Principal IT Project Manager

Principal Project Manager

The Principal Project Manager is the senior-most individual contributor in U.S. Venture's project management practice. This role leads the organization's most strategic, complex, and visible initiatives while serving as a thought leader and informal practice authority for the broader project management team. This is a builder role. U.S. Venture is establishing a Project Management Center of Excellence — beginning within IT and intended to scale into an enterprise-wide capability — and the Principal Project Manager will play a central role in shaping the standards, methodologies, and disciplines that define how project work is delivered across the organization. The role drives outcomes through expertise, influence, mentorship, and example rather than through formal supervisory authority.

The Principal Project Manager role is a senior individual contributor position with significant strategic visibility. As U.S. Venture's Project Management Center of Excellence matures and grows into an enterprise capability, the organization anticipates establishing a formal people-leadership role to lead the practice. The Principal Project Manager will have meaningful opportunity to develop the experience, relationships, and demonstrated impact that would position them as a competitive candidate for that future role. Selection for any future leadership position will be based on demonstrated performance, organizational readiness, and a competitive selection process at the time the role is established.

This position is based at U.S. Venture's corporate headquarters in the Appleton, Wisconsin. The role follows U.S. Venture's hybrid work model with regular on-site presence expected for team collaboration, executive engagement, and key stakeholder interactions (currently on-site Monday - Thursday). Occasional travel to subsidiary and field locations may be required.

Job Responsibilities

Strategic Project Delivery

• Lead end-to-end delivery of the organization's most complex, high-visibility, and strategically important initiatives, applying the right methodology — Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid — to fit each engagement.
• Own project planning, execution, financial management, risk management, and stakeholder communication for assigned initiatives, with accountability for on-time, on-budget, on-quality outcomes.
• Serve as the delivery lead on enterprise-level programs that span multiple workstreams, vendors, divisions, or business functions.
• Prepare and deliver executive-level reporting, including status briefings, decision memos, and steering committee materials for the CIO and other senior stakeholders.

Practice Development and Standards

• Lead the design and continuous improvement of project management standards, templates, methodologies, and tooling for the Center of Excellence.
• Define and document the intake, prioritization, stage-gate, and governance processes that will scale from IT into the broader enterprise.
• Establish portfolio reporting standards, project health metrics, and benefits realization frameworks that provide executive leadership with consistent, transparent visibility into project performance.
• Partner with IT leadership to define the future-state operating model for the Center of Excellence, including the introduction of business analysis as a formal discipline.
• Evaluate and recommend project portfolio management (PPM) tooling, integration with FreshService and other enterprise platforms, and the broader technology stack that supports the practice.

Influence, Mentorship, and Team Enablement

• Serve as the senior technical authority and practice leader for the project management team, providing coaching, peer review, and escalation support to fellow Project Managers without holding formal supervisory authority.
• Mentor Project Managers across all experience levels, sharing methodology guidance, lessons learned, and best practices that elevate the team's overall delivery capability.
• Lead community-of-practice activities, including standards reviews, lessons-learned retrospectives, methodology training, and capability-building sessions.
• Model the behaviors, disciplines, and professional standards expected of a high-performing project delivery organization.

Stakeholder Engagement and Executive Communication

• Build trusted advisory relationships with project sponsors, executive stakeholders, and business leaders across IT and the broader enterprise.
• Translate strategic priorities into executable project plans, and translate project realities into clear, decision-ready communications for senior leadership.
• Represent the Center of Excellence in cross-functional and enterprise-level forums, positioning the practice as a strategic capability rather than an administrative function.
• Partner with vendors, consultants, and managed service providers to ensure aligned delivery, clear accountability, and disciplined execution on initiatives that involve external partners.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation

• Identify opportunities to improve project delivery efficiency, reduce cycle times, and increase the value delivered by enterprise initiatives.
• Stay current with project management trends, methodologies, and tooling, and bring forward recommendations that strengthen the practice.
• Contribute to the development of business cases for the future expansion of the Center of Excellence beyond IT into an enterprise-wide capability.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related discipline; equivalent experience considered.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive project management experience, including extensive delivery of complex, cross-functional, enterprise-scale initiatives.
• Active PMP certification, or equivalent demonstrated mastery of project management discipline.
• Demonstrated experience as a recognized senior practitioner — examples include serving as a Principal/Lead/Senior PM, leading PMO standards work, or serving as the practice authority within a project delivery organization.
• Experience applying multiple project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, hybrid) and matching the right approach to the work at hand.
• Strong financial acumen, including business case development, project budget management, vendor management, and benefits realization.
• Executive presence with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels, from individual contributors to C-suite stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence — coaching peers, establishing standards, and driving adoption without relying on formal authority.

Preferred

• Master's degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Additional certifications such as PMI-ACP, CBAP, CSM, SAFe (any level), or ITIL Foundation.
• Experience in a multi-divisional or holding company environment, with exposure to manufacturing, distribution, energy, or logistics industries.
• Experience implementing or operating PPM tooling (e.g., FreshService, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Planview, ServiceNow SPM, or comparable platforms).
• Background that includes business analysis, organizational change management, or process improvement (Lean, Six Sigma).
• Experience leading or supporting M&A integration projects or post-acquisition systems integration work.