Senior Project Manager - Cloud

Key Responsibilities

1. Project Delivery & Governance

  • Plan and coordinate all aspects of AIC projects (strategy/assessments, architecture/design, implementation/execution, and transition to operations) from initiation through closure.

  • Ensure service delivery success, quality, and customer satisfaction through effective project and program management practices.

  • Lead project initiation activities, including confirmation of client objectives, success metrics, scope, assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and governance model.

  • Develop, maintain, and execute project plans, schedules, budgets, work breakdown structures, and RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) logs.

  • Own project administration in AHEAD’s tools (e.g., PSA), ensuring accurate project setup, resource plans, budgets, billing milestones, and status updates.

  • Apply change control and Project Change Request (PCR) processes for scope, schedule, and budget changes in collaboration with ELs, TLs, and Sales.
  • 2. Stakeholder & Client Management

  • Serve as a primary point of contact for assigned projects, driving clear and proactive communication with client stakeholders and internal leadership.

  • Facilitate status meetings, steering committees, and executive-level updates, providing transparent views of progress, risks, decisions, and financial health.

  • Align delivery with AIC and client standards (e.g., Agile, hybrid, or waterfall delivery), ensuring the ways-of-working are explicit and followed.

  • Partner with Engagement Leads and Client Directors to shape a top-notch client experience, including responsiveness, expectation management, and structured escalation handling.
  • 3. Coordination of Global & After-Hours Work

  • Oversee and coordinate after-hours and weekend change windows (e.g., production cutovers, platform migrations, major releases) in partnership with US-based PMs and TLs.

  • Act as the primary offshore liaison during change events when assigned, ensuring alignment with approved implementation plans, backout plans, and validation steps.

  • Maintain continuous communication channels across time zones (India ↔ U.S.) so that risks, blockers, and status are clearly handed off and tracked.

  • When no after-hours activities are scheduled, work aligned to India/U.S. overlap hours to independently lead small to medium AIC projects (e.g., cloud adoption pilots, data platform workstreams, application modernization sprints).
  • 4. Risk, Quality, and Financial Management

  • Identify, document, and manage project risks, issues, and dependencies, driving timely mitigation and escalation as needed.

  • Ensure appropriate quality gates are defined and met (e.g., design reviews, test readiness, go/no-go, post-implementation reviews).

  • Track and manage project budgets, burn rates, and margin, raising concerns early and partnering with ELs and practice leadership to protect both client value and profitability.

  • Support PSA data hygiene by maintaining accurate time entry expectations, project end dates, budget adjustments, and revenue alignment.
  • 5. Practice & PMO Enablement

  • Model and reinforce AIC PMO standards for project hygiene, governance, and reporting, including use of standard templates, dashboards, and inspection routines.

  • Contribute to practice development, including harvesting reusable artifacts (plans, RAID logs, status report templates, change playbooks) and improving delivery frameworks.

  • Provide coaching and mentoring to junior project managers, coordinators, and consultants who are performing PM tasks on AIC engagements.

  • Collaborate with Resource Management and Delivery leaders regarding resource planning and capacity management, helping to structure onshore/offshore staffing models that align to AIC scoping guidelines.
  • 6. Pre-Sales & Opportunity Support (As Needed)

  • Identify follow-on opportunities and work with client-facing teams to position next-phase work informed by project outcomes and client feedback.
  • Must Have Skills & Experience

  • 10–12+ years of progressive IT project management experience, including multi-phase engagements in at least one of the following areas:
    • Cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP) – migrations, modernization, landing zones, platform build-outs.

    • Data & AI – data platform implementations, analytics/BI, AI/ML initiatives.

    • Application modernization / DevOps – refactoring, re-platforming, or re-architecting workloads.

    • Demonstrated success leading medium to high complexity, multi-stakeholder projects with significant client visibility.

    • Strong working knowledge of project management standards and methods, including both Agile (Scrum/Kanban) and waterfall/hybrid approaches.

    • Experience coordinating work across global, distributed teams, including offsite/offshore resources and cross-practice contributors.

    • Proven ability to plan and manage after-hours or production change activities (e.g., cutovers, major releases, infrastructure or platform changes affecting production).

    • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including experience with:
      • Executive-ready status reports and presentations.

      • Facilitating workshops, working sessions, and steering meetings.

      • Proficiency with project management tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Microsoft Azure DevOps boards, Atlassian Jira, Salesforce, or similar tools).

      • Strong analysis, problem-solving, negotiation, and conflict management skills.

      • Demonstrated ability to:
        • Manage project budgets, forecasts, and financials.

        • Operate with a consultative mindset, connecting delivery activities to business and operational outcomes.
  • Nice to Have Skills

  • Background in consulting or a services organization with AIC-style project portfolios (cloud, data, AI, application/platform transformations).

  • Experience in one or more of the following:
    • Cloud migration programs, landing zone builds, or modernization roadmaps.

    • Data platform (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, Synapse, Redshift) or analytics initiatives.

    • DevOps / Continuous Integration (CI) – Continuous Delivery (CD) enablement or platform engineering initiatives.

    • Familiarity with AHEAD-style delivery artifacts (e.g., engagement plans, outcome roadmaps, prioritized backlogs, action plans).

    • PMP or Agile certifications (e.g., PMI-ACP, PSM, CSM, SAFe) are a plus.

    • Experience working within or alongside a centralized PMO in a global context.
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