Senior Program Manager - Integration Modernization || North Chicago, IL (Hybrid) || Local Preferred

DMS Vision•Chicago, TX

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Program Manager will lead a multi-year program for a large global healthcare client to migrate its enterprise integration platform from TIBCO to Microsoft Azure Integration Services. This is a leadership role rather than a hands-on technical position. The manager owns the end-to-end plan, governance, budget, and stakeholder relationships, while navigating competing priorities across business and IT teams. The role is based in North Chicago, Illinois, and requires working onsite at least four days per week. Chicagoland-based candidates are strongly preferred; relocation is not planned. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Success requires strong program leadership and relationship management. The program manager will align client and internal stakeholders, manage expectations and competing agendas, make transparent trade-offs, and communicate candidly with senior leadership. They will lead a blended onshore and offshore team and coordinate third parties, while overseeing migration testing, cutover, hypercare, and change management to minimize business disruption. The ideal candidate is a seasoned, proactive leader who remains composed under pressure, influences without formal authority, raises issues early, and adapts their approach to different people and situations. They are politically aware, fact-based in disagreements, firm about commitments and quality, and empathetic in coaching and sensitive conversations.

Requirements

15 or more years of experience in IT delivery.
At least 5 years leading large, multi-workstream programs.
Strong program management fundamentals, including planning, dependency management, RAID, budgeting, and governance.
Proven ability to manage senior stakeholders and handle conflict and competing agendas.
Experience leading distributed onshore and offshore teams.
Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.
Must be authorized to work in the United States.
Ability to work onsite in North Chicago, Illinois, at least four days per week.

Nice To Haves

Experience with large integration or middleware programs, such as TIBCO, MuleSoft, or Azure Integration Services.
Experience with legacy-to-cloud migration or platform decommissioning.
Background in life sciences, healthcare, or another regulated industry.
PMP, PgMP, or SAFe certification.

Responsibilities

Own the multi-year roadmap, including wave planning, migration, cutover, and TIBCO decommissioning.
Run program governance, including steering committees, RAID and decision logs, and executive status reporting.
Manage scope, budget, forecasts, resources, and vendor commitments.
Build trusted relationships with senior client leaders across IT, architecture, business, security, and compliance.
Navigate organizational politics and resolve conflicts and escalations among the customer, business, and delivery teams.
Lead a blended onshore and offshore team and coordinate third parties, including Microsoft, TIBCO, and application vendors.
Oversee testing, cutover, hypercare, and change management to avoid disrupting the business.
Engage internal leadership, delivery heads, architects, and offshore leads as partners; keep them informed, involved, and accountable.
Balance internal demands such as staffing, margins, timelines, and quality, and make trade-offs transparently.
Represent the program credibly to senior leadership, including when reporting unfavorable news.
Map formal and informal decision-making influence across client IT, business, and architecture groups.
Set and manage expectations, commit to achievable outcomes, reset expectations early when conditions change, and avoid surprises.
Remain neutral and fact-based when business and IT teams disagree, and broker workable compromises.
Protect the team from churn and noise while ensuring stakeholders feel heard.
Maintain scope, quality, commitments, and accountability; escalate decisively when needed.
Coach and motivate the team, recognize effort, and handle sensitive conversations with care.
Adapt communication and leadership style to different situations and people, turn tense moments into productive conversations, and rebuild trust after escalations.
Raise issues early, influence without formal authority, and build face-to-face trust by working onsite.