Senior Program Manager

BCforward; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

BCforward in Indianapolis, IN is seeking a Senior Program Manager to lead a strategic initiative that aims to improve access to care within a regulated healthcare environment. The role requires governance, delivery execution, and multi-workstream coordination to drive launch readiness.

The ideal candidate has strong planning, dependency management, and risk control skills, with a proven ability to manage complex programs in healthcare and deliver results in a hybrid work setting.

Qualifications

• Proven delivery leadership for programs with multiple inter-related projects in healthcare or regulated environments.
• Expertise in program governance, dependency mapping, risk management, and change control.
• Strong planning and scheduling capability, including roadmap development and baselining practices.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and facilitation across executive and cross-functional teams.
• Experience coaching project managers and standardizing delivery processes and templates.
• 7 years in program or project leadership roles delivering complex initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Maintain constant focus on delivery, timelines, and launch readiness.
• Keep the team organized and aligned across multiple inter-related projects.
• Provide realistic planning and prioritize activities across workstreams.
• Challenge assumptions, identify dependencies, and manage sequencing requirements.
• Develop and maintain a formal Program Charter documenting vision, goals, scope, governance, decision rights, and success metrics.
• Facilitate a Dependency Mapping Workshop to surface critical dependencies, risks, and cross-team impacts.
• Build a Multi-Horizon Roadmap covering immediate, pre-launch, and long-term scaling efforts.
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive Risk Register including regulatory, vendor, technology, and patient-access risks.
• Stand up an Executive Steering Structure with clear escalation and decision-making processes.
• Plan a scalable resource model and define when to supplement a senior program leader with project managers.
• Perform Integration Management across inter-related projects and ensure governance with the business sponsor.
• Lead cross-functional activities to deliver on scope, schedule, and budget.
• Coach less experienced Project Managers and set program-wide delivery standards per approved processes and tools outlined in the Operations Manual.
• Establish robust issue tracking, program execution reviews, and consistent risk and change management frameworks.
• Standardize approaches for resource and cost management consistent with SDS Resource and Capacity practices.
• Ensure project closure processes align with the Project Management methodology.
• Review and monitor schedules, lead detailed planning sessions, and conduct peer reviews prior to schedule baselining.
• Provide regular status updates to program leadership and the steering committee.
• Act as an escalation point and lead with independence requiring minimal coaching.

Skills

Delivery leadership

Program governance

Planning & scheduling

Communication & stakeholder mgmt

Coaching project managers

Leadership experience (7+ years)

Job description

BCforward is seeking a highly motivated Senior Program Manager to support their pharmaceutical client in Indianapolis.

Expected duration: Long term

Location: Indianapolis, IN/hybrid

Overview

We are seeking a Sr. Program Manager to lead a strategic initiative that creates a parallel pathway improving access to care while traditional healthcare systems evolve. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in program governance, delivery execution, and multi-workstream coordination and a proven ability to drive complex healthcare programs to launch readiness with realistic planning, dependency management, and risk control.

Responsibilities:

• Maintain constant focus on delivery, timelines, and launch readiness.
• Keep the team organized and aligned across multiple inter-related projects.
• Provide realistic planning and prioritize activities across workstreams.
• Challenge assumptions, identify dependencies, and manage sequencing requirements.
• Develop and maintain a formal Program Charter documenting vision, goals, scope, governance, decision rights, and success metrics.
• Facilitate a Dependency Mapping Workshop to surface critical dependencies, risks, and cross-team impacts.
• Build a Multi-Horizon Roadmap covering immediate, pre-launch, and long-term scaling efforts.
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive Risk Register including regulatory, vendor, technology, and patient-access risks.
• Stand up an Executive Steering Structure with clear escalation and decision-making processes.
• Plan a scalable resource model and define when to supplement a senior program leader with project managers.
• Perform Integration Management across inter-related projects and ensure governance with the business sponsor.
• Lead cross-functional activities to deliver on scope, schedule, and budget.
• Coach less experienced Project Managers and set program-wide delivery standards per approved processes and tools outlined in the Operations Manual.
• Establish robust issue tracking, program execution reviews, and consistent risk and change management frameworks.
• Standardize approaches for resource and cost management consistent with SDS Resource and Capacity practices.
• Ensure project closure processes align with the Project Management methodology.
• Review and monitor schedules, lead detailed planning sessions, and conduct peer reviews prior to schedule baselining.
• Provide regular status updates to program leadership and the steering committee.
• Act as an escalation point and lead with independence requiring minimal coaching.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Proven delivery leadership for programs with multiple inter-related projects in healthcare or regulated environments.
• Expertise in program governance, dependency mapping, risk management, and change control.
• Strong planning and scheduling capability, including roadmap development and baselining practices.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and facilitation across executive and cross-functional teams.
• Experience coaching project managers and standardizing delivery processes and templates.
• 7 years in program or project leadership roles delivering complex initiatives.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in healthcare access, patient experience, or care delivery transformation.
• Familiarity with regulatory, vendor, and technology dependency management in clinical or payer settings.