Functional Project Manager Jobs in Park Ridge, IL

About Rewards Network 

For 41 years, Rewards Network has been helping restaurants grow revenue, increase traffic, and boost customer engagement through innovative financial, marketing services, and premier dining rewards programs. By offering unique card-linked offers, we introduce diners to fantastic restaurant experiences, leveraging advanced technology and data analytics to deliver value to restaurants, diners, and our strategic partners' loyalty programs. 

Our Culture  

At Rewards Network, you'll be part of a driven and diverse team that excels in collaboration, issue resolution, and taking ownership of both personal growth and the company's success. We take pride in partnering with the world's most powerful loyalty programs to drive full-price paying customers to local restaurants through marketing services and flexible funding options. Our engaging and rewarding environment is designed to help you gain your full potential. 

Job Overview

The Senior Project Manager at Rewards Network leads the planning, coordination, and delivery of complex cross-functional initiatives within the Product organization and across the broader business. This role is responsible for orchestrating project execution from intake through launch - managing scope, schedule, risk, dependencies, and stakeholder communication - to ensure large cross-functional programs land on time, on quality, and aligned with business objectives.

Working closely with Product, Engineering, Data, Partner Management, Marketing, and Operations teams, the Senior Project Manager brings rigor and structure to multi-team programs, removes blockers, and provides the visibility leadership needs to make informed trade-off decisions. This is an experienced individual contributor role for someone who thrives at the intersection of detailed execution discipline and cross-functional influence.

This is a hybrid position and requires in-office presence Tuesday through Thursday each week in Chicago.

• Lead end-to-end project management for complex, cross-functional initiatives spanning Product, Engineering, Data, Partner Management, and Operations.
• Define and maintain project plans, timelines, milestones, and dependency maps; drive accountability against committed dates and quality bars.
• Identify, track, and proactively mitigate risks and issues; escalate appropriately and recommend trade-offs when scope, schedule, or resources require rebalancing.
• Drive intake, prioritization, and capacity planning processes - working with Product leadership to ensure the right work is sequenced against available resources.
• Own program-level reporting and status communication for executive and stakeholder audiences; translate complex delivery details into clear, decision-ready summaries.
• Manage cross-team dependencies with internal partners and external integrations (e.g., loyalty program partners), ensuring alignment on requirements, timelines, and acceptance criteria.
• Continuously improve project management practices, tools, templates, and processes.
• Champion a culture of clear ownership, transparent communication, and continuous improvement across the Product organization.
  

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 5-8 years of project or program management experience delivering software/technology initiatives in a SaaS, B2B, B2C, or B2B2C environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading multiple concurrent cross-functional projects from inception to launch.
• Proven experience managing Agile delivery teams (Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid).
• Experience presenting project status to executive audiences.
  
• Strong project management fundamentals: scope definition, scheduling, dependency management, risk management, and change control.
• Excellent ability to translate ambiguous business goals into structured, actionable plans with clear milestones and accountability.
• Proven experience leading cross-functional teams (engineering, design, product, marketing, partner management, operations) without direct authority.
• Proficiency with project management and collaboration tools: JIRA, Confluence, Asana, Miro; comfort with reporting tools and dashboards (e.g., advanced JIRA, Tableau, or similar).
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to use data to inform planning, identify bottlenecks, and measure delivery health.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to tailor messaging from individual contributors up to executive leadership.
• Calm under pressure with strong stakeholder management, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to manage multiple complex, competing priorities in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.

Education, Certifications and Experience: Preferred

• PMP, CSM, PMI-ACP or equivalent project/program management certification.
• Experience in FinTech, MarTech, restaurant, dining, hospitality, or loyalty/rewards industries.
• Experience coordinating with external partners (e.g., loyalty programs, integration partners, vendors) on joint roadmaps and delivery commitments.
• Experience managing data, analytics, or AI/ML-driven product initiatives.

Comprehensive benefits package, which includes:

• This is a full-time, exempt position and the base compensation for this opening in Chicago is expected to be $115,000-$130,000 annualized, depending on level, candidate experience, skills, and other factors. This position will be eligible for an annual bonus program with a 10% bonus target for total at target of $126,500-$143,000.
• Competitive Paid Time Off and company holidays
• Generous dining reimbursement when you dine with our restaurant clients 
• 401(k) plan with a company match
• Two medical plan options- Standard PPO or High Deductible Health Plan (HSA with company match for HDHP participants)
• Partnership with Rx n Go, offering certain prescriptions for free
• Two dental plan options and a vision plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts and a pre-tax commuter benefit program
• Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Insurance Plans
• Short Term and Long Term disability 
• Company-paid life insurance and AD&D insurance, supplemental employee, spouse, and child life insurance 
• Employee Life Assistance Program
• Hybrid working space in our state of the art office downtown located by the Metra and Ogilvie train stations
• Catered lunches provided on Tuesday's in our Chicago office