Senior Project Manager - Contract

At Horizontal Digital, we hold ourselves to one key belief: You’re only as good as your worst customer experience. This mantra is what drives our digital consultancy to think beyond the easy answers and instead create websites, apps, portals and other experiences that solve customer needs for Fortune 500 companies in intuitive and empathetic ways. And we make this lofty standard a reality by fusing strategy, data, design and technology together to arrive at solutions that set the bar higher for everyone.

We use these values to fuel superior results:

Lock arms

We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good.

Show hustle

We’re not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional.

Embrace change

From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what’s next.

Elevate empathy

We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability.

Never settle

We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas.

But enough about us. Let’s talk about you.

We are seeking a seasoned Senior Project Manager with a consulting mindset to join our growing team. In this role, you will be responsible for cultivating high-performing teams and acting as a trusted advisor to our clients. You will drive delivery excellence and value outcomes with speed and quality on your programs/projects. You will bring your expertise to partner with clients, identify their needs and challenges, and then leverage Agile (and hybrid) practices to deliver exceptional results.

What you’ll do:

• Project Delivery: Independently lead one large, complex project in a full-time capacity or multiple mid-size complex projects simultaneously comprised of cross-functional Horizontal team members.
• Delivery Consulting: Consult on delivery strategies to ensure success, including frameworks, tools, processes, etc. Drive agile and product delivery methods wherever possible. Solve complex delivery issues and modify processes as needed for each engagement to ensure success.
• Project Planning: Create and manage detailed project plans based on the delivery methodology/framework chosen, project scope, constraints, risks, and dependencies.
• Budget Management: Proactively manage your project budgets to ensure the work we’re planning to deliver can be accomplished within the approved budget. Monitor weekly burn and velocity to develop burndown reports against remaining scope. Understand and report on project margin performance and revenue forecasting. Develop plans to course-correct if project begins to trend over budget.
• Risk Management: Proactively identify project risks and build mitigation plans in an ongoing RAID log. Triage projects in the red to identify a path to green. Escalate as needed to obtain support and solve risks before they become issues.
• Client Partnership: Be the primary point of contact for clients in delivery to not only deliver consistent status, communicate risks, and manage deliverables - but also to build strong client relationships and be seen as a delivery leader and consultant.
• Scope Management: Fully understand the scope of work being delivered and consult with the team and client to manage to it consistently. Proactively prioritize scope where needed. Estimate, create, and deliver change orders as needed when scope deviates.
• Tools Knowledge: Hold expert-level knowledge of standard PM tools, including Smartsheet and Atlassian suite (Jira; Confluence).
• Team Leadership: Lead a team of globally distributed cross-functional Horizontal designers, strategists, technologists, etc. to understand client objectives and successfully deliver solutions that achieve them. Manage resourcing process within assigned projects.
• Practice Involvement: Actively participate in initiatives that uplevel and mature the Horizontal Delivery team. Proactively identify ways we can improve our processes/methods and work with practice leadership to fill gaps as appropriate.
• Mentorship and Coaching: Mentor junior program managers and team members, fostering a culture of continuous learning and development.

Who you are:

Digital Consulting Experience

• Proven track record of leading and executing large-scale digital transformation initiatives that deliver significant business value and competitive advantage.
• Deep expertise in leveraging key technologies like CMS, CRM, CDP, Sitecore, and Salesforce products to drive transformational digital initiatives.
• Experience in advising key client stakeholders on digital program best practices to optimize their program operations and enhance their digital presence.
• Ability to identify and capitalize on new opportunities to drive growth and innovation.

Project Management Expertise

• Proven ability to lead and manage multiple complex digital projects simultaneously, ensuring successful delivery of value with quality and speed to meet business objectives within budget and exceeding client expectations.
• Proven ability to align digital initiatives with overall business goals and drive measurable outcomes.
• Deep experience in managing large, geographically dispersed teams to foster collaboration and deliver results.
• Proven ability to define contracts and manage programs and partnership to contract terms that will achieve and drive business value.
• Proactive approach to risk management and issue resolution, ensuring project success.
• Strong financial acumen to estimate and optimize project profitability.
• Proficiency with advanced project management methodologies and tools, including Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid approaches.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills to anticipate and address complex challenges proactively

Team Leadership and Development

• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams of digital experts, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.
• Strong leadership skills to inspire and motivate teams to achieve ambitious goals.
• Mentorship and coaching skills to develop and empower team members to reach their full potential.
• Effective conflict resolution skills to maintain a positive and productive team environment.

Effective Communication and Presentation

• Exceptional interpersonal skills to build strong relationships with clients and stakeholders at all levels.
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences clearly and concisely.
• Influence and persuasion skills to drive consensus and gain buy-in from key stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills to present strategic recommendations and justify investment decisions.

What you bring:

• Minimum 7+ years of experience leading digital projects/programs.
• A minimum of 2 years agency/consultancy experience. 5+ years preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Certifications in Agile methodologies (e.g., Certified Scrum Master (CSM), PMI-ACP) preferred.
• Experience with standard project management tools including Smartsheet and Jira/Confluence (or similar).

Travel

• Some travel required based on client and business needs.

Keywords: Agile, SAFe Agile, End-to-end delivery, Sitecore, Product mindset / Product operations, Consulting, Contentstack, Optimizely, CMS, Cross-functional team leadership, Project Plans, Atlassian, Jira, Confluence, Collaboration, Content Migration, DAM, Digital Assent Management, Content Hub, Senior PM, Senior Project Manager, Project Management

The above description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.