Director, Technical Project Management

ABOUT US

tms unites technology, marketing, and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world’s leading brands. With more than 1,400 employees across 28 countries, we offer an impressive range of solutions – from inspiration and innovation to category management and delivery.

Operating as a creative agency, a strategic consultancy, a sourcing business, and a technology provider, we engage with over 110 million customers every single day for our clients, including McDonald’s, T-Mobile, O2, Starbucks, and adidas.

Most importantly, we're a place where you can achieve great things, and be recognized as the best.

WHAT MATTERS THE MOST

Breakthrough, business-driving ideas come from extraordinary people with the freedom to be their most authentic selves at work. Authenticity and diversity are critical elements of our business. They can only be realized when we create access and equity for all. We foster a culture of inclusion and belonging and aspire to be ever-evolving.

tms is a place where brilliant people are better together. If you want your ideas to be heard and to contribute to a culture of inclusion and authenticity, bring us your voice! Visit us at tmsw.com.

WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE THIS ROLE

The Director, Technical Program Management will sit within our Corporate Technology team.

As a Director, Technical Program Management, you will manage strategic technology initiatives across Corporate Technology, partnering with business stakeholders, Corporate Technology leaders, project managers, and delivery teams to turn ideas into measurable outcomes. You'll drive complex, cross-functional programs from planning through implementation while establishing the standards, tools, and governance that enable consistent delivery across teams.

The programs you will lead span [ERP and finance systems], [HR and workplace platforms], [cloud and infrastructure modernization], [data and analytics], and [cybersecurity]. You will need enough technical depth to challenge architecture and integration decisions, pressure-test estimates and sequencing, and hold engineering and vendor teams to a credible plan. You will not be writing code, but you will be expected to understand the systems, the integration surface, and the trade-offs well enough to make the call.

Leading a team of four Project Managers and Resource Analysts, and accountable for a portfolio of approximately10-20 concurrent programs representing roughly 30M in annual technology spend, this role combines hands-on project and program execution with leadership visibility, giving you the opportunity to influence key decisions, guide project teams, improve delivery practices, and provide stakeholders and Corporate Technology leadership with a clear view of project health, risks, dependencies, and progress. If you thrive on solving complex problems, driving accountability, and bringing structure and clarity to large-scale technology initiatives, you'll make a significant impact in this role.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN YEAR ONE

In your first 90 days, you will have assessed the current portfolio, delivery practices, and reporting, and delivered a prioritized plan for where governance and execution need to improve.

By six months, a single trusted view of portfolio health is live and in use in executive forums — status, risk, dependency, and budget reporting that Corporate Technology leadership actually makes decisions from.

By twelve months, on-time and on-budget delivery has measurably improved across the portfolio, the Project Manager team is stronger and more capable, and program standards are consistently followed rather than nominally adopted.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE ORGANIZATION

Technical Program & Project Delivery

• Coordinate end-to-end delivery of complex Corporate Technology programs and projects from initiation through implementation, stabilization, and benefits realization.
• Partner with Corporate Technology leadership on demand intake, portfolio prioritization, and roadmap sequencing, balancing business priorities against delivery capacity and funding.
• Develop and maintain integrated project and program plans across multiple workstreams, ensuring alignment of scope, schedule, budget, resources, dependencies, and business objectives.
• Own program and project budgets — developing estimates, tracking forecast versus actual spend, managing capital and operating costs, and partnering with Finance on variance reporting and funding decisions.
• Partner with business stakeholders, architects, engineers, cybersecurity teams, infrastructure teams, and vendors to define requirements, evaluate solutions, and execute delivery strategies.
• Drive execution through all phases of the project lifecycle, including planning, design, development, testing, deployment, cutover, and transition to support.
• Coordinate and manage cross-functional technology teams to ensure timely resolution of risks, issues, dependencies, and resource constraints.
• Facilitate key project decision-making sessions and proactively escalate critical issues to leadership when appropriate.
• Ensure adherence to Corporate Technology standards, architecture principles, cybersecurity requirements, operational readiness processes, and governance controls.
• Manage third-party vendors and system integrators to ensure delivery commitments, timelines, quality expectations, and contractual obligations are met.
• Support vendor selection, statement-of-work development, and change-order review in partnership with Procurement and Legal, and manage vendor spend against approved budgets.

