Director, Program Management Office (PMO)

Description

Commence is a rapidly scaling healthcare data and technology company serving federal, state, and commercial health markets. We support agencies including CMS, the VA, DHA (TRICARE), and the IRS across quality improvement, program integrity, medical documentation, independent dispute resolution, and large-scale data transformation. Our contract portfolio is growing quickly, and we are building the delivery infrastructure of a significantly larger organization. This role is central to that build.

Requirements

The Director of PMO leads program management as a discipline at Commence and reports to the Chief Operating Officer. This role stands up and leads the PMO as a matrixed shared service supporting Executive and Program Directors across the portfolio of federal and commercial programs, maintains the delivery methodology and the standards and artifacts PMs work from, coordinates the program health and status inputs that feed enterprise reporting, and develops the project management bench itself. This role coordinates closely with Project Controls, the Executive and Program Directors, and the technical delivery organization, and feeds program health inputs to Project Controls.

This is a builder's seat. The stage gates, delivery review cadences, and standardized PM artifacts exist today in partial or founder-built form. The incoming Director will inherit a working portfolio from the VP of Operations moving into a more focused delivery role, take responsibility quickly, run the PMO, and scale it to support a business that intends to sustain its current high growth trajectory.

PMO Leadership and Methodology

• Establish and run the PMO as a shared service: standards, templates, artifacts, tooling, and cadences used by every program in the portfolio.
• Maintain and continuously improve the delivery methodology, including the Program Director / Project Manager / Technical Delivery Manager operating model, stage gates, and delivery quality reviews, in coordination with the Program Directors and the technical delivery organization.
• Define assurance and improvement practices: root cause analysis on delivery misses, corrective action tracking, and lessons learned that change behavior.

Program Health and Reporting

• Run the delivery review cadence and safeguard the integrity of the PM-sourced data behind it: schedule, delivery risk, and issue status across the portfolio.
• Supply timely, accurate program health inputs (milestone status, estimates at completion, forecast drivers) to Project Controls on a defined cadence and in a defined format, developed in collaboration with the account's Program Director where one exists. Project Controls is responsible for the forecast and the enterprise program reporting leadership runs the business on; accuracy and timeliness of these inputs are non-negotiable.

Project Management Team

• Manage, develop, and deploy the shared project manager and project coordination bench across programs in a matrixed model. PMs execute within programs under Program Director direction; this role is responsible for their craft, growth, staffing assignments, and performance.
• Recruit and onboard PM talent ahead of portfolio growth, including surge needs on new contract awards.
• Coordinate with the Executive and Program Directors and the technical delivery organization in support of overall delivery. Project Managers and Technical Delivery Managers are peer delivery roles with distinct reporting lines: the PMO develops and staffs the Project Manager bench, while Technical Delivery Managers sit within the technical delivery organization. This role does not direct the Executive or Program Directors.

Operational Orchestration

• Coordinate approvals routing and workflow triage across delivery, ensuring items reach the right person without unnecessary bottlenecks.
• Absorb defined administrative and coordination burdens from Executive and Program Directors so they can concentrate on account growth and client relationships.
• Keep the program-health workspace and PM tooling (Jira or equivalent) current, ensuring the inputs Project Managers are responsible for flow in so status and reporting stay up to date.
• Coordinate with Contracts and Finance to keep contract one-sheets and invoicing on track, ensuring Project Managers stay on top of them and providing PMO inputs where needed. Project Managers are responsible for their invoicing, deliverable acceptance, and obligation tracking; this role keeps the process moving and unblocks it, it does not perform it.

Transition

• Execute a structured transition of PMO-scope responsibilities over approximately six months, taking responsibility early and drawing on the outgoing lead for context rather than day-to-day direction.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of program and project management experience, with at least 3 years leading a PMO or PM team in government contracting or tech-enabled services.
• Deep working knowledge of federal contract execution: FFP, T&M, and cost-type vehicles, EAC discipline, deliverable and CDRL management, and subcontractor coordination.
• Demonstrated experience standing up or significantly maturing PMO infrastructure in a growth-stage environment, ideally PE-backed, where process had to be built while the plane was flying.
• Hands-on fluency with modern work management platforms (Jira or equivalent).
• Proven ability to operate in a matrix: influencing without directing every reporting line, holding functional boundaries, and partnering with strong Program Directors and executives.
• PMP certification or equivalent demonstrated mastery.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Federal Public Trust

Preferred Qualifications

• Federal health domain experience (CMS, VA, DHA/TRICARE, DoD health).
• Experience supporting proposal and capture efforts with delivery data and past performance inputs.
• Familiarity with Deltek Costpoint or comparable government contracting ERP environments.
• Experience in organizations handling CUI, PII, or PHI under NIST 800-171, CMMC, and HIPAA regimes.

Scope Boundaries

Commence runs a deliberate operating model, and this role has clear edges. It is not accountable for program P&L; Program and Executive Directors carry program financial performance. It does not set pricing or commercial contract review; those sit with the growth organization. It does not produce the forecast or enterprise program reporting; Project Controls is responsible for those and consumes PMO inputs to build them. It does not direct the Executive or Program Directors; it coordinates with them and with the technical delivery organization in support of overall delivery. Within the PMO shop, this role sets how the work is done: artifacts, methods, and tooling are its to define, and the Director is expected to hold that line professionally with strong-willed stakeholders.

What Success Looks Like

• Within 90 days: PMO standards and the delivery review cadence are documented and running; PM-sourced program health inputs are flowing cleanly into Project Controls reporting on the standing cadence.
• Within 6 months: the transition is complete; PMs across the shared bench are staffed, managed, and developing under a consistent model; Project Controls receives clean, on-time inputs every cycle.
• Within 12 months: delivery misses surface early through the PMO rather than through escalation; the methodology has measurably reduced repeat issues; the function scales to new contract awards without executive intervention.

Work Environment/Physical Demands 

The work environment and physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This is a remote position. While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works in a home office or other remote environment and must have reliable high-speed internet access. Candidates must be able to sit, read, work on a computer, and view a computer screen for extended periods of time. Occasional travel may be required to support program reviews or client engagements.

Commence is an equal employment opportunity employer. All personnel processes are merit-based and applied without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, disability, national or ethnic origin, military and veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. 

Commence is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants, including individuals with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process due to a disability, please contact Human Resources at (757) 306-4920 or hr@commence.ai. Please note that unless you are requesting an accommodation, all applications must be submitted through our online application system.