Program Manager

Overview

Hybrid
$50 - $55
Contract - W2
Contract - Independent
Contract - 6 Month(s)
No Travel Required

Skills

Program Manager
legacy-to-modern transformations
COBOL
mainframe
rograms comparable

Job Details

POSITION Sr Program Manager LOCATION Chicago, IL or Houston, TX (hybrid) will consider relo candidates if they will be onsite day 1 DURATION 6+ months (attached to a long-term project) INTERVIEW TYPE Video

seeking a Program Manager to lead a multi-year, enterprise-wide technology transformation initiative. This is a true program-level role, focused on strategy, orchestration, and decision enablement across highly complex systems and cross-functional teams-not traditional delivery-focused project management.

Summary:
The initiative centers on transforming a large, legacy mainframe-based platform into a modern, scalable technology ecosystem. This is a full modernization effort involving extensive discovery, validation, and phased execution across a highly integrated enterprise landscape. The program spans multiple years, includes significant investment, and impacts the organization end-to-end.

Key Responsibilities:
* Define and drive the overall program strategy, operating model, and execution framework
* Lead a large-scale modernization effort from legacy mainframe technologies to a modern architecture
* Orchestrate multiple interdependent workstreams and manage cross-team dependencies
* Facilitate complex, cross-functional discussions to move teams from uncertainty to decisions
* Maintain focus on outcomes, value, and enterprise impact-not just activity
* Partner with architecture and technical leadership to align strategic intent with execution
* Consolidate inputs from domain-level program managers into a unified enterprise roadmap
* Provide executive-level visibility into progress, risks, trade-offs, and long-term direction
* Navigate extended discovery phases where requirements are refined iteratively Guide discovery efforts, proofs of concept, and solution evaluations to assess: * Solution fit and feasibility * Technology and tooling alignment

Required Experience & Qualifications
10+ years of experience leading large-scale enterprise technology programs
Proven experience with legacy-to-modern transformations
Understanding of mainframe environments, ideally with experience moving off COBOL-based systems
Experience driving programs where requirements are not fully defined upfront
Exceptional communication and facilitation skills able to drive conversations to outcomes
Strategic mindset with the ability to connect vision to execution
Experience with programs comparable in scale (e.g., $100M+, multi-year initiatives)

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