Project Manager

Madison-Davis, LLC; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 96,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

Madison-Davis, LLC in Chicago is seeking a Project Manager on a contract basis to own end-to-end delivery for complex programs with executive sponsorship. You will craft the plan, drive the schedule, manage risks, and coordinate cross-functional teams and vendors without direct authority.

You will establish credibility quickly, run cadence with stakeholders, and surface issues early to keep delivery on track. Hybrid schedule at the Chicago office is expected.

Qualifications

• 5+ years managing complex projects or programs in an enterprise environment.
• Ownership of full delivery lifecycle from initiation through close, including budget accountability.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and vendors without formal authority.
• Strong working knowledge of waterfall and Agile delivery, and the judgment to know which the work calls for.
• Fluency with project and portfolio tooling (Jira, Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, ServiceNow, or equivalent).
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including experience presenting to senior leadership.
• Track record of delivering on schedule in environments with competing priorities and shifting requirements.
• Prior experience as a contractor or consultant, with the ability to build stakeholder trust quickly in an unfamiliar organization.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery for assigned projects and programs — scope, schedule, budget, resourcing, risk, and outcome.
• Build and maintain integrated project plans, including milestones, dependencies, and critical path.
• Run the operating cadence: status reporting, steering committee updates, working sessions, and executive readouts.
• Identify, escalation, and drive resolution on risks and issues before they affect delivery dates.
• Manage cross-functional teams and third-party vendors toward committed milestones without direct reporting authority.
• Partner with business sponsors to translate objectives into scoped, sequenced, and resourced delivery plans.
• Manage change control, including scope changes, budget variances, and re-baselining when warranted.
• Track and report on financials — forecast versus actual, capitalization, and vendor spend.
• Drive adoption and handoff at close, ensuring documentation, training, and support ownership are in place.
• Leave the program in a state an internal owner can pick up cleanly at the end of the engagement.

Skills

Project management

Delivery lifecycle

Cross-functional leadership

Agile & Waterfall

Stakeholder comms

Budget accountability

Contractor experience

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Jira

Smartsheet

MS Project

Asana

ServiceNow

Job description

Our client is engaging a Project Manager on a contract basis to own delivery on programs that carry real weight for the business — the ones with budget attached, visible executive sponsorship, and dependencies across more than one function. You will be accountable for the plan, the schedule, the risks, and the outcome, and for keeping a set of teams that do not report to you moving in the same direction.

This is a delivery role, not a coordination role. You will be expected to build the plan rather than inherit it, surface problems while they are still cheap to fix, and give leadership an honest read on status even when the honest read is uncomfortable. The organization values project managers who understand the work well enough to challenge an estimate, not just record one.

Because this is a contract engagement, you should expect to be productive quickly — establishing credibility with stakeholders, taking control of the plan, and running the cadence within the first few weeks rather than the first quarter.

You will work out of the Chicago office on a hybrid schedule and partner daily with business stakeholders, engineering, vendors, and functional leadership.

Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end delivery for assigned projects and programs — scope, schedule, budget, resourcing, risk, and outcome
• Build and maintain integrated project plans, including milestones, dependencies, and critical path
• Run the operating cadence: status reporting, steering committee updates, working sessions, and executive readouts
• Identify, escalation, and drive resolution on risks and issues before they affect delivery dates
• Manage cross-functional teams and third-party vendors toward committed milestones without direct reporting authority
• Partner with business sponsors to translate objectives into scoped, sequenced, and resourced delivery plans
• Manage change control, including scope changes, budget variances, and re-baselining when warranted
• Track and report on financials — forecast versus actual, capitalization, and vendor spend
• Drive adoption and handoff at close, ensuring documentation, training, and support ownership are in place
• Leave the program in a state an internal owner can pick up cleanly at the end of the engagement

Qualifications:

• 5+ years managing complex projects or programs in an enterprise environment
• Demonstrated ownership of full delivery lifecycle from initiation through close, including budget accountability
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and vendors without formal authority
• Strong working knowledge of both waterfall and Agile delivery, and the judgment to know which the work calls for
• Fluency with project and portfolio tooling (Jira, Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, ServiceNow, or equivalent)
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including experience presenting to senior leadership
• Track record of delivering on schedule in environments with competing priorities and shifting requirements
• Prior experience as a contractor or consultant, with the ability to build stakeholder trust quickly in an unfamiliar organization

We Value:

• PMP, PgMP, CSM, SAFe, or equivalent certification
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field
• Experience in a regulated industry (financial services, healthcare, insurance, or manufacturing)
• Exposure to technology transformation work — platform migrations, ERP or CRM implementations, data modernization, or M&A integration
• Financial acumen: business case development, cost-benefit analysis, and capital planning
• Experience standing up or maturing PMO practices rather than only operating within them