Senior Project Manager

Ascentt; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascentt is seeking a Senior Project Manager in Plano, TX to lead the Agile delivery of a cross-functional Scrum team building AI-driven solutions for enterprise clients. This hands-on leadership role requires guiding ceremonies, managing backlog, and coordinating with product owners and stakeholders across time zones.

You will drive delivery visibility, coach teams on Agile practices, and ensure timely delivery of commitments while navigating dependencies and risks in a global environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in software/tech delivery environments.
• 4+ years as PM or Agile delivery lead for cross-functional teams.
• Facilitates full Scrum ceremonies and applies Agile principles in real-world delivery.
• Strong track record in impediments, risks, and dependencies.
• Experience with distributed/global delivery and multi-time-zone collaboration.
• Proficient with Jira or comparable Agile tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives for one Scrum team.
• Ensure ceremonies yield clear decisions, commitments, and actions.
• Coach the team on Agile principles and accountable performance.
• Partner with Product Owner to maintain healthy backlog.
• Surface unclear requirements and dependencies before sprint start.
• Facilitate sprint planning considering priorities and capacity.
• Identify impediments and risks early and drive resolution.
• Escalate significant blockers with context and required actions.
• Coordinate with other teams when dependencies exist.

Skills

Agile leadership

Facilitation

Coaching

Stakeholder management

Communication

Conflict resolution

Jira

Cross-functional teamwork

Risk & dependency management

Time zone coordination

Tools

Jira

Job description

Ascentt is building cutting-edge data analytics & AI/ML solutions for global automotive and manufacturing leaders. We turn enterprise data into real-time decisions using advanced machine learning and GenAI. Our team solves hard engineering problems at scale, with real-world industry impact. We’re hiring passionate builders to shape the future of industrial intelligence.

Role Overview

As a Senior Project Manager at Ascentt, you will lead the Agile delivery of one cross-functional Scrum team building technology and AI-driven solutions for enterprise clients.

This is a hands-on Agile leadership role. The delivery environment entails enterprise-scale programs, cross-team dependencies, and direct engagement with client stakeholders. The seniority of this role lies in the judgment it requires, knowing when to coach, when to facilitate, when to challenge, and when to escape.

We are looking for someone who leans into problems, engages the right people, drives closure, challenges teams constructively, and operates comfortably with internal and client stakeholders.

This is an office-based position at Ascentt's Plano, Texas location. Regular presence in the office is required.

Because Ascentt works with global enterprise clients, the Senior Project Manager will need the flexibility to collaborate across time zones as needed for Agile ceremonies, stakeholder discussions, planning sessions, and issue resolution.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as Project Manager for one cross-functional Agile delivery team, leading sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Ensure ceremonies produce clear decisions, commitments, and actions, and that the team establishes and stays focused on clear sprint goals.
• Apply Scrum and Agile principles pragmatically, promoting transparency, accountability, and shared ownership while protecting the team from unnecessary disruption.
• Partner with the Product Owner to maintain a healthy, prioritized, appropriately refined backlog.
• Surface unclear requirements, unresolved questions, dependencies, and readiness gaps before work enters a sprint.
• Facilitate sprint planning grounded in priorities, team capacity, and dependencies.
• Proactively identify impediments, risks, dependencies, and emerging delivery challenges early enough for the team to manage their impact.
• Drive issues to resolution with clear ownership, actions, and follow-through, bringing in the right people when decisions or support are needed beyond the team.
• Escalate significant impediments with clear context, impact, and required action.

Delivery Visibility & Predictability

• Maintain transparency into sprint progress, capacity, backlog health, risks, and dependencies, and flag early when commitments are at risk.
• Use Agile metrics (predictability, carryover, cycle time, throughput) to identify trends and drive team improvement.
• Give stakeholders appropriate visibility into delivery status.

Coaching & Continuous Improvement

• Coach the team on Agile principles, accountability, and effective performance of their roles.
• Facilitate retrospectives that produce meaningful, followed-through improvement actions, and address recurring problems at their root cause.
• Progressively build the team's maturity and self-organization so it depends less on the Project Manager for routine execution.

Stakeholder & Cross-Team Collaboration

• Build effective relationships with Product Owners, technical leaders, and internal and client stakeholders; communicate progress, risks, and decisions clearly and proactively.
• Facilitate alignment between business and technical stakeholders, including difficult conversations, moving participants toward clear decisions.
• Coordinate with other Scrum Masters and teams where dependencies exist and contribute lessons learned to Ascentt's broader Agile delivery practice.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of overall experience in software development or technology delivery environments.
• 4+ years of hands-on experience as a Project Manager or Agile delivery leader for cross-functional software or technology teams.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating the full set of Scrum ceremonies and applying Agile principles in real-world delivery environments.
• Strong track record identifying and driving resolution of impediments, delivery risks, and cross-team dependencies.
• Working knowledge of Agile delivery metrics and their appropriate use in improving predictability and team effectiveness.
• Proficiency with Jira or comparable Agile work-management tools.
• Strong facilitation, coaching, communication, and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to engage confidently with both technical and business stakeholders.
• Experience in distributed or global delivery environments, with flexibility to collaborate across time zones as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• CSM, PSM, SAFe Scrum Master, PMI-ACP, or comparable Agile certification.
• Experience with enterprise clients in a consulting environment.
• Exposure to AI, Generative AI, data, cloud, or other emerging-technology delivery environments.
• Experience in automotive, manufacturing, or related industries.

Ultimately, the Senior Project Manager's impact is visible in the team's ability to anticipate and resolve delivery challenges, make better decisions, and consistently deliver valuable outcomes.