Senior Program Manager (Project/Program Manager IT 4)

Role: Senior Program Manager (Project/Program Manager IT 4)
Location: Chicago, IL
Work Arrangement

• Currently remote with as-needed onsite attendance.
• Candidates should be prepared for the role to transition to 5 days/week onsite in the Chicago office if business needs change.

Let’s create our future together at The AES Group!

About The AES Group:

The AES Group is a premier technology and engineering consulting company that has been bringing businesses and talent together for over 20 years to deliver innovative solutions that have the greatest positive impact on society. AES has helped over 40 business enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies, engage their customers, empower their employees, and transform their business operations with the power of cloud, data, AI, engineering, and other emerging technologies. 

About the Role

Sekking Senior Program Manager to drive strategic programs that support software development initiatives across its e-commerce platform. This role focuses on improving operational excellence, delivery execution, planning, stakeholder alignment, and cross-functional collaboration across Product, Engineering, Platform, UX Design, and Research teams.

This is not strictly a UX Program Management role. Candidates with strong software development program management experience are highly encouraged to apply. Experience managing UX teams is not required.

The ideal candidate is a strong operational leader who thrives in fast-paced environments, influences without direct authority, and successfully delivers complex software development programs involving multiple stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead large-scale software development programs throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Drive planning, execution, tracking, and delivery of strategic initiatives supporting Caterpillar's e-commerce products.
• Build scalable operational processes and improve delivery efficiency across cross-functional teams.
• Develop project roadmaps, schedules, communication plans, and governance processes.
• Manage project risks, dependencies, issues, and resource planning.
• Partner closely with Product Management, Engineering, Platform, UX Design, and Research organizations.
• Influence cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.
• Facilitate collaboration, remove delivery bottlenecks, and align stakeholders.
• Provide executive-level project reporting and status updates.
• Successfully navigate ambiguity while maintaining strong execution and delivery.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 8+ years of Program or Project Management experience.
• Minimum 6 years leading large-scale Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) projects.
• Proven experience managing enterprise software development programs from initiation through delivery.

Required Skills

Program & Project Management

• Enterprise Program Management
• Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
• Resource Planning
• Risk & Issue Management
• Dependency Management
• Project Scheduling
• Communication Planning
• Cross-functional Program Delivery

Leadership

• Strong operational leadership
• Ability to influence without direct authority
• Excellent stakeholder management
• Outstanding communication and collaboration skills
• Comfortable working in ambiguous and evolving environments
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills
• High attention to detail
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously

Technical & Methodology

• Agile and Waterfall methodologies
• Product Development Lifecycle
• Software Development Programs

Required Tools

Must Have

• Azure DevOps

Preferred (Can Be Learned)

• Figma
• Confluence
• Aha!

Preferred Experience

• Software development programs supporting e-commerce platforms
• Product development organizations
• Engineering and Platform teams
• Enterprise-scale digital transformation initiatives
• Process improvement and operational excellence

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is:

• A strong operational connector who builds alignment across multiple organizations.
• Skilled at influencing stakeholders without formal authority.
• An exceptional communicator with strong collaboration skills.
• Comfortable making decisions despite ambiguity.
• Experienced leading enterprise software development programs.
• Able to balance business priorities while driving successful delivery.