Engagement Delivery Lead

Cognizant; Cincinnati (OH); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays + PTO

401(k) plan

Disability insurance

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant in Cincinnati, OH is seeking an Engagement Lead to drive client engagements, ensure operational excellence, and deliver business outcomes across complex programs. You will be the delivery lead coordinating with client executives, business stakeholders, delivery teams, and partners.

The role requires building trusted relationships, owning end-to-end delivery, governance, and financial management. You will partner with sales and delivery to identify growth opportunities and support

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience leading large-scale client engagements.
• Proven ability to influence executive stakeholders.
• Strong governance, KPI/SLA oversight, risk management.
• Experience managing forecasting, revenue, margins, budgeting.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact for client executives and business stakeholders, building trusted relationships and aligning delivery outcomes with business objectives.
• Own end-to-end delivery accountability, including governance, service quality, risk management, operational performance, and issue resolution.
• Lead account financial management activities, including revenue planning, forecasting, profitability management, resource planning, and commercial governance.
• Drive transformation initiatives focused on modernization, automation, cloud, data, analytics, and AI-enabled business outcomes.
• Partner with sales, solution, and delivery teams to identify growth opportunities, support renewals, and expand strategic client relationships.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Delivery governance

Financial forecasting

Cross-functional teamwork

Job description

About the role

As an Engagement Lead, you will make an impact by driving successful client engagements, ensuring operational excellence, and delivering business outcomes across complex programs and portfolios. You will be a valued member of the delivery leadership team and work collaboratively with client executives, business stakeholders, delivery teams, and cross-functional partners to drive customer success, innovation, and growth.

In this role, you will:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for client executives and business stakeholders, building trusted relationships and aligning delivery outcomes with business objectives.
• Own end-to-end delivery accountability, including governance, service quality, risk management, operational performance, and issue resolution.
• Lead account financial management activities, including revenue planning, forecasting, profitability management, resource planning, and commercial governance.
• Drive transformation initiatives focused on modernization, automation, cloud, data, analytics, and AI-enabled business outcomes.
• Partner with sales, solution, and delivery teams to identify growth opportunities, support renewals, and expand strategic client relationships.

Work model

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in Cincinnati, Ohio. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you're engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What you need to have to be considered

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Significant experience leading large-scale client engagements, programs, portfolios, or managed services environments.
• Proven ability to build relationships and influence executive-level stakeholders.
• Strong experience in delivery governance, operational management, KPI/SLA oversight, and risk management.
• Experience managing financial performance, including forecasting, revenue, margins, budgeting, and resource planning.
• Demonstrated success leading geographically distributed teams and driving cross-functional collaboration.
• Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

These will help you stand out

• Experience delivering Data, Cloud, Analytics, AI, Digital Transformation, or Modernization initiatives.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience supporting account growth, renewals, and business development activities.
• Experience leading process optimization and continuous improvement programs.
• Knowledge of large-scale delivery models involving onsite, offshore, and global teams.
• Professional certifications such as PMP, PgMP, Agile, or SAFe.

*Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future*

Salary and Other Compensation:

Applications will be accepted until September 13, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between $ 135,000 - $ 155,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.