Senior Program Manager

Voya Financial, Inc.; Buffalo (NY); On-site; USD 114,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with match

Tuition reimbursement

Paid time off

Volunteer time

Job summary

Voya Financial, Inc. seeks a Senior Program Manager to plan and deliver large, complex projects or medium-to-large programs that support enterprise priorities.

You will own end-to-end planning, manage budgets up to $15M, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure on-time delivery and value. The role requires 5+ years of leading significant initiatives, deep knowledge of project management, strong financial acumen, and the ability to influence leaders without direct authority.

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of project, program, or portfolio management principles, governance, controls, tools, and delivery practices.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration across business and technology organizations.
• Experience with budgets, forecasts, cost drivers, and outcome-based investment decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end planning, execution, implementation readiness, and reporting for complex projects and programs across multiple business and technology areas.
• Translate business problems and expected benefits into clear program objectives, measurable outcomes, delivery plans, and decision points.
• Deliver outcomes on time, within scope and budget, and to quality standards while managing risk and stakeholder expectations.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Financial acumen

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, technology, project management, or a related field

Job description

Together we fight for everyone’s opportunity for a better financial future. We will do this together - with customers, partners and colleagues. We will fight for others, not against: We will stand up for and champion everyone’s access to opportunities. The status quo is not good enough … we believe every individual and every community deserves access to financial opportunities. We are determined to support both individuals and communities in reaching a better financial future. We know that reaching this future depends on our actions today. Like our Purpose Statement, Voya believes in being bold and committed to action. We are committed to a work environment where the differences that we are born with - and those we acquire throughout our lives — are understood, valued and intentionally pursued. We believe that our employees own our culture and have a responsibility to foster an environment where we all feel comfortable bringing our whole selves to work. Purposefully bringing our differences together to positively influence our culture, serve our clients and enrich our communities is essential to our vision.

As a Senior Program Manager, you will serve as the primary point of accountability for planning and delivering large, complex projects or medium-to-large programs that support business unit and enterprise priorities. You will lead initiatives that span multiple business and technology areas, involve significant organizational change, and typically manage budgets of $8M-$15M, with programs up to $15M. Working with a high degree of autonomy, you will bring structure, transparency, and disciplined execution to changing scope, complex dependencies, and elevated delivery risk. You will also help strengthen Voya's delivery methodologies, standards, tools, and project management community.

Contributions You’ll Make

• Own end-to-end planning, execution, implementation readiness, and reporting for complex projects and programs across multiple business and technology areas.
• Translate business problems and expected benefits into clear program objectives, measurable outcomes, delivery plans, and decision points.
• Deliver agreed outcomes on time, within scope and budget, and to established quality standards while balancing stakeholder expectations and acceptable risk.
• Develop and maintain an integrated view of milestones, dependencies, resources, risks, issues, assumptions, and impacts across projects, programs, and portfolios.
• Create early visibility into critical risks and dependencies, drive practical mitigation plans, and raise decisions before delivery, budget, readiness, or acceptance is jeopardized.
• Remove barriers, resolve competing priorities, and enable cross-functional teams to maintain momentum through complex execution challenges.
• Partner with Finance to manage forecasts, understand cost drivers, explain financial performance, and provide leadership with actionable insight.
• Build trusted relationships with sponsors and senior leaders; communicate concise recommendations, trade-offs, and decisions with confidence and transparency.
• Influence business strategy and shape initiatives by connecting delivery choices to customer value, enterprise priorities, and expected benefits.
• Lead organizational readiness and change efforts so stakeholders understand the purpose, impact, and actions required for adoption.
• Manage vendor relationships and third-party commitments when required, including delivery expectations, dependencies, risks, and performance.
• Capture lessons learned, retain reusable knowledge, and identify opportunities to simplify delivery, reduce cost, and improve efficiency.
• Coach and mentor members of the project management community and model consistent use of Voya delivery methodologies, standards, and tools.

Minimum Knowledge & Experience

• 5+ years of experience leading large or significant projects or medium-to-large programs, typically with budgets of $8M-$15M.
• Expert knowledge of project, program, or portfolio management principles, governance, controls, tools, and delivery practices.
• Demonstrated success leading complex initiatives through highly matrixed, cross‑functional teams across business and technology organizations.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience with budgets, forecasts, cost drivers, trade‑offs, and outcome‑based investment decisions.
• Proven ability to identify what is critical, simplify complex problems, set priorities, and drive timely, well‑reasoned decisions.
• Experience proactively managing dependencies, risks, issues, organizational readiness, and stakeholder acceptance in dynamic environments.
• Ability to influence and inspire without direct authority, build partnerships across organizational levels, and establish credibility with senior leaders.
• Clear, concise, and audience‑appropriate verbal, written, and presentation communication skills.
• Sound judgment, self‑awareness, resilience, and the ability to remain effective under pressure while managing tight deadlines and acceptable risk.
• Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy while remaining disciplined, flexible, collaborative, and accountable for outcomes.
• Bachelor's degree in business, technology, project management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and professional experience.

Preferred Knowledge & Experience

• Experience in financial services or management consulting, particularly within retirement or employee benefits. Experience leading business transformation, technology modernization, or enterprise change initiatives across multiple functions.
• Experience providing oversight for a business or technology portfolio and managing complex vendor relationships.
• Project or program management certification, such as PMP, PgMP, or an equivalent industry‑recognized credential.
• Master's degree in business, technology, project management, or a related field.

Compensation Pay Disclosure

Voya is committed to pay that’s fair and equitable, which means comparable pay for comparable roles and responsibilities. The below annual base salary range reflects the expected hiring range(s) for this position in the location(s) listed. In addition to base salary, Voya offers incentive opportunities (i.e., annual cash incentives, sales incentives, and/or long‑term incentives) based on the role to reward the achievement of annual performance objectives. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Voya Financial is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Actual compensation offered may vary from the posted salary range based upon the candidate’s geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer. Salaries for part‑time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

$114,480 - $170,070 USD

Be Well. Stay Well.

Voya provides the resources that can make a difference in your lives. To us, this means thriving physically, financially, socially and emotionally. Voya benefits are designed to help you do just that. That’s why we offer an array of plans, programs, tools and resources with one goal in mind: To help you and your family be well and stay well.

What We Offer

• Health, dental, vision and life insurance plans
• 401(k) Savings plan – with generous company matching contributions (up to 6%)
• Voya Retirement Plan – employer paid cash balance retirement plan (4%)
• Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250/year
• Paid time off – including 20 days paid time off, nine paid company holidays and a flexible Diversity Celebration Day.
• Paid volunteer time - 40 hours per calendar year

Learn More About Voya Benefits (download PDF)

Critical Skills

• Customer Focused: Passionate drive to delight our customers and offer unique solutions that deliver on their expectations.
• Critical Thinking: Thoughtful process of analyzing data and problem solving data to reach a well‑reasoned solution.
• Team Mentality: Partnering effectively to drive our culture and execute on our common goals.
• Business Acumen: Appreciation and understanding of the financial services industry in order to make sound business decisions.
• Learning Agility: Openness to new ways of thinking and acquiring new skills to retain a competitive advantage.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Voya Financial is an equal‑opportunity employer. Voya Financial provides equal opportunity to qualified individuals regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, veteran status, creed, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other status protected by state or local law.

Reasonable Accommodations

Voya is committed to the inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Voya will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please reference resources for applicants with disabilities.