Senior Project Manager

• Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
• Type: Contract
• Job #11877

DataStaff, Inc. is currently seeking a Senior Project Manager for a long-term contract opportunity with one of our direct clients in Raleigh, NC.

*This position is hybrid

Job Description:
Join our team to transform a legacy mainframe system into a modern, web-based platform that improves usability, accessibility, and scalability. We’re seeking a Senior Project Manager to help lead the work of updating and improving the Child Support System. The project involves moving from an older mainframe system to a newer, web-based system that is easier to use and maintain. This work builds on improvements already underway.

As the Senior Project Manager, you’ll help plan the work, keep teams organized, and make sure everyone involved understands what needs to be done and when. You’ll work closely with DHHS staff, stakeholders, partners, and vendors, and help keep everything moving in a steady, clear, and practical way. You will help guide decisions, work with many different groups, and support day-to-day progress on this long-term effort. You’ll help keep the project on track by bringing people together, solving issues as they come up, and making sure everyone stays aligned as the system continues to grow and improve.

Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle project planning by defining scope, building detailed work plans, creating integrated schedules, and mapping dependencies to ensure all teams are aligned on priorities, timelines, and deliverables.
• Drive project execution by coordinating cross-functional teams, monitoring progress against plan, resolving obstacles, and ensuring work is completed on time, within scope, and at the expected quality level.
• Maintain strong communication with DHHS staff, technical teams, business partners, and vendors by facilitating meetings, documenting decisions, tracking action items, and ensuring continuous alignment across stakeholders.
• Proactively identify and assess risks, issues, and system dependencies, clearly communicating impacts to schedule, scope, and budget. Lead development of mitigation strategies and contingency plans to keep the project stable and moving forward.
• Oversee budgets and schedules by tracking progress, analyzing variance, and forecasting resource and funding needs. Adjust plans and priorities as necessary to maintain project performance and compliance with state requirements.
• Lead quality assurance activities by driving requirement reviews, test planning, system validation, and defect resolution to ensure all deliverables meet user, technical, and regulatory expectations prior to release.
• Deliver clear, timely, and actionable project status communications to leadership, including progress updates, key risks, issues, decisions required, and upcoming milestones to support informed decision-making.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

Project Leadership & Delivery

• Leading complex, multi-phase IT projects from planning through execution, monitoring, and close-out.
• Work with large teams through structured project lifecycles, maintaining alignment and accountability.
• Managing PMO processes, governance, documentation, and reporting for initiatives.

Technical Project & Systems Management

• Managing large-scale technology modernization, legacy system migration, and system integration projects.
• Overseeing web-based application development, system enhancements, and platform updates.
• Coordinating with cross-functional technical teams, the architect, developers, stakeholders, vendors, and QA.

Planning, Forecasting & Estimation

• Developing detailed roadmaps, project plans, work breakdown structures, and integrated schedules.
• Performing effort, cost, and resource estimations; forecasting and modeling future needs for long-term technical initiatives.
• Managing budgets, tracking variances, and adjusting plans to maintain schedule and cost baselines.

Risk, Issue & Change Management

• Identifying, analyzing, and mitigating risks, issues, and dependencies across systems.
• Leading cross-team problem-solving and implementing mitigation or contingency strategies.
• Supporting structured change management, release readiness, and stakeholder impact assessments.

Agile Delivery & Team Collaboration

• Working in Agile environments and guiding Agile teams through sprint planning, backlog refinement, and iterative delivery.
• Applying Agile practices to support transparency, velocity, and continuous improvement.

Tools & Technology Proficiency

• Experienced user of project management and collaboration tools, including JIRA, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Office.
• Skilled in managing dashboards, schedules, workflow tracking, and status reporting.

Communication & Stakeholder Engagement

• Delivering clear, concise communication to executives, business partners, technical teams, stakeholders, partners, and vendors.
• Facilitating decision-making, negotiations, and cross-team alignment in complex environments.
• Leading diverse stakeholder groups and maintaining strong relationships across agencies and partners.

Required Skills:

• 4 Years - IT Technical - SDLC and coding familiarity; able to work closely with developers; skilled at translating technical details for business teams
• 10 Years - Project Leadership & Delivery (Leading enterprise IT projects; project lifecycle management, PMO governance, reporting, coordination)
• 10 Years - Technical Project & Systems Management (System integration; web-based application development; collaboration with architects and technical teams)
• 10 Years - Planning, Forecasting & Estimation (Developing project plans, schedules; time/effort/cost estimation; resource forecasting; budget tracking)
• 10 Years - Risk, Issue & Change Management (Identifying risks, issues, dependencies; mitigation strategies; change impact analysis; communicating blockers/decision)
• 10 Years - Communication & Stakeholder Engagement (Executive level communication; cross team negotiations; delivering clear and actionable project updates)
• 5 Years - Agile Delivery & Collaboration (Facilitating Agile ceremonies, guiding Agile teams, applying Agile frameworks; supporting iterative delivery)
• 3 Years - Use of Project Tools (Microsoft Project, Microsoft Office, JIRA or similar tools)

Desired Skills:

• 1 Year - Experience in government, or Child Support programs
• Professional certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, SAFe, Agile, or Scrum Master

This position is available on a corp-to-corp basis or as a W2 position with a competitive benefits package. DataStaff, Inc. offers medical, dental and vision coverage options as well as paid vacation, sick and holiday leave. As many of our opportunities are long-term, we also have a 401k program available for employees after 6 months.