Technical Project Manager Contract Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Senior Technical Project Manager

Location: Rockville, MD
Work Model: Hybrid, minimum 2 to 3 days onsite per week

Client Environment: NIH
Position Type: Contract / Full-Time

Job Summary

We are seeking a Senior Technical Project Manager to lead software development, modernization, enhancement, and operations projects in a federal health IT environment. This position supports NIH/NIMH application delivery and requires a strong technical background, hands-on project leadership, and the ability to estimate software projects accurately.

The ideal candidate has experience managing Java-based enterprise application projects with Oracle Database, AWS, ServiceNow, and UI/UX components. The candidate must understand the full software development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, technical design, human-centered design, development, testing, deployment, release management, change management, and production support.

This role requires a delivery-focused leader who can work directly with federal stakeholders, product owners, architects, Java developers, Oracle DBAs, AWS engineers, ServiceNow teams, UI/UX designers, QA testers, DevOps engineers, security teams, and client leadership. The Senior Technical Project Manager will lead project planning, estimation, Agile delivery, schedule tracking, risk management, stakeholder reporting, release coordination, and post-release stabilization.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end technical project delivery for software development, modernization, enhancement, integration, and operations projects.
• Develop and manage project plans, schedules, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, assumptions, risks, issues, resource plans, and delivery timelines.
• Estimate project scope, level of effort, staffing needs, technical complexity, schedule impacts, and delivery risks for new projects, enhancements, defects, integrations, database work, UI/UX activities, testing, releases, and production support.
• Manage projects involving Java, J2EE, Spring, REST APIs, Oracle Database, SQL, PL/SQL, AWS cloud environments, ServiceNow workflows, and UI/UX design activities.
• Coordinate cross-functional work across developers, DBAs, architects, QA testers, DevOps engineers, UI/UX designers, business analysts, product owners, ServiceNow teams, and federal stakeholders.
• Facilitate Agile/Scrum ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, retrospectives, release planning, and PI planning when applicable.
• Track sprint progress, team capacity, velocity, burn-down charts, backlog health, delivery commitments, risks, issues, and dependencies.
• Support product owners and business analysts in backlog grooming, user story refinement, acceptance criteria definition, prioritization, dependency tracking, and sprint readiness.
• Translate business needs into clear technical delivery plans, sprint goals, milestones, release plans, and measurable outcomes.
• Facilitate technical discussions related to solution architecture, system design, data flows, API integrations, Oracle database impacts, AWS environments, security, accessibility, testing strategy, deployment readiness, and operational support.
• Manage SDLC activities, including requirements gathering, design reviews, development tracking, test planning, defect triage, code promotion, release readiness, production deployment, and stabilization.
• Coordinate ServiceNow incident, request, problem, and change management activities related to application delivery and production support.
• Lead release planning, deployment coordination, go/no-go discussions, rollback planning, user acceptance testing, defect resolution, change communications, and post-release support.
• Prepare project status reports, sprint metrics, executive briefings, dashboards, RAID logs, release plans, action item trackers, decision logs, and schedule forecasts.
• Identify, track, and resolve project risks, issues, blockers, dependencies, change requests, and resource constraints.
• Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders, including client leadership, federal users, product owners, architects, developers, testers, and operations teams.
• Support federal governance, compliance, security, privacy, accessibility, Section 508, and documentation requirements as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience as a Project Manager, Technical Project Manager, Scrum Master, Agile Delivery Lead, or Software Delivery Manager.
• Strong technical background with experience managing enterprise software development projects.
• Experience managing Java-based application development or modernization projects.
• Experience with Oracle Database projects, including SQL, PL/SQL, reporting, data interfaces, data migration, data validation, or database-driven applications.
• Experience managing projects involving AWS cloud environments, cloud-hosted applications, DevOps coordination, or cloud operations.
• Experience working with ServiceNow for incident management, change management, request workflows, service catalog, ticket tracking, or ITSM processes.
• Experience coordinating UI/UX activities, including human-centered design, wireframes, prototypes, usability reviews, user research, accessibility, and Section 508 considerations.
• Strong understanding of Agile, Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Waterfall, hybrid SDLC, DevSecOps, release management, and production support.
• Proven ability to estimate technical projects, enhancement requests, application changes, integrations, testing scope, deployment timelines, resource needs, and project costs.
• Experience coordinating developers, QA testers, business analysts, architects, DevOps engineers, DBAs, UI/UX designers, product owners, and client stakeholders.
• Experience using tools such as Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps, MS Project, Git, Jenkins, ServiceNow, Figma, Mural, or similar delivery and collaboration platforms.
• Strong knowledge of Agile metrics, sprint reporting, backlog tracking, risk management, issue management, dependency tracking, and delivery forecasting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain technical topics to business users and executive stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, deadlines, and stakeholder expectations simultaneously.
• Ability to work onsite in Rockville, MD a minimum of 2 to 3 days per week.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience supporting NIH, NIMH, HHS, or other federal health, science, research, grants, clinical, or administrative systems.
• Experience managing projects in a federal contracting environment.
• Experience with Java, J2EE, Spring, REST APIs, web applications, enterprise application development, and application modernization.
• Experience with AWS services, cloud migration, cloud operations, CI/CD pipelines, DevOps, or infrastructure coordination.
• Experience with Oracle Database, SQL, PL/SQL, data analysis, reporting, interfaces, and database modernization.
• Experience supporting ServiceNow-based ITSM, change management, incident management, problem management, and workflow automation.
• Experience with human-centered design, customer experience, usability testing, accessibility, Section 508, Figma, Mural, and UI/UX delivery coordination.
• Familiarity with FISMA, FedRAMP, ATO support, NIST controls, vulnerability remediation, privacy, cybersecurity, and federal compliance processes.
• Certifications such as PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, PSM, SAFe Scrum Master, SAFe Agilist, ITIL, AWS Cloud Practitioner, or related credentials.
• Experience managing hybrid, remote, offshore, or distributed technical teams.

Key Competencies

• Technical project leadership.
• Software project estimation.
• Agile team facilitation.
• Java application delivery coordination.
• Oracle database project coordination.
• AWS cloud project coordination.
• ServiceNow workflow and ITSM coordination.
• UI/UX and human-centered design coordination.
• SDLC and DevSecOps delivery management.
• Stakeholder communication.
• Risk, issue, and dependency management.
• Sprint planning and delivery tracking.
• Release and deployment management.
• Production support coordination.
• Decision-making and accountability.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a senior technical project leader who can manage complex software delivery in a federal environment. The candidate does not need to be a hands-on developer, but must understand technical delivery well enough to challenge estimates, identify risks, validate dependencies, coordinate technical teams, and communicate delivery impacts clearly.

The right candidate can work with Java developers, Oracle DBAs, AWS engineers, ServiceNow teams, UI/UX designers, QA testers, DevOps engineers, and federal stakeholders to move projects from concept through production deployment. The candidate must bring structure, accountability, technical judgment, estimation discipline, and strong stakeholder communication.