Innovation Project Manager Jobs in Kansas (NOW HIRING)

Position Overview:

The Sr. Project Manager is responsible for independently managing medium to large scale projects, multiple interconnected projects and highly technical projects. The Senior Project Manager provides coaching and guidance to less experienced project managers.This position performs the accountabilities detailed below and other duties as assigned.

The Senior Technical Project Manager is responsible for the endtoend delivery of complex, highly secure software and hardware solutions within regulated production environments, including creditcard manufacturing and personalization facilities.

This role requires a technically fluent project leader who can operate confidently at the intersection of software engineering, systems integration, infrastructure, security, and business operations. The successful candidate must be able to communicate effectively with Development Managers, Software Engineers, Systems Integrators, Integration Managers, and Operations teams-translating technical complexity into executable plans while anticipating risks and removing obstacles.

Beyond execution, this role demands a customerfacing, servantleader mindset. The Senior Technical Project Manager serves as a trusted delivery partner to customers, demonstrating strong ownership, accountability, and a continuousimprovement orientation, while ensuring projects are delivered on time, under budget, within scope, and to quality expectations.

Responsibilities:

• Create the work breakdown structure with the team using appropriate tools and techniques in order to develop the cost, schedule, resource, quality and procurement plans.

• Manage changes to project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques in order to keep the project plan accurate, updated and reflective of authorized project changes and facilitate customer acceptance.

• Obtain project plan approval from the customer in order to formalize the project management approach.

• Support the negotiation of contracts and coordinate preparation of proposals, plans, specifications and financial conditions of the project.

• Ensure a common understanding by setting expectations in accordance with the Project Plan, in order to align stakeholders and team members.

• Obtain project charter approval from the sponsor and customer (if required) in order to formalize authority, gain commitment and project acceptance.

• Implement approved actions and workarounds required to mitigate project risk events

• Measure project performance using appropriate tools and techniques in order to monitor the progress of the project, identify and quantify any variances, perform any required corrective actions and communicate to all stakeholders.

• Conduct analysis to determine the successful aspects of the project and opportunities for improvement

• Lead project debrief meeting with project team to determine what went well and what could have gone better

• Interface with Account Manager and/or Customer Contact to determine customer satisfaction with project

• Assess Project Management processes and tools and recommend improvements as needed

• Participate in the design, preparation and evolution of the Entrust project governance process

Technical Project Leadership & Delivery

• Own full project lifecycle execution (initiate, plan, execute, control, close) for highly technical, multidisciplinary projects involving software, infrastructure, security, and hardware.

• Act as the technical project authority, able to understand, question, and validate architectural designs, integration approaches, deployment strategies, and implementation plans.

• Effectively manage and coordinate work performed by Senior Systems Integrators, Development teams, Integration teams, and Operations stakeholders.

• Translate complex technical concepts and dependencies into clear project plans, milestones, risks, and tradeoffs for both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.

• Anticipate technical, operational, and environmental risks (security constraints, production downtime windows, infrastructure readiness, compliance) and proactively plan mitigations.

Scope, Schedule & Financial Control

• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, including work breakdown structures, schedules, resource plans, and cost forecasts.

• Actively identify, challenge, and control scope creep, budget creep, and schedule drift, ensuring changes are formally reviewed, documented, and approved.

• Track project performance using quantitative metrics (schedule variance, cost variance, risk exposure) and take corrective action as required.

• Ensure projects are delivered below or within budget without compromising quality or security requirements.

• Support contract execution, change orders, and commercial discussions in collaboration with account and sales teams.

Requirements Gathering & Documentation Excellence

• Lead structured requirementsgathering efforts involving technical, security, operational, and business stakeholders.

• Ensure all customer requirements, assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and acceptance criteria are clearly documented, traceable, and validated.

• Maintain meticulous project documentation, including project charters, plans, risk registers, change logs, decision logs, and customer communications.

• Ensure technical documentation handoff is complete and accurate for operations and support teams.

Customer Engagement & Servant Leadership

• Serve as the primary delivery point of contact for customers, modeling a customerserviceoriented, servantleader approach.