• Support change management, deployment planning, user adoption, and realization of expected business outcomes.
• Provide clear and transparent communication to stakeholders regarding project status, key decisions, risks, milestones, and delivery performance.

Program Standards & Enablement

• Establish and maintain program management standards, templates, tools, and governance practices to drive consistent execution across initiatives.
• Own the executive governance cadence — running steering committees and portfolio review forums, framing decisions and trade-offs for senior leadership, and driving follow-through on decisions made.
• Standardize project planning, status reporting, RAID management, executive dashboards, and program health metrics.
• Define, track, and report delivery KPIs — including on-time and on-budget performance, forecast accuracy, scope stability, and post-implementation benefits realization — and use the results to drive corrective action across the portfolio.
• Ensure Project Managers follow established delivery processes, reporting standards, and governance requirements.
• Drive adoption and effective use of program management tools, ensuring reporting accuracy and data integrity.
• Provide coaching, guidance, and best practices to improve delivery maturity and execution consistency across teams.
• Continuously enhance program methodologies, reporting capabilities, and automation opportunities to improve efficiency and visibility.

Resource Planning, Team Leadership & Development

• Manage, mentor, and develop a team of four Project Managers and Resource Analysts, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and delivery excellence.
• Oversee time-reporting processes to ensure effective staffing and delivery across programs.
• Review and leverage resource data and insights to support program planning, prioritization, and delivery decisions.
• Promote consistent resource management practices, reporting standards, and operational discipline across Corporate Technology.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO HAVE

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• 15+ years of experience leading complex technology projects and programs, including 5+ years directly managing project or program management staff.
• Proven experience delivering large-scale, cross-functional technology initiatives involving multiple stakeholders, teams, and vendors.
• Strong knowledge of project and program management methodologies, including Agile, Waterfall, and Hybrid delivery models.
• Experience developing integrated program plans and managing scope, schedule, budget, risks, issues, dependencies, and change requests.
• Experience coordinating application, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, and vendor workstreams to achieve program objectives.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence business leaders, Corporate Technology leaders, and delivery teams.
• Experience creating executive-level reporting, dashboards, program health metrics, and status communications.
• Experience owning multi-million-dollar technology program budgets, including forecasting, variance analysis, and partnering with Finance.
• Experience defining and reporting delivery KPIs such as on-time and on-budget performance, forecast accuracy, and benefits realization.
• Experience establishing and enforcing program management standards, governance practices, templates, tools, and reporting frameworks.
• Experience leading resource planning activities, including capacity management, utilization analysis, and time-tracking processes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, and mentor Project Managers, Resource Analysts, and program support resources.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
• Experience managing vendor relationships and holding implementation partners accountable for delivery commitments.

And we need you to have…  

• PMP, PgMP, Agile, Scrum, or related project management certification.
• Experience with ServiceNow, Jira, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Project, or similar delivery and reporting tools.
• Experience leading enterprise technology transformation, infrastructure, digital, cybersecurity, ERP, or SaaS initiatives.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide PMO build-out or delivery-transformation efforts.

Starting salary between $175,000-$210,000

TOTAL REWARDS

Our total rewards philosophy integrates programs for compensation, benefits, recognition, learning and development, corporate culture, corporate citizenship and work-life balance. While individual program components may differ by country, some things remain constant:

• Our commitment to rewarding results
• Opportunities to work with talented and driven individuals at every level of our company who respect each other, treat each other fairly and hold one another accountable for our customers’—and our company’s—success

There's more ...

• Generous medical, dental, vision and other great benefits
• Paid parental and medical leave programs
• 401(k) with a company match component and profit sharing
• 15 days of paid time off plus company holidays
• Onsite work model based in our Chicago office
• Tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment assistance
• Inclusive employee resource groups

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

RECRUITING AGENCIES

tms does not accept agency resumes submitted by third-party vendors unless a valid agreement has been signed and the tms Talent Acquisition Team has granted authorization for submissions for a specified position. Please do not submit or forward resumes to our site, tms employees, or any other company location. tms is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

#LI-AM1

#LI-hybrid