Net Zero Program Manager Lead

cw; New York (NY); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

cw is seeking a Net Zero Program Manager Lead in the United States, New York. The role combines Net Zero leadership with day-to-day program management of decarbonization projects, shaping roadmaps and translating strategy into executable pipelines.

The ideal candidate will manage scope, schedule, budget, risk, and governance across multiple sites, driving priority decisions and delivering verified results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction or project management, sustainability, business, real estate, or related discipline.
• Seven or more years of progressive experience spanning program or project management and Net Zero, energy, sustainability, engineering, or building decarbonization.
• Demonstrated command of scope, schedule, budget, forecasting, risk, change control, governance, and executive reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to develop decarbonization roadmaps, evaluate energy and carbon opportunities, and translate technical strategy into executable projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day management of a portfolio of Net Zero and decarbonization projects across multiple sites and workstreams.
• Translate program objectives into defined scopes, work plans, milestones, ownership, and measurable outcomes.
• Maintain the integrated program roadmap, master schedule, governance calendar, and project pipeline.
• Establish meeting cadences, decision rights, escalation paths, and accountability across internal teams and service partners.
• Drive action-item closure, resolve cross-project dependencies, and elevate decisions that require executive direction.

Skills

Program management

Net Zero

Stakeholder management

Executive reporting

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction or project management, sustainability, business, real estate, or related discipline

Job description

Job Title

Net Zero Program Manager Lead

Job Description Summary

The Net Zero Program Manager Lead combines Net Zero subject-matter leadership with day-to-day program management of the client's decarbonization portfolio. The role shapes the roadmap, guides technical and investment priorities, and converts strategy into an executable pipeline of projects.

Job Description

Working with Account Executives, client leaders, project teams, and Sustainability specialists, this position maintains control of scope, schedule, budget, risk, dependencies, decisions, and performance. The successful candidate brings credible sustainability and building-decarbonization expertise together with the project-delivery discipline to move initiatives from concept through implementation and verified results.

Key Responsibilities

Program Delivery and Governance

• Lead day-to-day management of a portfolio of Net Zero and decarbonization projects across multiple sites and workstreams.
• Translate program objectives into defined scopes, work plans, milestones, ownership, and measurable outcomes.
• Maintain the integrated program roadmap, master schedule, governance calendar, and project pipeline.
• Establish meeting cadences, decision rights, escalation paths, and accountability across internal teams and service partners.
• Drive action-item closure, resolve cross-project dependencies, and elevate decisions that require executive direction.

Schedule Cost Risk and Change Management

• Manage schedule baselines, critical-path activities, milestones, resource constraints, and recovery plans across the portfolio.
• Maintain program-level visibility into approved budgets, commitments, actuals, forecasts, variances, and future funding needs.
• Partner with finance, procurement, and project teams to reconcile cost information and support annual and multi-year capital planning.
• Maintain risk, issue, assumption, dependency, decision, and change logs with clear owners, due dates, and mitigation actions.
• Apply change control to material changes in scope, schedule, budget, or expected outcomes and elevate variances with recommended corrective actions.

Reporting and Performance Management

• Produce standardized weekly and monthly reporting on schedule, cost, milestones, risks, decisions, and program performance.
• Develop executive dashboards and governance materials that convert detailed project information into concise, actionable insights.
• Define and maintain program KPIs for project delivery, capital deployment, energy, emissions, savings, and other agreed outcomes.
• Coordinate source-data collection and validation across project, sustainability, engineering, finance, and data teams.

Net Zero Strategy and Project Execution

• Serve as a Net Zero subject-matter lead for Account Executives and client stakeholders, advising on decarbonization pathways, building systems, electrification, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and emissions-reduction priorities.
• Own and maintain the portfolio decarbonization roadmap, including asset-level opportunities, equipment-replacement strategies, capital requirements, implementation timing, and expected energy and carbon outcomes.
• Establish evaluation and prioritization criteria that balance carbon impact, financial performance, operational needs, asset strategy, regulatory requirements, and delivery readiness.
• Guide initiatives from opportunity identification through feasibility, business case, approval, design, procurement, implementation, commissioning, measurement and verification, and closeout.
• Partner with engineering and technical specialists to validate assumptions and ensure projects meet agreed scope, schedule, budget, quality, and performance requirements.

Stakeholder and Vendor Coordination

• Coordinate client stakeholders, C&W account teams, project managers, engineering, sustainability, facilities, procurement, finance, utilities, landlords, consultants, and contractors.
• Facilitate governance meetings, working sessions, budget reviews, and executive updates; document decisions and required actions.
• Support scopes of work, RFPs, vendor evaluations, contracting, and supplier performance management as required.
• Hold internal and external teams accountable for agreed deliverables and communicate effectively with both technical and executive audiences.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction or project management, sustainability, business, real estate, or a related discipline.
• Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience spanning program or project management and Net Zero, energy, sustainability, engineering, or building decarbonization.
• Demonstrated command of scope, schedule, budget, forecasting, risk, change control, governance, and executive reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to develop decarbonization roadmaps, evaluate energy and carbon opportunities, and translate technical strategy into executable p