Assurance Strategic Program Senior Manager

BDO USA • Chicago, IL

1d

About The Position

The Assurance Strategic Program Senior Manager is responsible for leading and supporting the planning, governance, execution, adoption, and value realization of strategic transformation initiatives across BDO Assurance. This role works under the direction of Assurance leadership and serves as a leader within the Assurance Strategic Programs PMO, helping convert Assurance’s strategic priorities into integrated roadmaps, disciplined execution routines, measurable outcomes, and sustainable change.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Business, Finance, Management, Information Systems, or Project Management, required
• Eight (8) or more years of experience managing projects, programs, transformation initiatives, PMO activities or professional services work, required
• Experience operating at a senior project manager level with responsibility for guiding teams, influencing stakeholders, managing complex workstreams, and driving execution across multiple priorities, required
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives that require governance, stakeholder alignment, risk management, change adoption, executive reporting, and measurable business outcomes, required
• Experience developing and maintaining integrated project plans, roadmaps, milestone trackers, risk logs, issue logs, decision logs, change requests, decision logs, dashboards, meeting materials, and leadership-level updates, required
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, required
• Strong knowledge of program governance, project management, transformation office disciplines, stakeholder alignment, and change adoption
• Able to translate complex Assurance priorities into practical execution plans, milestones, decision points, dependencies, ownership models, and measurable outcomes
• Demonstrates senior project management judgment, independence, accountability, and ability to influence work across matrixed teams without direct authority
• Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to prepare polished, concise, decision-oriented materials for Assurance leadership and governance forums
• Strong facilitation skills, including the ability to lead planning sessions, workshops, stakeholder discussions, leadership meetings, and decision forums
• Able to analyze program information, identify trends, risks, interdependencies, adoption barriers, quality implications, and execution gaps, and recommend practical corrective actions
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, stakeholders, and workstreams while maintaining quality and accuracy
• Able to build trusted relationships with Assurance leaders, PMO resources, workstream owners, Professional Practice, Quality, Operations, Technology, Change Management, and market stakeholders
• Capable of guiding teams through change while maintaining execution discipline, stakeholder alignment, delivery quality, and focus on value realization

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with senior leaders or governance bodies to frame decisions, escalate risks, present recommendations, and drive follow-through, preferred
• Experience with operational excellence, professional experience, client experience, or practice transformation initiatives, preferred
• PMP, Prosci, Lean Six Sigma, Agile or equivalent project management, change management, or process improvement, preferred
• Experience with project, portfolio, reporting, collaboration, or data visualization tools such as Microsoft Planner, Smartsheet, Power BI tools, or similar platforms, preferred

Responsibilities

• Leads or manages assigned Assurance strategic programs, transformation initiatives, PMO or activities from planning through execution, adoption, and value realization
• Partners with Assurance leadership, program sponsors, steering committees, vertical leads or workstream owners, enabling functions to align objectives, priorities, governance expectations, roles, and decision rights
• Translates Assurance strategic priorities into integrated program structures, roadmaps, milestones, success measures, interdependencies, resource plans, and executive-ready updates
• Develops, maintains, and monitors detailed program and project plans, including workstream plans, milestone trackers, risk logs, issue logs, decision logs, change requests, dependency maps, readiness plans, and reporting dashboards
• Provides project management oversight of program and project execution, proactively identifying risks, issues, resource constraints, adoption barriers, quality impacts, and cross-workstream dependencies that may affect delivery or business outcomes
• Escalates material risks, issues, decisions, changes, and trade-offs to Assurance leadership or governance forums with clear options, recommendations, implications, and required actions
• Prepares leadership-ready materials, including steering committee updates, business cases, program summaries, dashboards, decision papers, implementation plans, recommendations, and communications for Assurance stakeholders
• Facilitates program meetings, leadership discussions, planning sessions, workshops, and decision forums, documenting outcomes and driving follow-through on commitments
• Supports Assurance transformation governance by reinforcing cadence, intake criteria, prioritization discipline, reporting standards, project control processes, and accountability routines
• Coordinates with Professional Practice, Quality, Operations, Technology, Learning, Change Management, Communications, and market or practice leaders to ensure initiatives are executable, appropriately controlled, and aligned to Assurance priorities
• Helps ensure transformation work supports Assurance priorities related to audit quality, professional experience, client experience, operational efficiency, strategic growth, risk management, and sustainable adoption
• Monitors program health, adoption readiness, milestone achievement, benefits realization, and value indicators, providing insight to leadership on progress, barriers, and corrective actions
• Promotes consistent use of Assurance project management tools, templates, reporting standards, governance routines, and leading practices
• Mentors and guides project managers, PMO resources, workstream coordinators, and team members supporting Assurance strategic initiatives
• Identifies opportunities to improve Assurance execution discipline, governance maturity, operational consistency, stakeholder communication, and project management capability across the practice
• Performs other duties and supports special projects as assigned
• Provides day-to-day direction, coaching, and guidance to project managers, project resources, or team members supporting Assurance strategic programs and transformation initiatives
• May supervise, review, and provide feedback on project work product, including plans, trackers, dashboards, leadership materials, communications, and governance documentation
• Supports workload management, prioritization, quality, consistency, and timely completion of deliverables across assigned initiatives
• Contributes to the professional development of team members by sharing project management, transformation, facilitation, stakeholder management, and Assurance delivery leading practices
• Acts as a senior leader and projects a professional, positive attitude toward Assurance leadership, team members, and internal stakeholders

Benefits

• Individual salaries that are offered to a candidate are determined after consideration of numerous factors including but not limited to the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and geography.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior