Title: Senior Program Manager Integration Modernization
Location : North Chicago, IL
Duration : 12 Months
Job Description:
We are hiring a Senior Program Manager to lead a multi-year program for a large global healthcare client. The program migrates the client's enterprise integration platform from TIBCO to Microsoft Azure Integration Services. This is a leadership role, not a hands-on technical one. You will own the plan, governance, budget and stakeholder relationships end to end. You will also navigate competing priorities between the client's business and IT teams.
What you'll do:
Own the multi-year roadmap, from wave planning and migration through cutover and TIBCO decommissioning.
Run program governance (steering committees, RAID and decision logs) and give executives clear, honest status reporting.
Manage scope, budget, forecasts, resources and vendor commitments.
Build trusted relationships with senior client leaders across IT, architecture, business, security and compliance.
Navigate organizational politics. Resolve conflicts and escalations between the customer, the business and the delivery teams.
Lead a blended onshore and offshore team, and coordinate third parties such as Microsoft, TIBCO and application vendors.
Oversee testing, cutover, hypercare and change management, so that migrations don't disrupt the business.
Stakeholders, politics and people:
This role carries as much weight in relationships as in plans. A multi-year platform migration touches many teams, budgets and agendas. Success depends on keeping all of them aligned.
Managing internal stakeholders:
Engage our own leadership, delivery heads, architects and offshore leads as partners, not just resources. Keep them informed, involved and accountable.
Balance competing internal demands such as staffing, margins, timelines and quality. Make trade-offs transparently.
Represent the program credibly to senior leadership, including when the news is not good.
Navigating politics and expectations:
Map the formal and informal power structure across the client's IT, business and architecture groups. Know who influences decisions, not just who signs off.
Manage expectations from the start. Commit to what is achievable, reset expectations early when things change, and avoid surprises.
Stay neutral and fact-based when business and IT teams disagree. Broker workable compromises without taking sides.
Protect the team from churn and noise, while keeping stakeholders confident that their concerns are heard.
Knowing when to be firm and when to be soft:
Hold the line firmly on scope, quality, commitments and accountability when it matters. Escalate decisively when needed.
Lead with empathy on the human side. Coach and motivate the team, recognize effort, and handle sensitive conversations with care.
Read each situation and person, and adjust your style. Be direct with some, supportive with others, and always respectful.
Turn tense moments into productive conversations, and rebuild trust after difficult escalations.
What you bring:
Must have:
15+ years in IT delivery, including 5+ years leading large, multi-workstream programs.
Strong program management fundamentals: planning, dependencies, RAID, budgeting and governance.
Proven ability to manage senior stakeholders and handle conflict and competing agendas.
Experience leading distributed onshore and offshore teams.
Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.
Nice to have:
Experience on large integration or middleware programs, for example TIBCO, MuleSoft or Azure Integration Services. Hands-on technical skills are not required.
Experience with legacy-to-cloud migration or platform decommissioning.
Background in life sciences, healthcare or another regulated industry.
PMP, PgMP or SAFe certification.
Who you are:
You are a seasoned leader who is as comfortable in a tense steering committee as in a one-on-one coaching conversation. You are politically aware without being political. You read the room, understand what drives each stakeholder, and build alliances before you need them.
You are proactive, take ownership, and stay composed under pressure. You can be firm when commitments are at stake and empathetic when people need support. You influence without formal authority, raise issues early, and enjoy working on site to build trust face to face.
