Strategic PMO Leader — Associate Director

The Blue Venture Fund; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

EVERSANA INTOUCH is seeking an Associate Director, PMO to lead a project management team responsible for delivering strategic programs for clients. The role focuses on managing project pipelines, ensuring delivery quality, and coaching a high-performing PMO staff across technology and strategy projects.

The ideal candidate will bring 7+ years of experience in program management within an advertising or life sciences context, with strong skills in risk, budgeting, and stakeholder engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education plus professional experience required.
• 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Delivery and management of strategic projects and programs in an advertising agency environment.
• Ability to recognize when to step in and lead high-complexity and/or high-visibility projects.
• Program management knowledge and experience.
• Experience working with ambiguity and ability to mentor others in this grey area.
• Advanced risk management skills.
• Advanced stakeholder management skills.
• Advanced reporting and program-level financial management.

Responsibilities

• Deliver and manage creative and strategic project/programs.
• Program and client-level staffing plans.
• Program and client reporting: health, status, risks, and key program milestones.
• Issue mitigation plan.
• Ensure the onboarding plan is defined and implemented.
• Responsible for billability of project management team.
• Project Coordinator, Project Manager, and Senior Project Manager performance evaluations and goal setting.
• Issue and escalation root cause analysis.
• Facilitate retrospective meeting and share results with relevant stakeholders.
• Collaborate with portfolio team on client road map and improvement plans.
• Develop direct reports and serve in a coaching and mentoring role across the team.
• Enforce process adherence and actively manage resistance.
• Monitor consistent successes/challenges and propose opportunities for process and standards improvement.
• Review project work output and provide feedback.
• Manage and prioritize team workload.
• Manage team level goals and objectives to ensure successful outcomes across clients and projects.
• Manage team escalations.
• Proactively identify program level risk.
• Oversee program health (budget, scope, and timeline).
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Skills

Program management

Leadership

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Mentoring

Team building

Communication

Problem solving

Escalation management

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education

Job description

EVERSANA INTOUCH is seeking an Associate Director, PMO to lead a project management team responsible for delivering strategic programs for clients. The role focuses on managing project pipelines, ensuring delivery quality, and coaching a high-performing PMO staff across technology and strategy projects.

The ideal candidate will bring 7+ years of experience in program management within an advertising or life sciences context, with strong skills in risk, budgeting, and stakeholder engagement.