Senior Manager, Program Delivery

Transamerica • Cedar Rapids, IA

3d • $148,800 - $186,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As a Senior Manager, IT Program Delivery, you will lead delivery across a dynamic technology portfolio, enabling alignment, governance, transparency, and operational efficiency while ensuring complex programs and projects run smoothly and in line with organizational priorities. This role is responsible for orchestrating execution across both run and change work, maintaining a structured view of the portfolio, and providing clear business-relevant insights to stakeholders and leadership. In the WFG portfolio, this role also has an important responsibility to help oversee ART execution within a SAFe operating model. This leader will partner closely with the RTE, Product, Architecture, business leaders, and delivery teams to improve alignment, dependency management, decision-making, transparency, and execution momentum across the ART. Success in this role requires strong influence without authority, along with proven experience balancing agile coordination with traditional program management discipline.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in technology program and portfolio delivery management, with a proven track record of leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong experience overseeing traditional program/project delivery, including program plans, milestone management, governance, risk and issue management, financials, and executive reporting.
• Meaningful experience operating in agile / SAFe environments at a portfolio, ART, or multi-team level, with the ability to improve coordination and execution across teams.
• Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to adapt to diverse stakeholders, manage conflict, and proactively resolve issues.
• Demonstrated leadership capabilities including relationship building, negotiation, influence, and facilitation across business and technical teams.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization, including C-level executives.
• Experience delivering initiatives using both waterfall and agile methodologies.
• Deep understanding of governance frameworks, intake and prioritization processes, and delivery operations.
• Proficiency in financial planning, forecasting, and vendor coordination, including budget tracking and resource onboarding/offboarding.

Nice To Haves

• Experience serving in, partnering closely with, or leading alongside Release Train Engineer / ART-level agile delivery roles.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., PMP, PgMP, SAFe, ITIL).
• Experience working within Strategic Planning Office (SPO) or PMO environments.
• Familiarity with enterprise tools such as Jira and ServiceNow systems.
• Exposure to release management, IT operations, and support performance metrics.
• Experience supporting complex portfolios with significant cross-team interdependencies, governance needs, and executive visibility requirements.
• Background in managing global delivery portfolios and coordinating across distributed teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide delivery oversight of the technology portfolio, maintaining an accurate, structured view of initiatives, milestones, priorities, and delivery health.
• Ensure leaders have a trusted narrative of what is in flight, why it matters, where it is at risk, and what decisions are needed.
• Facilitate cross-functional planning and portfolio reviews to ensure realistic timelines, alignment to strategy, delivery readiness, and informed prioritization decisions.
• Drive intake and prioritization of new requests in partnership with business and technology stakeholders.
• Oversee execution of initiatives across the portfolio, proactively addressing ambiguity, obstacles, and misalignment that threaten delivery outcomes.
• Act as a senior delivery leader on key programs within the portfolio, bringing disciplined program management across scope, schedule, milestones, risks, financials, governance, and stakeholder communication.
• Partner with the Release Train Engineer and other ART participants to strengthen coordination across agile teams, improve execution visibility, and support effective planning and follow-through across the ART.
• Help ensure dependencies, sequencing, risks, and execution issues across agile teams are identified early, made visible, and actively managed to support better delivery predictability.
• Bring portfolio-level oversight and business/technology alignment to ART execution without creating redundant delivery layers, using influence, facilitation, and clear decision support to move work forward.
• Identify, track, and actively drive resolution of dependencies across programs, projects, agile teams, vendors, and stakeholders.
• Reduce friction across teams by surfacing cross-initiative impacts early and ensuring required decisions and escalations happen in time.
• Surface and manage portfolio-level risks and issues, escalating early with clear context, business impact, and recommended response options.
• Drive timely resolution of risks, issues, and dependencies while reinforcing disciplined governance and operational efficiency across teams.
• Provide accurate, business-relevant portfolio reporting, dashboards, and executive updates that reflect delivery reality and support informed decision-making.
• Translate technical and delivery updates into clear business language, highlighting progress, material risks, financial posture, dependencies, and tradeoffs.
• Oversee portfolio financials and resource utilization, including budget performance, forecasting, contractor capacity, and alignment of staffing to portfolio needs.
• Maintain strong financial discipline across the portfolio, ensuring leaders understand variances, funding needs, and capacity implications.
• Lead and support delivery roles including Program Managers, Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and Coordinators, ensuring effective staffing, clarity of expectations, and delivery support.
• Foster alignment and credibility across delivery teams through partnership, structure, and practical support rather than micromanagement.
• Drive continuous improvement in delivery operations, governance adherence, and use of tools and processes based on data, outcomes, and stakeholder feedback.
• Ensure adherence to portfolio governance standards and broader project framework / SDLC expectations, including disciplined milestone tracking, reporting hygiene, and compliance with required delivery processes.

Benefits

• Competitive Pay
• Bonus for Eligible Employees
• Pension Plan
• 401k Match
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Disability Insurance
• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Employee Discounts
• Career Training & Development Opportunities
• Paid Time Off starting at 160 hours annually for employees in their first year of service.
• Ten (10) paid holidays per year (typically mirroring the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) holidays).
• Be Well Company holistic wellness program, which includes Wellness Coaching and Reward Dollars
• Parental Leave – fifteen (15) days of paid parental leave per calendar year to eligible employees with at least one year of service at the time of birth, placement of an adopted child, or placement of a foster care child.
• Adoption Assistance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Back-Up Care Program
• PTO for Volunteer Hours
• Employee Matching Gifts Program
• Employee Resource Groups
• Inclusion and Diversity Programs
• Employee Recognition Program
• Referral Bonus Programs

What This Job Offers

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