Program Manager – State Government Technology Programs

Position Overview Mission Bridge Partners is partnering with an established federal technology contractor to identify an experienced Program Manager to lead the delivery and client engagement of strategic state government technology programs.

This is a senior leadership role responsible for the overall health and success of a portfolio of complex technology initiatives.

The Program Manager will serve as a trusted partner to government clients while providing leadership across delivery, staffing, team performance, contract management, financial performance, risk management, and organic program growth.

We're looking for an experienced program leader with 10+ years of experience delivering complex, large-scale technology initiatives, ideally involving custom software development or cloud infrastructure within state government environments.

The ideal candidate can operate effectively at both the client and delivery levels—building trusted relationships with senior government stakeholders while leading high-performing teams and navigating technical, contractual, financial, and organizational complexity.

This role goes beyond keeping projects on schedule.

You'll be responsible for the overall health and success of the program:

• anticipating risks, solving complex delivery challenges, developing strong teams, maintaining client trust, and identifying opportunities for continued program growth.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a senior partner to government clients, developing trusted relationships and maintaining a strong understanding of agency priorities, challenges, and expectations.
• Provide overall leadership for the successful delivery of multiple complex technology initiatives.
• Identify delivery, staffing, financial, contractual, and organizational risks early and work across teams to resolve issues before they impact program outcomes.
• Maintain regular communication with clients to understand evolving needs, solve problems collaboratively, and provide transparency into program progress.
• Lead and support Project Managers and functional delivery leaders responsible for individual workstreams and projects.
• Oversee large, multidisciplinary technology teams and create an environment that promotes accountability, collaboration, and strong delivery.
• Manage program-level milestones, dependencies, integrations, and risks across multiple projects and stakeholder groups.
• Oversee contract and financial performance across the portfolio in partnership with finance and contracts teams.
• Support contract modifications, option years, surge requirements, CLIN growth, and subcontractor negotiations.
• Identify opportunities to expand existing programs by understanding client needs and the broader agency landscape.
• Establish and maintain high standards for delivery excellence and client service.
• Collaborate across delivery, product, engineering, operations, finance, and leadership teams to anticipate and resolve program-level challenges.
• Help advance organizational priorities and continuously improve program management and delivery practices.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience leading complex technology programs, projects, or portfolios.
• Demonstrated experience delivering custom software development and/or cloud infrastructure programs.
• Experience working with or within state government agencies and a strong understanding of public-sector contracting, compliance, documentation, and audit requirements.
• Experience leading large-scale technology modernization or digital transformation initiatives with significant complexity, risk, dependencies, and stakeholder involvement.
• Demonstrated success leading and scaling Agile software development teams.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams that may include engineering, product, design, DevOps/cloud, data, operations, and project management professionals.
• Strong understanding of Agile delivery frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe, along with modern software development practices including CI/CD.
• Experience managing program-level budgets, contracts, staffing, schedules, risks, and delivery commitments.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex environments involving multiple organizations, stakeholder groups, technologies, and competing priorities.
• Strong client relationship and stakeholder management skills, with a service-oriented approach to both clients and delivery teams.
• Ability to balance immediate delivery priorities with longer-term program strategy, contract performance, and organizational objectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with senior government stakeholders and executive leadership.
• Ability to work East Coast business hours and travel to Richmond, VA, approximately once per month or as needed to support client and program needs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting or managing Paid Family and Medical Leave, Paid Family Leave, unemployment insurance, benefits administration, or similar public-benefit programs.
• Experience working directly within a state government agency or a major municipal government.
• Track record of building or leading Agile technology organizations of 50+ team members.
• Experience launching new production technology platforms or digital services with significant public visibility or large user populations.
• Experience leading long-term, complex, and potentially ambiguous IT modernization programs.
• Experience managing programs that combine production operations and support with ongoing product and feature development.
• Experience introducing or expanding Agile delivery practices within government organizations.
• Familiarity with project and delivery management tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Compensation The estimated salary range for this position is $165,000 – $185,000 annually.
• This range represents a good faith estimate and may vary depending on several factors, including the scope of the role, geographic location, education, certifications, technical skills, and overall relevant experience.
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