Senior Project Manager

Life.Church; Edmond (OK); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid parental leave

Medical, Dental, Vision insurance

Life insurance 2x annual salary

Short/Long-term disability

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

Life.Church is seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead complex, cross‑functional programs end‑to‑end in a church ministry context. You will apply PMBOK and agile practices, mentor junior PMs, and partner with team leads to drive delivery with accountability and clarity.

You will define scope, plan, and risk, manage budgets, and ensure measurable outcomes that advance Life.Church’s mission and impact.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of project management experience leading cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience aligning projects to PMO processes and organizational goals.
• Strong ability to manage scope, schedule, and budget.

Responsibilities

• Define project scope, objectives, success criteria, and delivery approach with sponsors.
• Develop comprehensive project plans with WBS, milestones, resources and dependencies.
• Lead meetings (kickoffs, status reviews, gates, retrospectives) with documented decisions.
• Manage baselines and change control; protect scope, schedule and budget.
• Coordinate cross-team dependencies and escalate conflicts with options.
• Maintain risk register, mitigation plans, and report to leadership.
• Conduct closeouts with lessons learned and benefits realization.

Skills

PMBOK

Agile/Scrum

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Communication

Mentoring

Workfront experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Project Management/Communications or related field

PMP certification

Tools

Workfront

Job description

Life.Church wants to make a lasting difference in your life, in our community, and in the world. Our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. That's how we’re able to make a difference, and it's the driving force behind everything we do.

The Senior Project Manager leads complex, cross-functional projects from initiation through closeout with a high degree of independence and accountability. This role applies advanced project management disciplines to their assigned projects to protect scope, schedule, and budget while navigating organizational interdependencies and shifting priorities. Beyond individual project delivery, the Senior Project Manager actively mentors junior Project Managers, contributes to Project Management Office (PMO) process improvement, and serves as a trusted delivery partner to team leads and stakeholders across YouVersion. This role aligns with Project Management Institute's (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) standards and is a pivotal step in the PMO career path, bridging individual delivery excellence with broader organizational influence. This role is responsible for leading project management initiatives that support the direction, and efforts of their team to outcomes that further Life.Church’s mission and reach people for Christ.

What You'll Do

Lead Complex, Cross Functional Projects End-to-End

• Define project scope, objectives, success criteria, and delivery approach (predictive, Agile, or hybrid) in collaboration with sponsors and stakeholders.
• Develop comprehensive project plans with detailed work breakdown structures, milestones, resource assignments, and dependency mapping.
• Lead project meetings including kickoffs, status reviews, milestone gates, and retrospectives; ensure every meeting produces documented decisions and clear next steps.
• Manage project baselines and execute disciplined change control; protect scope/schedule/budget with documented impact assessments and sponsor approvals.
• Proactively manage cross-team dependencies and sequencing to prevent delivery bottlenecks; escalate conflicts with clear options and recommendations.
• Demonstrate advanced risk management: maintain a living risk register, develop mitigation strategies, establish contingency triggers, and report risk exposure to leadership.
• Conduct thorough project closeouts including lessons learned, benefits realization assessment, and knowledge transfer documentation.

Manage Stakeholder Relationships and Communications

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with stakeholders across multiple teams, including director and YTL level audiences.
• Facilitate alignment across competing stakeholder priorities while maintaining delivery momentum and team morale.
• Present project health, trade-offs, risks, and recommendations clearly and confidently to senior leadership.
• Ensure budget and timeline estimates are accurate and communicated clearly; manage expectations throughout the project lifecycle.
• Serve as the primary project communication hub: provide predictable updates, document decisions, and proactively flag changes to all impacted parties.
• Provide ongoing coaching, guidance, and feedback to Project Managers to build delivery consistency across the PMO.

Mentor Junior PM's and Advance PMO Standards

• Develop and refine project templates, checklists, and standards that improve team-wide delivery quality.
• Evaluate project management processes after each major project; identify improvements and implement changes with leadership alignment.
• Ensure accurate and timely organization of project data, task hour tracking, and reporting in Workfront.
• Collaborate with the Program Manager to surface systemic patterns, process gaps, and portfolio level risks.

Skills Needed to Succeed

• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills; comfortable presenting to director-level audiences.
• Proven ability to translate ambiguous initiatives into structured plans, workstreams, milestones, and decision points.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects with multiple stakeholders, dependencies, and competing priorities.
• Maintains composure and clear thinking under pressure; models calm, decisive execution and healthy collaboration.
• Skilled at mentoring and developing others; able to provide clear, actionable feedback that improves PM performance.
• Advanced knowledge of project management methodologies (PMBOK, Agile, Scrum, hybrid) and the ability to apply them appropriately by context.
• Strong risk identification, analysis, and mitigation skills; able to communicate risk posture clearly to leadership.
• Proficiency in PM tools and Microsoft 365; strong data organization and reporting skills.
• High school diploma or GED.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Project Management, Communications, or related field preferred.
• 3–5 years of project management experience, including demonstrated leadership of complex, cross-functional projects.
• PMP certification (PMI) strongly preferred.
• Experience managing project budgets and reporting financial variances to leadership.

Benefits We Offer

• Paid parental leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
• Generous employer-paid leave for the use of vacation, sick time, and other qualifying reasons.
• Innovative and comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance that provides team members with useful resources and savings to navigate their holistic health.
• Life insurance policy provided for all staff members at 2x annual salary at no cost. Additional life insurance coverage is available to purchase.
• Short-Term and Long-Term disability is covered at 100% for full-time qualified staff members.
• Comprehensive wellness and mental health benefits allow staff to proactively invest in their physical and emotional health.
• Generous 401(k) retirement plan allowing a team member to have up to 12.5% (including employee contribution, employer match, and employer discretionary contribution) contributed into their account in their first year. It doesn’t stop there—the more years on staff, the greater the investment!
• $160 annually in development dollars for team members to invest in their professional growth.
• Casual dress and work environment.
• And much more!

Our Beliefs, Culture, and Commitment to Diversity

At Life.Church, every staff member, and intern is a minister and is expected to engage in the church's ministry fully. We consider ministry readiness and an individual’s capacity to represent Life.Church’s beliefs as a minister during the selection process for all staff and intern positions. An essential function within every position held by a staff member or intern at Life.Church is to uphold and represent the beliefs of Life.Church.

While we unite around our mission, we know unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Our calling is too great, and our mission is too important not to be intentional about strengthening our team through diversity. We know that diverse perspectives in race, ethnicity, background, age, and gender are essential to reaching the world for Christ. To learn more about how we strengthen our team through diversity, visit our careers page.

All data collected in our application process, from resume collection to application questions, is used for recruitment purposes only.