Associate Director Program Management Jobs in Texas

Job Description Director, Technology Program Management Hybrid (2/3 days a week) / Dallas, TX Perm Role Our client is building the AI-native engineering organization of the future, one where small, durable teams direct AI to deliver software faster and more reliably than traditional models allow. This role sits inside that effort from day one: working with the latest in agentic AI development, helping shape the practices and platforms the next generation of technology delivery will be built on, and contributing directly to a capability that compounds in value with every project completed. The Director, Technology Program Management, owns the operating system of how our client's technology delivers.

This leader is accountable for the end-to-end integrity of the technology project portfolio - from the moment a business request enters the queue through governance approvals, delivery tracking, and the post-completion review process that makes each successive project faster and better governed. This is a senior individual contributor and team leadership role that sits at the intersection of technology delivery, financial governance, and executive reporting. The Director establishes and enforces how programs are initiated, tracked, and closed; ensures the portfolio reflects the organization's strategic priorities; and serves as the primary interface between the Technology organization and its governance and investment-review bodies.

In a Technology organization actively building AI-native delivery capabilities, this role is also responsible for ensuring that the PMO's own tooling and practices evolve alongside the delivery model - adopting automation, dashboards, and AI-assisted reporting where they reduce overhead and increase signal. Responsibilities: PORTFOLIO GOVERNANCE & DELIVERY LIFECYCLE Own the end-to-end project delivery lifecycle - from initial business request through final delivery and post-project review, ensuring every initiative moves through defined governance stages with appropriate rigor and on-time gate approvals. Manage the project escalation and investment-review process - applying consistent, structured criteria to determine which projects require senior leadership or committee-level review, routing high-complexity or high-investment initiatives appropriately and ensuring escalation logic is applied uniformly across the portfolio.

Maintain the Technology portfolio view - ensuring that active projects, pending requests, on-hold work, and recently completed initiatives are accurately reflected in PMO tooling at all times. Own the delivery governance framework - as a living standard; lead the change process for any updates, coordinate cross-functional sign-off before new policies take effect, and maintain version control and documentation of all changes. Ensure delivery artifact completeness - project charters, cost-benefit analyses, feasibility assessments, technical design approvals, status trackers, operational runbooks, and post-project retrospectives - at every governance gate, for every project.

EXECUTIVE REPORTING & STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION Produce the Technology portfolio dashboard - for the SVP and Technology Leadership on a regular cadence that gives decision-makers current, accurate signal on delivery health, risk, and capacity - without requiring them to chase it down themselves. Lead governance committee preparation - assembling materials, pre-reading, and recommended decisions for portfolio investment and governance reviews so meetings drive outcomes rather than recite status. Escalate risks and issues proactively - surfacing schedule, scope, budget, and dependency risks to the SVP and relevant Technology leaders before they become incidents.

Translate delivery reality into executive language - converting engineering-level status into clear health ratings, financial variances, and business impact statements suitable for senior leadership and board-level consumption. PRIORITIZATION & INTAKE Run the intake and triage process - from initial project request through prioritization decision, ensuring requests are complete, consistently scored, and sequenced against portfolio capacity before work begins. Own the prioritization framework - applying a structured scoring model that weighs urgency, strategic alignment, business benefit, and total cost of ownership - and challenging scores that do not reflect business reality.

Maintain the demand pipeline - working with Technology leaders and business sponsors to keep the incoming request queue current and actionable. Support business case and charter quality - partnering with Finance and business sponsors to ensure cost-benefit analyses and project charters are accurate, internally consistent, and audit-ready before governance review. FINANCIAL TRACKING & AUDIT READINESS Track portfolio financials - monitoring spends against approved budgets and business case targets, flagging variances, and producing the financial reconciliation required at project close.

Maintain audit-ready governance evidence - ensuring that the portfolio record - approvals, gate signoffs, scope change documentation, and financial actuals - meets the control and separation-of-duties standards required for SOX compliance and external audit. Maintain the scope change process - ensuring that any change to approved scope, budget, or timeline is documented, approved through the appropriate channel, and reflected in the portfolio view. TEAM LEADERSHIP & PMO CAPABILITY Lead and develop the PMO team - setting clear expectations, managing performance, and building a team that delivery teams trust as a genuine partner rather than a compliance checkpoint.

Evolve PMO tooling and practices - continuously improving how the PMO tracks, reports, and governs - including adopting AI-assisted reporting and workflow automation where they reduce administrative overhead and sharpen the quality of insight. Build delivery governance capability across the organization - partnering with program and engineering leaders to raise portfolio governance literacy so requirements are met consistently, not just when auditors are watching. Maintain the lessons-learned corpus - ensuring that post-project retrospectives are reviewed, cross-referenced for patterns, and fed back into process improvements across the delivery lifecycle.

Required Qualifications: 10+ years in technology program or portfolio management, with at least 3 years leading a PMO or program management function in a technology organization. Deep command of stage-gated delivery governance models and the discipline to hold a large, active portfolio to them consistently. Demonstrated ability to produce executive-grade portfolio reporting that drives decisions rather than documents activity.

Strong financial acumen - able to read and challenge a business case, track spend against it, and explain variances with context. Experience operating in a regulated, audit-intensive, or pre-IPO environment where governance evidence and separation-of-duties controls matter. Proven ability to lead and develop a team of program managers and project coordinators.

Exceptional stakeholder management skills across engineering, finance, and executive audiences. Bachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent experience. Preferred Qualifications: Experience in technology organizations undergoing AI-native delivery transformation or a significant shift in operating model.

Familiarity with agentic AI development tooling and the governance considerations that come with AI-generated code and artifacts. PMP, PgMP, or equivalent certification - useful context for the rigor expected, not a substitute for judgment. Experience at a company preparing for or operating as a public company under SOX compliance obligations.

Background in collision repair, fleet management, insurance, or multi-site field operations at scale. Core Competencies: Portfolio clarity - maintains a single source of truth for delivery status that every stakeholder trusts and keeps it current without heroics. Governance without bureaucracy - applies the right level of rigor to the right initiative - protects critical controls without slowing down work that doesn't need them.

Executive communication - translates complex delivery and financial data into clear, decision-ready insight for Technology and business leadership. Proactive risk management - surfaces problems while they are still options, not after they have become incidents. Continuous improvement instinct - treats every completed project as an opportunity to make the next one faster, cheaper, and better governed.