Senior Project Manager – Software Delivery (India-based Team)

Role Summary

We are seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead end-to-end delivery for software initiatives with a cross-functional team of developers and QA/testers in India. This role owns delivery planning, execution governance, risk management, stakeholder communication, and continuous improvement of delivery processes. The ideal candidate is hands-on with SDLC, has strong coaching and facilitation skills, and can drive predictable outcomes in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

Delivery Planning & Execution

• Own delivery from initiation through release: scope, schedule, milestones, dependencies, and outcomes.
• Create and maintain project plans, release plans, and execution roadmaps aligned with business priorities.
• Drive execution cadence (daily/weekly routines), remove blockers, and ensure on-time delivery with quality.

Risk, Issue, and Dependency Management

• Proactively identify risks, develop mitigation plans, and escalate appropriately with clear options.
• Track and manage issues and dependencies across engineering, QA, product, DevOps, and external partners.
• Maintain RAID logs (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) and ensure actions are owned and followed through.

Process, Governance, and Metrics

• Establish delivery governance: status reporting, milestone reviews, change control, and release readiness.
• Define and monitor delivery metrics (e.g., schedule variance, throughput, defect trends, release quality, predictability).
• Ensure teams follow agreed SDLC practices (requirements → design → build → test → deploy → support).

Team Leadership & Coaching

• Coach and mentor team members on delivery best practices, agile ceremonies, and collaboration habits.
• Facilitate effective ceremonies (planning, standups, reviews, retrospectives) and improve team performance.
• Foster accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement across engineering and testing.

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for delivery status and progress.
• Communicate clearly with stakeholders: timeline, scope tradeoffs, risks, and key decisions.
• Collaborate with Product/Business to refine requirements, manage priorities, and align expectations.

Required Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of experience in software project management / delivery management.
• Strong understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and quality/testing lifecycle.
• Proven experience managing cross-functional teams (developers + QA) and delivering releases predictably.
• Hands-on experience with planning, tracking, and reporting using tools like Jira/Azure DevOps, Confluence, MS Project/Smartsheet, etc.
• Strong risk management, problem-solving, and escalation judgment.
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and ability to work with global stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMI certification preferred (e.g., PMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP).
• Experience with Agile/Scrum or hybrid delivery models, and driving process improvements.
• Experience working with distributed teams and managing delivery across time zones.
• Background in engineering/QA, or experience managing complex technical programs and dependencies.

Key Skills / Competencies

• Delivery leadership, ownership mindset, and strong execution discipline.
• Stakeholder alignment and expectation management.
• Coaching, facilitation, conflict resolution.
• Metrics-driven planning and transparent reporting.
• Risk/issue management and dependency coordination.

Working Model / Location

• Works closely with India-based engineering and QA teams, collaborating with stakeholders across time zones as needed.
• Work location will be remote and travel once or twice as required by the Client.

Primary Tools