Senior Lead Program Manager, Client Project Delivery - Professional Consulting Services (RapidScale)

RapidScale; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 134,900 - 224,900; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited vacation

Paid wellness hours

Paid time off for various leaves

Job summary

RapidScale in Raleigh, North Carolina is looking for a Project Manager to lead complex engineering projects and strategic programs. You will partner closely with technical teams and stakeholders to ensure successful delivery while managing risks and improving delivery methodologies.

The ideal candidate has over 8 years of experience, strong leadership skills, and a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field. Benefits include flexible vacation, paid wellness hours, and various leave options.

Qualifications

• 8+ years leading complex engineering projects.
• Strong understanding of engineering delivery methodologies.
• Exceptional executive communication & stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Lead large, complex projects with multiple technical teams.
• Own strategic portfolios and maximize customer value.
• Define and improve project management standards.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Technical judgment

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science or related field

Master's degree

Ph.D.

Job description

Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead large, complex projects and strategic programs involving multiple technical teams, cross-functional dependencies, executive stakeholders, and organizational priorities.
• Provide leadership across the complete project and program lifecycle, including intake, planning, estimation, governance, dependency management, risk assessment, execution, implementation, scope management, change management, and post-implementation review.
• Partner closely with Professional Services leaders, architects, Operations, and business stakeholders to successfully deliver complex technical initiatives involving cloud infrastructure, platform engineering, networking, security, software delivery, automation, and operational systems.
• Apply strong technical judgment to understand engineering architecture, delivery dependencies, implementation risks, and operational impacts while facilitating informed decision-making and removing delivery obstacles.
• Serve as a recognized subject matter expert within Engineering, Sales, and Project Management, providing guidance on delivery strategy, governance, prioritization, issue resolution, and organizational execution.
• Own strategic portfolios of related initiatives, balancing competing priorities, organizational risk, resource constraints, funding considerations, and executive expectations to maximize customer and business value.
• Pilot new project workflows, delivery methodologies, governance models, and project types; document lessons learned; and operationalize successful practices across the Professional Services organization.
• Define, implement, and continuously improve enterprise project and program management standards, governance frameworks, and delivery best practices that improve consistency, predictability, and execution quality across Professional Services.
• Build strong partnerships with senior leaders, directors, vice presidents, and executives by developing business cases, executive presentations, ROI analyses, status reporting, and strategic recommendations that support informed decision-making.
• Identify systemic delivery risks, organizational dependencies, and process improvement opportunities that enhance engineering execution, operational efficiency, customer outcomes, and business performance.
• Manage scope across multiple engagements and prevent scope creep through proper documentation, escalation and change control processes.
• Establish meaningful success metrics across engineering programs, including delivery predictability, customer satisfaction, operational performance, resource utilization, financial outcomes, quality, and organizational effectiveness.
• Coach and mentor project managers and cross‑functional team members by sharing best practices, strengthening delivery capabilities, and advancing project and program management maturity across the organization.

Qualifications & Attributes

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, or a related field and 8 or more years of experience leading complex engineering projects, enterprise programs, technical product delivery, or management consulting. The right candidate could also have a master's degree with 6 or more years of experience, a Ph.D. with 3 or more years of experience, or 12 or more years of related professional experience.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise‑scale engineering projects and strategic programs spanning multiple organizations, technologies, executive stakeholders, and business functions.
• Strong understanding of engineering delivery methodologies (waterfall and agile), project and program governance, portfolio management, dependency management, risk management, tight scope management, software development lifecycles, cloud infrastructure, and operational delivery models.
• Demonstrated technical credibility with the ability to understand technical architecture, infrastructure modernization, cloud platforms, software delivery, technical dependencies, and implementation risks without serving as the technical design authority.
• Proven ability to influence strategy, delivery approaches, governance decisions, and organizational priorities through data‑driven recommendations and executive‑level communication.
• Experience designing and implementing scalable project management frameworks, governance processes, operating models, playbooks, and delivery standards that improve organizational effectiveness.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee the coordinated work of multiple teams and individuals, influence without direct authority, and successfully lead complex cross‑functional initiatives in highly matrixed organizations.
• Exceptional executive communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to build trust and influence decisions at all organizational levels.
• Strong business acumen with experience applying financial analysis, ROI evaluation, prioritization frameworks, and strategic planning to engineering investments and delivery decisions.
• Demonstrated success operating independently in ambiguous environments while managing competing priorities, organizational change, and evolving business objectives.
• Passion for continuous improvement, operational excellence, and advancing the maturity of consulting and professional services project and program management practices across the organization.

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $134,900.00 - $224,900.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities. The position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.

Benefits

The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company’s needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members. Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.

Employment and EEO

Applicants must currently be authorized to work in the United States for any employer without current or future sponsorship.

EOE, including disability/vets