IT Program Manager

SM Energy is seeking a strategic and delivery-oriented IT Program Manager to lead cross-functional technology and digital initiatives within the Business Improvement Office (BIO) Execution team. Reporting to the BIO Senior Manager of Project Execution, this role is responsible for driving project and program delivery strategy, managing complex technical initiatives, and translating enterprise strategic priorities into execution while ensuring initiatives are aligned, coordinated, and delivered in a way that maximizes business value.

The IT Program Manager provides program leadership, delivery oversight, and stakeholder coordination across a broad portfolio of technology initiatives, including enterprise applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data platforms, integrations, automation, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and custom development. Operating with both strategic perspective and execution discipline, this role sets direction, manages dependencies, identifies interdependencies, resolves competing priorities, drives clarity in ambiguity, and promotes adoption of solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes.

This position requires a strong strategic mindset, the ability to influence without direct authority, and the capability to mobilize diverse teams toward shared objectives. The IT Program Manager partners closely with business leaders, IT leadership, project managers, and technical teams to keep projects aligned with program goals, guide teams through ambiguity, and deliver outcomes that support SM's strategic priorities.

Essential Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead concurrent complex, enterprise-wide technology initiatives across business and IT teams.
• Connect strategic business objectives to technology programs, ensuring initiatives remain aligned with enterprise priorities.
• Support data governance efforts by defining ownership, improving data quality, and establishing accountability structures across technology platforms.
• Lead change management efforts across initiatives, ensuring end-user adoption of new processes, systems, and digital capabilities to achieve sustained business outcomes.
• Ensure successful transitions from project delivery to sustainable operations by overseeing hyper care, establishing clear process ownership, support models, documentation, controls, and support for ongoing performance.
• Measure program success by defining milestones, KPIs, value realization measures, and benefits tracking.
• Partner with technical teams to deliver capabilities through enterprise applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data platforms, integrations, automation, and custom-built solutions.
• Lead and coordinate AI-enabled initiatives, including opportunity identification, use case framing, stakeholder alignment, solution delivery, adoption planning and value realization.
• Identify and manage cross-project dependencies, risks, budgets, vendor needs, and resource constraints across technology workstreams.
• Mentor and collaborate with project managers to ensure individual projects align with broader program objectives, integrated roadmaps, delivery standards, dependencies, and expected business outcomes.
• Translate business problems into program requirements, partnering with architecture, security, infrastructure, applications, data, and operations teams to deliver scalable solutions.
• Partner with data architecture, cybersecurity, legal, and business stakeholders to ensure AI solutions are responsibly designed, governed, secured and aligned with business value.
• Lead current state and future state process design, identifying opportunities to simplify workflows, clarify ownership, improve governance controls, and enable processes through technology.
• Drive clarity and forward progress in ambiguous or evolving problem spaces.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and alignment between business leaders, technical teams, IT architecture, security, operations, and external partners.
• Influence stakeholders and decision makers across multiple organizational levels to maintain momentum and remove barriers to technology adoption.
• Establish program governance, delivery frameworks, steering routines, decision forums, and communication structures that provide transparency and accountability.
• Proactively identify risks, conflicts, and competing priorities and drive resolution before they impact delivery.
• Translate complex technical and operational initiatives into clear updates, options, and recommendations for leadership.
• Coordinate with leadership and program managers to define roadmaps, timelines, budgets, resource plans, and sequencing of work.
• Support the scaling of technology capabilities across the organization through thoughtful change management, training, communications, and business stakeholder relationships.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement across program teams.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to project managers and cross-functional team members.
• Clearly and concisely convey ideas in written and verbal formats, actively listen, and communicate effectively vertically and horizontally throughout the organization.
• Other general duties as assigned.

Role-Specific Technical Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of modern technology ecosystems within upstream oil and gas, including enterprise applications, data platforms/architecture, E&P technical applications, and field applications.
• Experience delivering initiatives involving system implementations/integrations, data governance frameworks, AI solution, machine learning, automation, and advanced analytics solutions.
• Ability to work effectively with application owners, infrastructure teams, cybersecurity, data engineers, software engineers, vendors, project managers, and business stakeholders to translate operational problems into scalable technical solutions.
• Experience contributing to program lifecycle activities, including roadmap development, scope definition, integrated planning, dependency management, budget and resource coordination, vendor coordination, change management, and adoption strategies.
• Experience working within Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid project environments. Ability to translate technical topics into business context for stakeholders and drive adoption of new capabilities.
• Expert with tools such as MS Teams, Azure DevOps, Excel, Visio, SharePoint, and PowerPoint. Demonstrates strong technical fluency across the tools and technologies supporting enterprise solutions and can lead meaningful discussions with technical and business teams.
  
  Experience supporting initiatives involving:
  
  • Enterprise application implementations and upgrades
  • Infrastructure, network, endpoint, and workplace technology initiatives
  • Cybersecurity, identity, access, compliance, and IT governance programs
  • Data platforms, analytics, reporting, automation, and integration solutions
  • Vendor technology implementations and cross-functional transformation effort.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in related field is preferred.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is preferred.
• Program or portfolio management experience preferred.
• Experience or coursework related to information technology, systems delivery, cybersecurity, data analytics, automation, or enterprise applications preferred.

Typical Experience:

• 8-10+ years of experience in program management, project management, technology delivery, or a hybrid role leading complex technology initiatives across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Experience leading multiple concurrent and interdependent technology workstreams involving senior business and IT stakeholders with projects including enterprise applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, automation, integration, cloud, AI, advanced analytics, or transformation.

SM Energy offers competitive compensation and benefits programs which include, but are not limited to, variable pay, health care coverage, retirement plan, protection coverage, time off and leave programs, training and development opportunities and a range of allowances connected to specific work situations. Details are available at Careers :: SM Energy Company (SM) (sm-energy.com).

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.