Program / Project Manager

Program / Project Manager

Location: Bethesda, MD (On-site)
Type: Full-time

Role Summary

We are seeking a full-time Program / Project Manager to lead and coordinate technology initiatives across federal government, commercial, and State, Local, and Education (SLED) customer environments.

This role is ideal for a delivery-focused professional who serves as the primary point of coordination between customer stakeholders, technical teams, vendors, and KNZ leadership, and who is trusted to deliver projects on schedule, within scope, and in accordance with contractual and government requirements.

Role Overview

The ideal candidate is an experienced IT project and program manager who has managed complex infrastructure, modernization, migration, cybersecurity, or related technology programs.

You will take ownership of projects end-to-end, from planning and kickoff through implementation, testing, validation, transition, and closeout.

This role requires strong command of project management methodologies, the technical fluency to translate engineering activity into clear project plans, and the communication skills to work with technical teams, customer leadership, and executive stakeholders.

You will serve as the main customer-facing point of contact for status, priorities, risks, issues, and escalations, and you will stay engaged with every issue until it is resolved.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the planning, execution, monitoring, and completion of federal or commercial IT projects and programs.
• Develop and maintain project schedules, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, action items, and risk registers.
• Coordinate activities across engineering teams, customer stakeholders, subcontractors, OEM partners, and third-party vendors.
• Serve as a primary customer-facing point of contact for project status, priorities, risks, issues, and escalations.
• Facilitate project kickoff meetings, status meetings, technical coordination sessions, and executive-level reviews.
• Track contractual requirements, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and project commitments.
• Identify project risks, dependencies, and resource constraints and develop appropriate mitigation plans.
• Manage project scope and coordinate changes through established change-management processes.
• Monitor project performance against established schedules, budgets, and objectives.
• Prepare and deliver project status reports, dashboards, meeting minutes, action-item tracking, and executive communications.
• Work closely with technical architects and engineers to translate technical activities into actionable project plans.
• Coordinate implementation, migration, testing, validation, transition, and project closeout activities.
• Support resource planning and ensure appropriate technical resources are aligned with project requirements and schedules.
• Maintain project documentation in accordance with customer, contractual, and organizational requirements.
• Support compliance with applicable security, privacy, and operational requirements.
• Escalate issues appropriately while maintaining ownership through resolution.
• Manage multiple concurrent workstreams and priorities within complex customer environments.

Required Experience

• 5+ years of experience managing IT projects, programs, or technical service delivery initiatives.
• Experience supporting federal government and/or other highly regulated environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex technology projects involving multiple technical disciplines and stakeholders.
• Experience developing and maintaining project schedules, risk registers, status reports, action-item logs, and project documentation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with technical teams, customer leadership, and executive stakeholders.

Preferred Experience

• Experience managing federal IT modernization, infrastructure deployment, cloud migration, cybersecurity, network modernization, or data center transformation initiatives.
• Experience working with federal contracting environments, Statements of Work (SOWs), deliverables, milestones, and acceptance criteria.
• Experience coordinating OEMs, subcontractors, telecommunications providers, and other third-party partners.
• Experience managing projects involving technologies from vendors such as Cisco, VMware/Broadcom, Microsoft, Nutanix, Palo Alto Networks, AWS, Azure, or similar enterprise platforms.
• Experience preparing executive briefings and presenting project status to government leadership.

Qualifications

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Engineering, or a related field preferred.

Certifications

PMP, PgMP, PMI-ACP, Scrum Master, or equivalent project/program management certification preferred.

Technical Expertise (Must Have)

• Project Delivery: Strong understanding of project management methodologies, including Waterfall, Agile, or hybrid delivery approaches.
• Planning & Tracking: Schedules, risk registers, status reports, action-item logs, and project documentation.
• Tools: Project management and collaboration platforms such as Smartsheet, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Jira, or similar tools.
• Technical Fluency: Ability to understand technical concepts and coordinate activities across infrastructure, networking, cloud, cybersecurity, data center, or related technology teams.
• Organization: Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and dependencies.
• Clearance & Access: U.S. citizenship and ability to satisfy applicable federal customer background, access, or security requirements. Depending on the customer and assignment, a Public Trust background investigation or other federal background screening may be required.

Preferred Compliance Familiarity

• Federal security and compliance frameworks such as NIST, FISMA, FedRAMP, CMMC, or DoD security requirements.

Onsite Requirement

This is an onsite, customer-facing position based in Bethesda, MD. Some local travel may be required to support assigned projects. You must be comfortable operating within secure government environments and complying with customer-specific physical access, cybersecurity, information-handling, and operational requirements.

What Sets This Role Apart

This is a hands-on delivery role for a project leader who wants to own outcomes with the customer, not just track tasks.

You will be trusted to:

• Own projects from kickoff to closeout in complex customer environments.
• Drive projects through ambiguity and changing priorities.
• Remain engaged with issues through resolution rather than simply transferring responsibility between teams.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
• Employer-paid short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance.
• Paid vacation starting at 12 days (96 hours) per year, increasing with years of service.
• Paid sick leave (up to 7 days per year).
• 401(k) retirement savings plan upon completing a year of employment.
• Tuition reimbursement or assistance toward continuing education.
• Paid attendance at approved workshops and conferences.
• Full access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Perks

• Professional development and ongoing learning opportunities.
• Employee recognition programs.
• Company-sponsored social events and team-building activities.
• Collaborative, team-oriented work environment.
• Opportunities to work on high-impact projects with experienced professionals.