Senior Project Manager - Cloud at thinkahead

The Senior Project Manager in the AI & Cloud Solutions (AIC) PMO team is responsible for end-to-end delivery of complex AI, data, application modernization, and cloud platform projects and programs for AHEAD’s clients. This role sits within the centralized AIC PMO and is accountable for project administration, schedule, scope, financial health, and stakeholder experience, partnering closely with Engagement Leads (ELs), Technical Leads (TLs), and global delivery teams.   The Sr. Project Manager is expected to operate with a consultative mindset, helping clients connect project activities to business, operational, and adoption outcomes—not only technical delivery. 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.