Senior Manager - Enterprise Project Management Office

Husch Blackwell • Milwaukee, WI

1d • $136,000 - $308,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Senior Manager - Enterprise Project Management Office is a critical leadership role responsible for building, scaling, and leading this function while serving as a senior project manager on the firm's most strategic initiatives. This hands-on position operates with strong executive sponsorship from firm leadership, establishes structure and standards, leads a growing team, delivers complex projects that align with the firm's highest-priority strategic objectives, and earns credibility across a sophisticated stakeholder environment. This role combines strategic PMO leadership with active project delivery and is ideal for a builder who thrives in a dual-capacity, matrixed environment: leading teams and doing the work. Essential functions include:

PMO Leadership & Team Development

Execute the roadmap for scaling the EPMO within the governance structure and
operating model established by the Transformation Office leadership, including operationalizing the EPMO's vision, execution framework, and standards.
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of project management professionals, fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Build and maintain a PM competency framework that defines capability levels, role-specific expectations, and career pathways within the EPMO.
Implement and maintain a PM deployment model that assigns project management resources to enterprise-scale and firm-wide strategic initiatives based on scope, complexity, and strategic priority.
Serve as the firm's primary authority on project management standards, tools, and methodologies, ensuring consistency and quality of PM practice across the enterprise.

Project Management Delivery

Serve as the lead project manager owning end-to-end project delivery on high-visibility, complex initiatives that are directly aligned with the firm's strategic plan objectives.
Work hand in hand with Business Analysts during project initiation and requirements phases, ensuring business needs are thoroughly understood and translated into actionable project plans.
Navigate complex, matrixed stakeholder environments with confidence, building trust and alignment across senior leadership, business units, and operational departments.
Model best-in-class project management practices, demonstrating the value of disciplined execution and setting the standard for the EPMO team.

Standardization & Process Excellence

Design, implement, and continuously improve standardized PMO methodologies, templates, playbooks, and workflows across all firm functions.
Administer the project intake process established by the Transformation Office, ensuring all submissions are evaluated against approved criteria and that intake packages are prepared for governance review, coordinating with the BA team as appropriate to ensure requirements are appropriately scoped before projects move into execution.
Administer change control protocols to track project progress, budget adherence, and prevent scope creep across all EPMO-supported initiatives.
Evaluate, select, and implement the EPMO's technology stack, including project tracking platforms, portfolio dashboards, and reporting tools, with a forward-looking perspective on AI-assisted project management capabilities.

Strategic Planning & Portfolio Management

Maintain a firm-wide view of the project portfolio, identifying interdependencies, resource conflicts, and risk areas before they become delivery problems.
Design and manage the firm's PM resource allocation model and own capacity planning across the EPMO, matching PM talent to enterprise initiatives based on scope, risk, and strategic priority, coordinating with Transformation Office leadership on cross-functional resource needs involving BA support.
Provide regular reporting and dashboards to give firm leadership real-time insights into portfolio status, schedule variance, budget variance, team capacity, and strategic alignment.
Conduct post-implementation reviews (PIRs) to drive continuous improvement and establish feedback loops for future initiatives.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

Build strong, trust-based relationships with key stakeholders to embed PMO practices across the firm.
Navigate partner culture with confidence and credibility, earning the respect of senior lawyers by demonstrating business acumen and delivering tangible results.
Act as a trusted advisor and thought partner to firm leadership on project execution, organizational change, and operational improvement initiatives.

