Sr. Program Manager - Platform Modernization

The Judge Group; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Judge Group seeks a senior Executive Technical Program Manager to lead the external parallel testing phase of a large-scale clearing platform modernization.

This hands-on leadership role drives testing execution as the organization migrates from a legacy platform to a cloud-based environment, coordinating cross-functional teams across technology, operations, risk, data and business functions to ensure successful validation, reconciliation and production readiness.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience leading complex technology programs, platform migrations, or modernization initiatives.
• Proven success managing large-scale testing, conversion, or production-readiness programs.
• Strong technical knowledge of cloud platforms, distributed systems, databases, APIs, data flows, and infrastructure.
• Experience running parallel operations and validating results across legacy and replacement platforms.
• Advanced Jira expertise and exceptional executive communication skills.
• Experience in highly regulated industries, preferably financial services, capital markets, clearing, or payments.

Responsibilities

• Own the external parallel testing strategy, roadmap, governance, and execution.
• Coordinate production data refreshes, environment readiness, and testing cycles.
• Lead reconciliation efforts between legacy and target platforms, driving issue resolution and retesting.
• Manage Jira-based planning, dependencies, defects, risks, and delivery governance.
• Partner with internal teams and external participants to ensure testing readiness and successful execution.
• Develop executive dashboards, readiness metrics, and go-live recommendations.

Skills

Executive leadership

Program management

Cloud platforms

Distributed systems

APIs

Data flows

Infrastructure

Jira

Executive communication

Regulated industries

Financial services

Testing leadership

Parallel testing

Data reconciliation

Tools

Kafka

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Enterprise scheduling

Data replication technologies

Job description

A leading financial services organization is seeking a senior Executive Technical Program Manager to lead the external parallel testing phase of a large-scale clearing platform modernization.

This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for driving testing execution as the organization transitions from a legacy platform to a new cloud-based environment. You'll lead cross-functional teams across technology, operations, risk, data, and business functions to ensure successful validation, reconciliation, and production readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the external parallel testing strategy, roadmap, governance, and execution.
• Coordinate production data refreshes, environment readiness, and testing cycles.
• Lead reconciliation efforts between legacy and target platforms, driving issue resolution and retesting.
• Manage Jira-based planning, dependencies, defects, risks, and delivery governance.
• Partner with internal teams and external participants to ensure testing readiness and successful execution.
• Develop executive dashboards, readiness metrics, and go-live recommendations.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience leading complex technology programs, platform migrations, or modernization initiatives.
• Proven success managing large-scale testing, conversion, or production-readiness programs.
• Strong technical knowledge of cloud platforms, distributed systems, databases, APIs, data flows, and infrastructure.
• Experience running parallel operations and validating results across legacy and replacement platforms.
• Advanced Jira expertise and exceptional executive communication skills.
• Experience in highly regulated industries, preferably financial services, capital markets, clearing, or payments.

Preferred

• Cloud migration, disaster recovery, and operational readiness experience.
• Familiarity with Kafka, Kubernetes, CI/CD, enterprise scheduling, and data replication technologies.
• Experience presenting to executive leadership, risk committees, regulators, or boards.