Senior Healthcare IT Project Manager

Senior Healthcare IT Project Manager

Type: Long-term Contract Location: Columbia, SC 29210 Work Setting: Fully onsite for the initial 30–90 days; may transition to a hybrid schedule at the manager's discretion. Candidate Location Requirement: Candidates must currently reside in South Carolina or be willing to relocate to South Carolina prior to the start date at their own expense.

Position Overview: We are seeking an experienced Senior Healthcare IT Project Manager to lead operational management and project initiatives supporting complex, business-critical Medicaid and healthcare technology systems. This position will oversee teams responsible for system operations and production support while coordinating closely with vendors, technical teams, security, architecture, and business stakeholders. Key areas include MMIS operations, enrollment, claims and encounter processing, incident management, vendor performance, release management, and ongoing system enhancements. The ideal candidate brings a strong combination of healthcare IT project/program management and production systems operations experience, with prior Medicaid/MMIS experience highly preferred.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead operational management and support activities for MMIS, encounter processing, and related healthcare technology systems.
• Oversee teams supporting production operations, help desk activities, interfaces/EDI, stakeholder monitoring, and user acceptance testing.
• Manage vendors and monitor performance against established service-level agreements (SLAs).
• Lead incident and issue management, including documentation, tracking, escalation, and timely resolution of production issues.
• Coordinate internal and external escalations and ensure appropriate ownership and resolution.
• Oversee system implementation, enhancement, release, and change management activities.
• Coordinate release readiness, stakeholder communications, pre-implementation planning, and post-implementation monitoring.
• Identify operational risks and issues and drive appropriate mitigation and resolution.
• Develop process flows, desk aids, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and supporting documentation.
• Train and guide team members on operational processes, support procedures, and ticketing systems.
• Coordinate backlog grooming and maintenance and support compliance with appropriate change approval processes.
• Partner with cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, vendors, and other technical and business stakeholders. Monitor applicable security and compliance findings through resolution.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of project/program management experience managing system implementations or enhancements.
• 3+ years of experience managing system operations and/or administrative program functions within a healthcare environment.
• Experience leading complex healthcare IT systems, operational support, or technology initiatives.
• Experience with incident and issue management, including escalation and production support.
• Ability to provide on-call and after-hours incident management support when required.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional technical and business teams.
• Experience managing workloads, priorities, and team assignments.
• Strong understanding of the system development lifecycle (SDLC).
• Strong documentation and process management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with audiences ranging from frontline staff through executive leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in a technical, business, or healthcare field. 5+ years of equivalent business/systems analysis and/or computer systems development/modification experience may substitute for the degree.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience managing operations for Medicaid Enterprise Systems or MMIS.
• Knowledge of Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, claims, encounter processing, and MMIS concepts.
• Experience managing technology vendors and service-level agreements.
• Experience with ticketing systems.
• Experience developing Standard Operating Procedures for new system implementations.
• Experience preparing reports and delivering presentations to stakeholders and leadership.
• AWS Cloud certification(s).

Ideal Candidate: The ideal candidate is an experienced healthcare technology leader who can operate effectively across project management, systems operations, vendor management, production support, and incident management. You are comfortable leading teams in a fast-paced environment, managing business-critical healthcare systems, handling escalations, and coordinating across both technical and business stakeholders. Prior hands-on experience supporting Medicaid/MMIS operations would be especially valuable.

Additional Information: Position is based in Columbia, SC 29210. The position will be fully onsite for the initial 30–90 days. Following the initial onsite period, the position may transition to a hybrid schedule at the manager's discretion. Candidates must currently reside in South Carolina or relocate to South Carolina before starting the position at their own expense. The environment is fast-paced and may require work outside normal business hours to support releases, production incidents, and other operational needs. Pre-employment requirements include a criminal background check, drug screening, and confidentiality agreement.