Risk Management & Governance

Establish processes to identify and track project risks early, prioritizing risks and updating mitigation plans on a regular cadence.
Create clear escalation protocols for project issues, ensuring issues are surfaced to senior leadership appropriately and resolved without delay.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Project Management, Information Systems, or a related field required.
• PMP certification required or demonstrated equivalent mastery of project management methodology (PMI-ACP, PRINCE2, etc.).
• 8+ years of progressive project management experience, with at least 3 years in a PMO leadership or enterprise-level role.
• Demonstrated experience founding or standing up a PMO function, including establishing governance frameworks, operating models, PM standards, and a PM deployment model from the ground up.
• Experience designing and executing a PM resource deployment model for a portfolio of enterprise-scale initiatives.
• Track record of building PM competency frameworks and skills assessment models for project management teams.
• Proven ability to develop and implement firm-wide standards, frameworks, and governance processes in a matrixed environment.
• Experience managing, assessing, and developing project management staff at varying levels of seniority and capability.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with demonstrated ability to influence and build trust with senior legal or business leaders.
• Demonstrated experience building and managing a departmental or functional operating budget, including developing a business case for investment.
• Strong expertise across project management methodologies, including PMP, Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid approaches.
• High proficiency with project management tools and platforms such as Smartsheet, Monday.com, MS Project, Asana, or similar.
• Forward-thinking perspective on AI-assisted project management and the ability to evaluate and implement emerging EPMO technology capabilities.
• Highly strategic thinker with the ability to connect day-to-day project execution to firm-level priorities and communicate that connection to leadership.
• A skilled relationship builder who earns trust through credibility and results, not title or authority.
• Adaptable, resilient, and capable of managing complex, competing initiatives in a dynamic, high-expectation environment.
• Demonstrated openness to adopting new technologies, embracing innovative solutions, and leveraging automation to drive efficiency and continuous improvement.
• A builder's mindset energized by ambiguity, capable of creating structure where none exists, and equally comfortable setting vision and rolling up their sleeves.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in business administration or a related field preferred
• Change management certification (Prosci/ADKAR or equivalent) strongly preferred given the organizational scope of this role.
• Experience in a law firm or professional services environment strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with legal operations or law firm business functions (Finance, HR, IT, Marketing, etc.) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Execute the roadmap for scaling the EPMO within the governance structure and operating model established by the Transformation Office leadership, including operationalizing the EPMO's vision, execution framework, and standards.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of project management professionals, fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Build and maintain a PM competency framework that defines capability levels, role-specific expectations, and career pathways within the EPMO.
• Implement and maintain a PM deployment model that assigns project management resources to enterprise-scale and firm-wide strategic initiatives based on scope, complexity, and strategic priority.
• Serve as the firm's primary authority on project management standards, tools, and methodologies, ensuring consistency and quality of PM practice across the enterprise.
• Serve as the lead project manager owning end-to-end project delivery on high-visibility, complex initiatives that are directly aligned with the firm's strategic plan objectives.
• Work hand in hand with Business Analysts during project initiation and requirements phases, ensuring business needs are thoroughly understood and translated into actionable project plans.
• Navigate complex, matrixed stakeholder environments with confidence, building trust and alignment across senior leadership, business units, and operational departments.
• Model best-in-class project management practices, demonstrating the value of disciplined execution and setting the standard for the EPMO team.
• Design, implement, and continuously improve standardized PMO methodologies, templates, playbooks, and workflows across all firm functions.
• Administer the project intake process established by the Transformation Office, ensuring all submissions are evaluated against approved criteria and that intake packages are prepared for governance review, coordinating with the BA team as appropriate to ensure requirements are appropriately scoped before projects move into execution.
• Administer change control protocols to track project progress, budget adherence, and prevent scope creep across all EPMO-supported initiatives.
• Evaluate, select, and implement the EPMO's technology stack, including project tracking platforms, portfolio dashboards, and reporting tools, with a forward-looking perspective on AI-assisted project management capabilities.
• Maintain a firm-wide view of the project portfolio, identifying interdependencies, resource conflicts, and risk areas before they become delivery problems.
• Design and manage the firm's PM resource allocation model and own capacity planning across the EPMO, matching PM talent to enterprise initiatives based on scope, risk, and strategic priority, coordinating with Transformation Office leadership on cross-functional resource needs involving BA support.
• Provide regular reporting and dashboards to give firm leadership real-time insights into portfolio status, schedule variance, budget variance, team capacity, and strategic alignment.
• Conduct post-implementation reviews (PIRs) to drive continuous improvement and establish feedback loops for future initiatives.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships with key stakeholders to embed PMO practices across the firm.
• Navigate partner culture with confidence and credibility, earning the respect of senior lawyers by demonstrating business acumen and delivering tangible results.
• Act as a trusted advisor and thought partner to firm leadership on project execution, organizational change, and operational improvement initiatives.
• Establish processes to identify and track project risks early, prioritizing risks and updating mitigation plans on a regular cadence.
• Create clear escalation protocols for project issues, ensuring issues are surfaced to senior leadership appropriately and resolved without delay.

Benefits

• medical and dental coverage
• life insurance
• short-term and long-term disability insurance
• pre-tax flexible spending account for certain medical and dependent care expenses
• an employee assistance program
• Paid Time Off
• paid holidays
• participation in a retirement plan program after meeting eligibility requirements

What This Job Offers

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