Implementations Project Manager Jobs in Chicago, IL

What's this role all about?
The Implementation PMO Manager leads the team, processes, standards, and governance that support successful new customer or new business implementations. This role manages Implementation Project Managers while also owning the tools, templates, workflows, reporting, and controls used to deliver consistent, on-time, and high-quality implementations.
The Implementation PMO Manager serves as both a people leader and a process owner, helping implementation teams operate efficiently, manage risks, align stakeholders, and continuously improve the implementation experience.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership
• Manage, coach, and support a team of Implementation Project Managers.
• Assign implementation projects based on capacity, complexity, customer needs, and team skill sets.
• Provide guidance on project planning, stakeholder communication, escalation management, and issue resolution.
• Conduct regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and development planning for direct reports.
• Build team consistency around project management expectations, documentation, and customer readiness.
Implementation Process Ownership
• Own and maintain the standard implementation methodology from kickoff through launch or transition to steady state.
• Develop and improve implementation playbooks, project plans, checklists, templates, status reports, risk logs, and readiness criteria.
• Ensure consistent use of project governance, milestone tracking, escalation paths, and change control processes.
• Identify process gaps and implement improvements that reduce delays, rework, customer friction, and internal confusion.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to clarify handoffs, roles, responsibilities, and implementation dependencies.
Project Governance and Reporting
• Oversee the implementation portfolio and monitor project health, milestones, risks, and resource constraints.
• Provide Senior leadership teams with regular reporting on project status, capacity, risks, launch readiness, and key implementation metrics.
• Establish standards for project documentation and ensure implementation records are complete and accurate.
• Lead portfolio review meetings, risk reviews, and implementation readiness checkpoints.
• Escalate high-risk projects or blockers with clear recommendations and action plans.
Cross-Functional Coordination
• Partner with Sales, Account Management, Operations, Product, Technology, Training, Client Success, and other internal teams to support implementation success.
• Ensure customer expectations, scope, timelines, and operational requirements are clearly understood and translated into implementation plans.
• Facilitate alignment between internal stakeholders and customer-facing teams.
• Support issue resolution across departments when implementation risks or delays arise.
• Promote a smooth handoff from sales or contracting into implementation and from implementation into ongoing support.
Continuous Improvement
• Track implementation trends, recurring risks, bottlenecks, and lessons learned.
• Recommend and implement improvements to tools, processes, reporting, and team workflows.
• Support adoption of project management best practices across the implementation function.
• Create scalable processes that support growth, consistency, and customer satisfaction.
• Gather feedback from customers and internal stakeholders to improve the implementation experience.
Required Qualifications
• Experience managing implementations, onboarding, client delivery, operations, or project management functions.
• Prior people management or team leadership experience.
• Strong project management skills, including planning, risk management, dependency tracking, status reporting, and issue resolution.
• Experience developing or improving business processes, templates, workflows, or governance standards.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with project management, collaboration, and reporting tools.
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience managing customer-facing or new business implementation teams.
• Experience leading or supporting a PMO function.
• Familiarity with implementation methodologies, change management, process mapping, or operational readiness.
• Experience building dashboards, scorecards, capacity models, or portfolio reporting.
• PMP, CAPM, Six Sigma, Agile, Scrum, or related certification.
Success Measures
The Implementation PMO Manager may be measured by:
• On-time implementation delivery.
• Implementation quality and launch readiness.
• Project Manager capacity and workload balance.
• Reduction in implementation delays, escalations, or rework.
• Stakeholder satisfaction.
• Customer implementation experience.
• Adoption of standard processes, templates, and reporting.
• Accuracy and timeliness of implementation portfolio reporting.
• Team performance, development, and retention.
$108,905 - $140,677 a year
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.