Senior Program Manager

Cushman & Wakefield; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 136,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

Retirement savings plans

Job summary

Cushman & Wakefield is seeking a Senior Program Manager to lead complex, multi-project programs aligned with strategic goals and contractual obligations.

You will establish program governance, coordinate across workstreams, and provide executive visibility into progress, risks, and financial health. The role requires strong leadership, independent drive, and a focus on continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years of progressive project management with at least 5 years leading complex programs.
• Ability to work independently and proactively manage timelines, risks, and issues.
• Strong problem-solving skills with judgment and persistence for resolution.
• Experience with service delivery models and continuous improvement.
• Experience forecasting budgets for large-scale programs; global teams a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree and PM certifications preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end program delivery and ensure alignment with objectives and SOWs.
• Define and maintain governance, reporting, and risk/issue management routines.
• Track milestones, dependencies, risks, and decisions with urgency and rigor.
• Frame options and provide decision-ready information to leaders.
• Manage scope changes with impact assessments and approvals.
• Staff and resource the program; onboard/offboard as needed.
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting for programs.
• Ensure procurement reporting and financial transparency align with plans.

Skills

Program Leadership

Executive Communication

Financial Management

Risk & Dependency Management

Stakeholder Influence

People Leadership

Adaptability

Microsoft 365

AI-enabled reporting tools

Education

Bachelor’s degree

PM certifications (PMP/PgMP/Prosci/Agile) preferred

Tools

Smartsheet

Reporting tools (AI-enabled)

Job description

Job Title

Senior Program Manager

Job Description Summary

The Senior Program Manager is responsible for leading and overseeing complex programs composed of multiple, interrelated projects to ensure delivery aligns with strategic business objectives, service commitments, and contractual obligations. This role defines and implements program governance, integrates delivery across workstreams, and provides leadership with clear visibility into progress, risks, financial health, and outcomes. Operating independently with urgency and rigor, the Program Manager drives decision-making, resolves program-level issues to closure, and serves as a primary liaison between program teams and executive leadership while setting high standards for quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end program delivery and quality, ensuring alignment with business objectives, statements of work, and defined success criteria.
• Define, implement, and maintain program-level governance and controls, including status reporting, risk and issue management, stakeholder engagement routines, and required artifacts.
• Independently track and manage program-level milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, and decisions with urgency and rigor; proactively identify barriers and drive resolution to closure.
• Drive program-level decision-making by framing options, risks, and trade-offs and ensuring leaders receive decision-ready information at the right time.
• Proactively manage changes to program scope by assessing impacts to schedule, budget, quality, risk, and outcomes; making recommendations; securing approvals; and ensuring alignment with contractual and business commitments.
• Partner with leadership, technical leads, and functional partners to define roles and responsibilities, staff and resource the program, and ensure effective onboarding/offboarding.
• Manage program financials — budgeting, forecasting, and reporting — to meet financial expectations and provide clear visibility into program health and profitability.
• Ensure program-level procurement reporting and financial transparency align with delivery plans and statements of work.
• Translate complex program data into clear, actionable insights through synthesized cross-project information and executive-level reporting on progress, critical path, risks, and financial status.
• Drive stakeholder engagement and act as a liaison between program teams and senior leadership, ensuring appropriate communication, alignment, and timely decision-making.
• Monitor and assess customer satisfaction, delivery quality, and program performance; identify and drive improvement opportunities.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and mentorship to Project Managers, Senior Project Managers, and other team members to drive execution discipline and high-quality outcomes.
• Establish long-term goals and roadmaps for the program or portfolio, adapting delivery approaches to support continuous improvement and evolving service delivery models.

Qualifications

• 8- 10 years of progressive project management experience, including a minimum of 5 years of active program management experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and track proactively to program timelines, milestones, risks, and issue resolution.
• Extensive problem-solving skills with the judgment and perseverance to drive complex issues and risks to resolution.
• Strong understanding of service delivery models, with experience adapting delivery approaches to support continuous improvement.
• Proven experience managing, tracking, and forecasting financials and budgets for large-scale or external customer programs.
• Experience working with global solution providers and distributed teams.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence senior executives and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Bachelor’s degree required; PMP, PgMP, Prosci, or Agile/Scrum certifications preferred.
• Knowledge of real estate, professional services, or service-based delivery environments is helpful.

Skills (and experience level)

• Program Leadership & Governance —Expert. Designs and runs program-level governance and operating rhythms.
• Executive Communication & Strategic Message Distillation — Expert. Synthesizes cross-project data into decision-ready insight.
• Financial Management — Advanced. Owns budgeting, forecasting, and program profitability reporting.
• Risk, Issue & Dependency Management — Expert. Drives resolution to closure with rigor.
• Stakeholder Influence & Negotiation — Advanced. Influences executives and resolves senior stakeholder conflict.
• People Leadership — Advanced. Coaches and develops PMs and Sr. PMs; sets execution standards.
• Adaptability & Pivot Management — Advanced. Flexes between structured and agile approaches based on evolving needs.
• Tools — Advanced. Smartsheet and Microsoft 365; effective use of AI-enabled tools for reporting and insight.

Cushman & Wakefield also provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, generally including health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life, and disability insurance programs, and paid and unpaid time away from work. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, Cushman and Wakefield provide eligible employees with competitive pay, which may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, total hours worked, job type, business line, and applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

The compensation that will be offered to the successful candidate will depend on factors such as whether the position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the geographic area in which the work will be performed, market pay rates in that area, and the candidate’s experience and qualifications.

The company will not pay less than minimum wage for this role.

The compensation for the position is: $ 136,000.00 - $160,000.00

Cushman & Wakefield is an Equal Opportunity employer to all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. Discrimination of any type will not be tolerated.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for a position at Cushman & Wakefield, please call the ADA line at 1-888-365-5406 or email [e-mail]. Please refer to the job title and job location when you contact us.

INCO: “Cushman & Wakefield”