Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Job Description:
The Director of IT Project Management Office (PMO) leads the strategy, governance, delivery discipline, and portfolio management practices for enterprise technology initiatives. This role is responsible for ensuring that high-priority IT programs—including enterprise applications, cybersecurity, infrastructure, cloud, data, AI, and business transformation initiatives are delivered predictably, transparently, and in alignment with business objectives.
The IT PMO is a critical enabler of disciplined execution across a growing and complex technology environment. Success in this role equates to a well-governed portfolio, clear executive visibility into investments and risks, strong accountability for outcomes, improved cross-functional coordination, and reliable delivery of strategic programs.
As a senior IT leader, the Director establishes the operating model, standards, tooling, resource-management practices, financial controls, and reporting mechanisms required to scale enterprise program delivery. The ideal candidate brings deep experience managing complex technology portfolios, building and leading high-performing program and project management teams, and partnering with executives to convert strategy into measurable business outcomes.
What you'll do:
- Develop and execute the strategic vision, operating model, and multi-year maturity roadmap for the enterprise IT PMO.
- Establish portfolio governance, intake, prioritization, funding, resource planning, stage-gate reviews, and escalation processes for technology initiatives.
- Lead a portfolio of strategic enterprise programs spanning business applications, ERP, cybersecurity, infrastructure, cloud platforms, data and analytics, AI enablement, enterprise integrations, and end-user technology.
- Partner with IT and business leadership to translate corporate priorities into a balanced, sequenced, and executable technology roadmap.
- Define and enforce common program and project management methodologies, delivery standards, templates, controls, and performance metrics across the IT organization.
- Build and lead a high-performing team of program managers, project managers, portfolio analysts, and business operations personnel; establish clear roles, career paths, coaching, and performance expectations.
- Oversee delivery of large, complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives, ensuring scope, schedule, budget, dependencies, risks, security requirements, and business outcomes are actively managed.
- Establish executive-level portfolio reporting that provides transparent visibility into project health, milestones, financial performance, dependencies, resource capacity, delivery risks, and decision requirements.
- Create and maintain an integrated technology portfolio roadmap, including interdependencies across business functions, technology domains, vendors, and enterprise transformation programs.
- Drive disciplined demand management and business-case development, including strategic alignment, cost estimates, benefits realization, implementation effort, risk assessment, and operating-model impacts.
- Partner with Finance and IT leadership to manage technology investment planning, budget tracking, forecast accuracy, capitalization processes, vendor spend, and cost optimization initiatives.
- Implement benefits-realization practices to measure whether completed initiatives achieve intended operational, financial, security, compliance, and business outcomes.
- Lead program risk management, issue resolution, executive escalation, and recovery planning for initiatives that are off track or at risk of failing to meet commitments.
- Establish resource-management practices that improve allocation, capacity planning, prioritization, utilization visibility, and delivery predictability across internal teams and strategic partners.
- Partner closely with Enterprise Architecture, Security, Infrastructure, Business Systems, Data, Finance, Legal, People, and business unit leadership to align execution plans with enterprise strategy and operational readiness.
- Oversee relationships with systems integrators, implementation partners, consultants, and strategic technology vendors; ensure vendor delivery commitments, milestones, quality, and commercial obligations are actively governed.
- Advance adoption of modern delivery practices, including Agile, hybrid, and product-oriented operating models, appropriately matched to the nature of the work.
- Drive continuous improvement through portfolio analytics, post-implementation reviews, lessons learned, delivery-health assessments, and PMO maturity measurements.
- Ensure programs appropriately address security, privacy, compliance, audit, data-governance, and change-management requirements.
- Provide leadership during critical incidents, enterprise transformations, and high-visibility executive escalations as required.
Required qualifications:
- 12+ years of experience in technology program management, project management, portfolio management, business transformation, or related enterprise IT leadership roles.
- 5+ years of leadership experience managing PMO, program management, project management, portfolio-management, or enterprise-transformation teams.
- Demonstrated experience building or maturing an enterprise IT PMO in a complex, rapidly evolving, or high-growth organization.
- Proven success leading large-scale, multi-year technology transformation programs with significant business impact, cross-functional dependencies, and executive visibility.
- Strong experience governing portfolios that include enterprise applications, ERP, cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data platforms, integrations, and end-user technologies.
- Deep understanding of portfolio governance, demand management, investment prioritization, business-case development, resource planning, financial management, and benefits realization.
- Experience managing program budgets, forecasts, vendor spend, statements of work, implementation partners, and financial controls.
- Proven ability to develop concise executive communications, including portfolio dashboards, program status reports, investment recommendations, risk summaries, and decision materials.
- Strong ability to identify delivery risks, clarify accountability, resolve cross-functional issues, and drive timely decisions across senior stakeholder groups.
- Experience with project and portfolio management methodologies, including Agile, Waterfall, hybrid delivery models, and ITIL-aligned service-management principles.
- Experience with enterprise portfolio-management, project-management, and collaboration tools such as Planview, Jira, Smartsheet, Asana, Microsoft Project, or equivalent strategic portfolio management platforms.
- Exceptional communication, influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to engage effectively with executives, technical teams, and business leaders.
- Strong analytical and financial acumen, with the ability to connect technology investments to business value, risk reduction, operational efficiency, and strategic outcomes.
- Ability to participate in critical program governance, escalation management, and incident leadership as required.
Preferred qualifications:
- 15+ years of progressive experience in enterprise IT, technology transformation, consulting, or program leadership, including 7+ years managing multi-functional delivery organizations.
- Experience leading PMO functions in a defense technology, aerospace, manufacturing, regulated, security-sensitive, or high-compliance environment.
- Experience governing Oracle Fusion, Workday, Salesforce Agentforce, or similarly complex enterprise application and ERP transformation programs.
- Experience managing cloud modernization, cybersecurity transformation, identity, zero-trust, data-platform, AI, or enterprise automation initiatives.
- PMP, PgMP, PfMP, PMI-ACP, SAFe, Lean, Six Sigma, ITIL, or comparable professional certifications.
- Experience implementing strategic portfolio-management platforms and enterprise reporting capabilities.
- Strong background in organizational change management, operating-model design, process transformation, and adoption planning.
- Experience establishing outcome-based delivery metrics, including on-time delivery, budget performance, delivery predictability, realized benefits, resource utilization, customer satisfaction, and risk reduction.
- Experience applying automation, AI-enabled portfolio analytics, or data-driven reporting to improve PMO efficiency and decision quality.
#LF
Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
###
Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
Originally posted on