Program Manager

No C to C or sponsorship

Must work onsite in Buffalo, NY 4 days a week

Senior Program Manager / PMO Lead

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Program Manager / PMO Lead to oversee complex, cross-functional technology initiatives within a highly regulated financial services environment. This individual will provide governance, risk management, executive reporting, and strategic leadership across multiple workstreams, ensuring successful delivery of critical infrastructure, security, AI governance, and enterprise transformation programs.

The ideal candidate will have experience managing large-scale programs involving infrastructure modernization, data center or cloud migrations, security and compliance initiatives, and executive stakeholder engagement.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership & Governance

• Establish and maintain program governance frameworks, decision-making structures, and executive reporting cadences.
• Lead steering committee meetings and executive forums.
• Manage RAID logs (Risks, Actions, Issues, Dependencies) and drive timely resolution of escalations.
• Ensure governance activities support decision-making rather than simply status reporting.
• Maintain accountability for program health, scope, budget, timeline, and delivery outcomes.

Risk, Compliance & Change Management

• Operate effectively within a regulated environment with strong awareness of compliance, audit, risk, and change-control requirements.
• Develop and maintain program controls, documentation, approvals, and evidence required for audits and regulatory reviews.
• Facilitate risk assessments and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Drive risk-based decision-making and ensure appropriate governance for material program changes.

Complex Program Delivery

• Lead large, multi-workstream technology programs involving infrastructure, security, engineering, architecture, operations, and business stakeholders.
• Manage integrated program plans, critical path activities, dependencies, and resource constraints.
• Conduct program assessments and recovery efforts for at-risk initiatives.
• Develop re-baselining strategies and communicate impacts and tradeoffs to leadership.

Infrastructure & Migration Programs

• Support and govern large-scale infrastructure transformations, including:
• Data center migrations
• Colocation initiatives
• Cloud migrations
• Platform modernization efforts
• Oversee cutover planning, readiness reviews, go/no-go decisions, rollback strategies, and post-implementation validation.
• Coordinate activities across infrastructure, networking, application, security, vendor, and business teams.

AI Governance & Security Programs

• Lead or support AI governance, cybersecurity, risk, compliance, data governance, and emerging technology initiatives.
• Partner with security, legal, compliance, privacy, architecture, and business stakeholders to establish governance frameworks.
• Develop policies, controls, reporting structures, exception processes, and risk management practices for emerging technologies.
• Assess third-party, vendor, data privacy, and information security risks associated with AI and technology adoption.

Executive Communication

• Prepare concise, executive-level communications for CIOs, CISOs, executive sponsors, and senior leadership teams.
• Translate technical risks and challenges into business impacts and decision points.
• Present program status, risks, mitigation plans, and required leadership actions.
• Support audit, regulatory, and risk-management reporting needs.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of Program Management or PMO leadership experience.
• Experience leading large-scale, cross-functional technology programs.
• Strong background working within regulated industries such as banking, financial services, insurance, healthcare, or government.
• Demonstrated experience with governance frameworks, risk management, dependency management, and change control processes.
• Experience partnering with infrastructure, engineering, security, architecture, and operations teams.
• Proven ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Strong executive presentation and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Banking or financial services industry experience.
• Experience leading data center, cloud, infrastructure, or colocation migrations.
• Experience supporting cybersecurity, AI governance, data governance, or regulatory compliance programs.
• Familiarity with enterprise PMO methodologies and portfolio governance practices.
• Experience working with executive steering committees and senior technology leadership.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Program-level ownership and accountability.
• Strong governance and risk-management discipline.
• Ability to lead through ambiguity and organizational complexity.
• Effective collaboration across technical and business teams.
• Executive presence and concise, action-oriented communication.
• A balance between governance rigor and delivery agility.