• Build strong, trustbased relationships by demonstrating empathy, accountability, transparency, and followthrough.

• Confidently facilitate difficult conversations related to scope changes, risks, delays, or tradeoffs, while maintaining constructive and solutionoriented dialogue.

• Balance customer advocacy with internal delivery realities to achieve sustainable outcomes for all parties.

CrossFunctional Collaboration & Influence

• Work closely with Development Managers, Engineering teams, Systems Integrators, Security teams, and Operations to resolve delivery challenges.

• Lead through influence rather than authority, aligning diverse stakeholders with competing priorities.

• Facilitate effective communication across teams with varying technical depth, ensuring clarity and shared understanding.

• Provide mentoring and informal guidance to lessexperienced project managers or delivery team members where appropriate.

Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Conduct structured project retrospectives to capture lessons learned, identify systemic issues, and recommend improvements.

• Actively contribute to the evolution of project management standards, tools, and governance processes.

• Identify opportunities to improve delivery efficiency, reduce defects, minimize rework, and enhance customer experience.

• Promote a mindset of operational excellence, quality, and continuous improvement as core delivery principles.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent practical experience.

• 7+ years of project management experience, with a strong focus on technical delivery projects internally and for external customers.

• Demonstrated success in effectively communicating at all levels of an organization

• Ability to lead through influence rather than direct authority.

• Ability to manage and work with a culturally diverse population

• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills

• Ability to anticipate roadblocks, diagnose problems and generate effective solutions

• Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%

• Must be able to lawfully work within the US and have unrestricted work authorization for US

• Demonstrated experience delivering softwarecentric and infrastructureheavy systems in secure or regulated environments.

• Proven ability to manage/coordinate senior technical resources (software engineers, systems integrators, architects).

• Strong understanding of:

  • Software development and deployment lifecycles

  • Systems integration concepts

  • Infrastructure, networking, and operating systems fundamentals

  • Securityconscious environments and change control

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills across technical and executive audiences.

• Demonstrated ability to anticipate issues, diagnose complex problems, and drive practical solutions.

• Comfortable working in highpressure, customerfacing environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Fluency in Spanish and/or Portuguese

• PMP certification

• Experience working on large scale project teams

• Experience in the card personalization industry

• Technical or engineering background with handson experience earlier in career (software engineering, systems engineering, integration, or support).

• Experience in card personalization, secure manufacturing, financial services, or government environments.

• PMP, PgMP, or equivalent certification.

• Experience managing projects involving PKI, HSMs, identity systems, or secure infrastructure.

• Familiarity with modern delivery tools (Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, Teams) and documentation standards.

• Track record of driving continuous improvement initiatives within delivery organizations.

Compensation Range:

In the US: The anticipated starting base pay for this position is: $104,773-$153,667 per year (in the primary posting location). Actual compensation will be determined based on geographic location, education, skills and experience. This position is also eligible for the company's discretionary annual incentive plan. In addition to your pay, Entrust offers eligible colleagues and their dependents comprehensive health and well-being programs which include medical, vision, dental, a generous 401(k) matching contribution, life and disability insurance, mental health coaching, virtual fitness programs, paid personal time off plus 12 paid holidays, parental leave and education reimbursement. Please speak with the recruiter for more details. Note: Benefit and Compensation programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program. Entrust has the right to end, suspend or amend any of its plans at any time in whole or in part. In Canada: The pay range for this position is $102,000 - $150,000 per year. This position is also eligible for the company's discretionary annual incentive plan. Actual compensation will be determined based on education, skills and experience. In addition to your pay, Entrust offers eligible colleagues and their dependents comprehensive benefits, vacation, paid time off and paid holidays. Please speak with the recruiter for more details. Note: Benefit and Compensation programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program. Entrust has the right to end, suspend or amend any of its plans at any time in whole or in part.

For US roles, or where applicable:

Entrust is an EEO/AA/Disabled/Veterans Employer

For Canadian roles, or where applicable:

Entrust values diversity and inclusion and we are committed to building a diverse workforce with wide perspectives and innovative ideas. We welcome applications from qualified individuals of all backgrounds, and w...