics to enable a range of managed services capabilities.

Dedicated Computing is ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 9001:2015 certified.

Who We Serve

The systems and solutions we build are POWERING our customers’ products. We work with many of THE WORLD’S leading companies. Our customers make some of the MOST IMPORTANT products in industries such as healthcare, life sciences, training & simulation, and industrial. Connectivity is changing the world – our customers’ products will need to function in the industrial Internet of Things as secure connected DEVICES.

Our Values

• Integrity
• Respect
• Teamwork
• Ownership
• EVOLVE
• Fun

SUMMARY

The Director of PMO will lead and strengthen Dedicated Computing's Program Management Office, with responsibility for all programs and projects across the business, including customer-specific developments and standard systems for Health, Life Sciences, Defense, and Training and Simulation. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone prepared to roll up their sleeves and put in place the governance, operating rhythm, and execution discipline required to deliver complex hardware programs predictably—without adding unnecessary bureaucracy or diminishing DC's speed and flexibility.

The role owns the continued evolution of DC Gates, DC's Phase Gate process, in collaboration with cross‑functional teams under EVOLVE, DC's Continuous Improvement program. The Director of PMO also partners closely with Business Development within the Sales organization, in collaboration with the SVP Sales, validating the execution path before commitment and owning disciplined delivery after award—particularly for Defense programs, where credibility with primes and DoD stakeholders is essential.

The role reports to the Chief Executive Officer as a senior member of the executive team. Project Managers currently support the portfolio; the Director of PMO will assess resourcing needs and build the team structure required to support DC's growth.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

1. Strengthen the Enterprise PMO and DC Gates

• Build on the existing DC Gates foundation and implement a scalable enterprise PMO framework, consistent governance, standard work, reporting, budget controls, and escalation processes across all programs and projects.
• Establish a practical operating cadence including portfolio reviews, phase‑gate reviews, program reviews, Weekly and Monthly Business Reviews (WBRs/MBRs), executive reporting, and Board‑level visibility.
• Assess the program management resourcing required to support the portfolio, then build, develop, and scale a team of Project Managers—establishing clear accountability, consistent methods, and appropriate portfolio assignments as DC grows.
• Create the framework required to deliver projects and programs on time and on budget, adding common discipline where needed while retaining the speed, adaptability, and practical decision‑making that support DC's nimble execution model.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams under EVOLVE to drive improvements and process innovation across program structure.

2. Deliver Programs On Time and On Budget

• On‑time delivery: establish and maintain integrated schedules, critical paths, dependencies, ownership, milestone evidence, and recovery plans.
• Features and functions intact: protect approved customer and product requirements through disciplined scope and change control.
• Costed BOM achieved: manage design‑to‑cost, sourcing assumptions, lifecycle risk, and variance to the approved product cost.
• Development cost and project budget achieved: control engineering effort, tooling, certification, outside services, capital requirements, and other non‑recurring investment against the approved plan.
• Drive all programs and projects across Engineering, Product Marketing, Lifecycle, Supply Chain, Operations, Quality, Compliance, Sales, Finance, and other participating functions. Work hands‑on with teams to remove barriers, resolve issues, and establish practical accountability rather than managing only through reports.
• Establish measurable workstream outputs and proof metrics below each DC Gate; keep gate decisions focused on readiness, risk, investment, and whether the program should proceed.
• Own portfolio risk, issue resolution, resource conflicts, configuration control, documentation, launch readiness, and corrective action.
• Lead customer‑facing program reviews and provide credible, transparent communication to Health, Life Sciences, Defense, and Training and Simulation OEM customers. For Defense programs, anticipate the concerns of primes and DoD stakeholders, including schedule credibility, technical maturity, cost control, compliance, configuration management, supply‑chain resilience, and the early identification and mitigation of risk.

4. Partner Before and After the Win

• Support qualification of major pursuits by validating scope, schedule, development investment, cost targets, resource capacity, compliance, and risk before commitments are made.
• Accept clean handoffs from Business Development and translate awarded opportunities into executable baselines, ownership, and governance.
• Keep Business Development engaged on customer continuity and commercial expansion while PMO owns execution and delivery commitments.
• Hands‑on PMO architect and roll‑up‑your‑sleeves operator
• High accountability and low ego
• Credible with Defense customers and primes
• Disciplined without bureaucracy
• Comfortable driving change in a small or mid‑sized company
• Strong cross‑functional influence
• Executive and customer credibility
• Data‑driven problem solving
• Builds strong teams in resource‑constrained environments
• Protects DC's nimbleness

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• Bachelor's degree required
• 10+ years leading complex program or project management, including meaningful team leadership, portfolio ownership, budget accountability, and cross‑functional execution.
• Proven experience building or materially upgrading an enterprise PMO and phase‑gate development process in a small, mid‑sized, or growth‑stage organization—not only operating within a mature large‑company bureaucracy. Must be comfortable driving positive change with limited resources and personally engaging in the details required to make the new framework work. Experience in a private equity‑backed or growth‑stage environment is a plus.
• Deep experience with complex hardware, electronics, board‑level and system‑level development, manufacturing, or regulated technology programs. Direct experience facing Defense customers, prime contractors, or DoD program stakeholders is required, including a practical understanding of their key performance measures and concerns regarding schedule, cost, technical performance, compliance, and risk. Experience in Health, Life Sciences, or Training and Simulation markets is also valuable.
• Strong command of integrated schedules, requirements and change control, product cost, development budgets, risk, configuration management, and launch readiness.
• Working knowledge of Defense contracting and compliance expectations including FAR/DFARS, ITAR, AS9100, CMMC, MIL‑SPEC, and EVMS principles; familiarity with DoD 5000‑series acquisition pathways is a plus.

Preferred:

• Advanced degree (MBA, MS Engineering, or equivalent) a plus
• PMP/PgMP and an active or obtainable security clearance (Secret or higher) preferred

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the associate is regularly required to stand; walk; use hands to manipulate objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. The associate must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 100 pounds with the assistance of others. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an associate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. This includes a highly regulated, climate‑controlled, low‑to‑moderate noise environment.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.