Deputy Executive Director-IT Portfolio Planning & Delivery Office

Salary range is $195k to $351k, with a midpoint of $273k. New hires typically receive between minimum and midpoint, however, we may go slightly higher based on experience, internal equity and market.

Sound Transit also offers a competitive benefits package with a wide range of offerings, including:

• Health Benefits: We offer two choices of medical plans, a dental plan, and a vision plan all at no cost for employee coverage; comprehensive benefits for employees and eligible dependents, including a spouse or domestic partner.
• Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Retirement Plans: 401a – 10% of employee contribution with a 12% match by Sound Transit; 457b – up to IRS maximum (employee only contribution).
• Paid Time Off: Employees accrue 25 days of paid time off annually with increases at four, eight and twelve years of service. Employees at the director level and up accrue additional days. We also observe 12 paid holidays and provide up to 2 paid floating holidays and up to 2 paid volunteer days per year.
• Parental Leave: 12 weeks of parental leave for new parents.
• Pet Insurance.
• ORCA Card: All full-time employees will receive an ORCA card at no cost.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Sound Transit will pay up to $5,000 annually for approved tuition expenses.
• Inclusive Reproductive Health Support Services.
• Compensation Practices: We offer competitive salaries based on market rates and internal equity. In addition to compensation and benefits, you’ll find that we provide work-life balance, opportunities for professional development and recognition from your colleagues.

GENERAL PURPOSE:

Reporting directly to the CIO, this role serves as a senior member of the IT leadership team and a strategic partner to executive leadership, integrating portfolio planning, business relationship management, investment governance, and delivery performance to drive transparency, accountability, prioritization, and value realization across the IT organization.

A core objective of this role is to strengthen the IT operating model by simplifying how IT plans, governs, and delivers services and initiatives, reducing complexity, improving decision velocity, and enabling consistent, repeatable, and efficient execution across the organization.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

The following duties are a representative summary of the primary duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific duties.

Enterprise Portfolio Leadership & Governance

• Lead enterprise governance for the all-up IT portfolio, including intake, prioritization, sequencing, execution oversight, and performance management across projects and services.
• Establish portfolio standards and simplified decision frameworks that reduce complexity and improve speed of decision-making.
• Advise the CIO and executive leadership on enterprise tradeoffs, investment decisions, organizational capacity, and risk across discretionary and operational IT work.

Business Relationship Management & Strategic Partnership

• Partner with business stakeholders, enterprise architects, and service owners to shape demand, clarify expected outcomes, and ensure solutions are aligned with agency priorities, architectural direction, and the effective delivery and ongoing support of services.
• Establish, lead, and mature a formal Business Relationship Management function as a core IT leadership capability that strengthens alignment between IT and business units and improves strategic demand management.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executives and business leaders, ensuring shared ownership of outcomes, priorities, and value realization.
• Examples of BRM Impact: Improved prioritization quality; reduced project churn; proactive demand planning; balanced investment decisions; increased value realization.

Strategic Alignment & Executive Advisory

• Serve as a senior advisor to the CIO and broader leadership team, ensuring alignment between agency strategy, IT investments, organizational capacity, and delivery outcomes across projects and services.
• Facilitate executive alignment on portfolio priorities, tradeoffs, funding decisions, and delivery commitments.
• Simplify complex decisions into clear, actionable recommendations.

Investment Planning & Roadmap Integration

• Oversee development of integrated multi-year roadmaps spanning project delivery and service lifecycle planning.
• Lead scenario planning and option analysis across the full portfolio.
• Rationalize and streamline investments to reduce overlap and complexity.

Delivery Performance & Enterprise Transparency

• Accountable for portfolio performance across projects and services, including schedule, cost, service levels, risk, and outcomes.
• Provide clear, integrated portfolio reporting to support executive decisions.
• Oversee escalation and recovery for at-risk initiatives and services.

Resource & Capacity Strategy

• Lead enterprise-level capacity and resource planning across the full IT workload.
• Simplify capacity planning approaches.
• Ensure commitments align with realistic capacity and sustainability.

Portfolio Planning & Delivery Office Leadership

• Lead and develop a high-performing Portfolio Planning & Delivery Office, including portfolio management, program delivery, business relationship management, and analytics
• Functions, with responsibility for organizational capability, talent development, and leadership of managers and senior individual contributors.
• Drive standardization and simplification of methods, tools, and delivery practices.
• Establish a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Key Outcomes / Success Measures

• Alignment of all IT work with agency strategy.
• Improved delivery predictability and service performance.
• Streamlined and simplified portfolio processes and visibility.
• Optimized resource utilization across total demand.
• Increased business satisfaction and value realization.
• Champions and models Sound Transit's core values and demonstrates values-based behaviors in everyday interactions across the agency.
• Contributes to a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion in alignment with Sound Transit’s Equity & Inclusion Policy.
• It is the responsibility of all employees to follow the Agency safety rules, regulations, and procedures pertaining to their assigned duties and responsibilities, which could include systems, operations, and/or other employees.
• It is the responsibility of all employees to integrate sustainability into everyday business practices.
• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in IT, Business, or related field. Ten years of progressive IT leadership experience, including responsibility for enterprise portfolio, program, product, service, or operational leadership in a complex organization; Or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Eight years of leadership, budgetary, planning and workforce management experience.

Preferred Licenses or Certifications:

• PfMP
• PMP
• ITIL
• Prosci
• Agile

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• Extensive knowledge of enterprise IT portfolio management, governance, prioritization, and delivery oversight across projects, products, and operational services.
• Strong skill in strategic planning, investment analysis, and roadmap development to align IT work with agency priorities, organizational capacity, and business outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead executive-level decision-making by translating complex portfolios, delivery constraints, and risks into clear recommendations and actionable options.
• Strength in developing trusted partnerships with executives, stakeholders, service owners, and technical team members through applying business relationship management best practices
• Strong understanding of demand and capacity planning, including balancing discretionary and operational work to support sustainable delivery commitments.
• Demonstrated strength in measuring performance results, portfolio analysis and reporting, and risk escalation processes to improve transparency, accountability, and delivery predictability across the IT organization.
• Proven people leadership skills, including recruiting, developing and nurturing high-performing teams, and results-based performance management.

Physical Demands / Work Environment:

• Work is performed in a hybrid environment with an expectation of working in office a minimum of 3 days per week.
• The Agency promotes a safe and healthy work environment and provides appropriate safety and equipment training for all personnel as required.

Sound Transit is an equal employment opportunity employer. No person is unlawfully excluded from employment action based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status or other protected class.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities


This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.
For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.