Technical PMO Lead, Federal Health IT Program

As the Technical PMO Lead, you will serve as Rios Partners’ senior on-program leader and the day-to-day counterpart to the prime contractor’s Program Manager, owning the PMO function across program governance, integrated scheduling, release planning, requirements management, deployment readiness, testing coordination, and cybersecurity coordination support. You will lead a multi-workstream team of schedulers, analysts, coordinators, and test personnel, and you will be the person in the room when architecture, integration, environment, and release-engineering decisions are made - able to follow the technical discussion, pressure-test engineering estimates, and translate what you hear into schedule, risk, and executive reporting. To excel in this role, you should be a senior program leader who pairs federal PMO discipline with genuine technical fluency in cloud, integration, and software delivery, and who can hold credibility with both Government clinical stakeholders and engineering teams. The Program is a federal telehealth modernization effort for which Rios Partners would serve as a subcontractor to the prime contractor, providing PMO support. This is a full-time position contingent upon anticipated contract award, supporting a program expected to run approximately 30 months (contingent on the prime contractor’s award of the contract and exercise of option periods). The Technical PMO Lead will:

• Lead day-to-day PMO operations for the Rios Partners team, including governance structures, operating rhythms, decision logs, action item management, status dashboards, and management controls.
• Serve as the primary interface to the prime contractor’s Program Manager and, as directed, to VA, VHA, and other Government-designated stakeholders, working groups, and integrated product teams.
• Own the integrated program reporting package - monthly progress reporting, integrated program management inputs, schedule status, risk and issue reporting, release status, deployment readiness status, and subcontractor coordination inputs.
• Direct and quality-control the team’s PMO products: CWBS and CWBS Dictionary inputs, IMS inputs, risk registers, issue and dependency logs, briefings, and executive-level status materials.
• Provide technical leadership in architecture, integration, interface, and release-engineering discussions - assessing proposed scope and sequencing changes and challenging estimates and assumptions constructively.
• Oversee release planning and deployment coordination, including release governance reviews, change control boards, technical working groups, readiness checkpoints, and go-live sequencing.
• Oversee requirements management and traceability across business capabilities, system specifications, test procedures, and deployed functionality, including support to IDR and FRR preparation.
• Coordinate GovCloud testing and evaluation support - CIT planning, test readiness, defect triage and severity classification, regression verification, and TRR entry criteria - in partnership with the test lead.
• Oversee cybersecurity coordination support, including POA&M tracking, IAVM message coordination, response deadlines, and evidence requests.
• Lead risk, issue, and dependency management across workstreams, escalating with clear mitigation options and decision-ready recommendations.
• Manage personnel clearance, credentialing, badging, onboarding, and access coordination for assigned staff, and report on access readiness constraints affecting staffing and deployment timelines.
• Supervise, coach, and allocate Rios Partners staff across workstreams; drive quality, utilization, and deliverable acceptance.
• Run hybrid Agile/waterfall delivery - sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives in Jira and Confluence - while maintaining traceability from sprint output to contractual milestones.

• 12+ years of program or project management experience, including at least 5 years leading a PMO, delivery team, or major workstream on a federal or enterprise technology program.
• Demonstrated experience as a senior lead or deputy program manager on a software, cloud, systems integration, or health IT program of comparable scale and complexity.
• Technical fluency sufficient to lead discussions on system architecture, integrations and interfaces, environments and test data, release and deployment engineering, and defect triage - and to challenge engineering estimates and assumptions constructively.
• Experience running hybrid Agile/waterfall delivery, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives, with hands-on use of Jira and Confluence.
• Proficiency with integrated scheduling and program controls, including IMS and CWBS structures and tooling such as Microsoft Project or Primavera P6.
• Experience owning federal program reporting and governance artifacts - monthly status reporting, risk and issue management, dependency tracking, decision logs, and executive dashboards.
• Experience managing and developing staff across multiple concurrent workstreams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief Government executives and translate technical detail into decision-ready recommendations.
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution required., * Experience supporting VA, VHA, or comparable federal healthcare IT programs, including familiarity with VA governance structures and stakeholder environments.
• Experience with telehealth, enterprise clinical platforms, or large-scale healthcare system deployments across geographically dispersed sites.
• Familiarity with GovCloud or FedRAMP-authorized environments, CIT and DT&E test governance, TRR entrance and exit criteria, and IV&V engagement.
• Familiarity with federal authorization and cybersecurity processes - ATO, FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, POA&M, and IAVM - and how compliance gates drive release sequencing.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and CI/CD pipeline governance in a federal development environment.
• Working knowledge of EVM concepts and federal deliverable management.
• Experience supporting IDR, FRR, and requirements traceability using a CRTM or equivalent.
• PMP certification, paired with an Agile credential such as CSM, PMI-ACP, or SAFe Agilist. A technical certification such as AWS or Azure cloud practitioner/architect is a plus.
• Master’s degree in a related field.

Additional Requirements

• U.S. work authorization required.
• Security Requirements: Ability to obtain and maintain a public trust clearance (i.e. must be US Citizen or Permanent Resident who has resided in the US for the past three years consecutively). Level 3 Public Trust may be required to support GovCloud activities.
• Must be willing to operate in a hybrid environment, including work in person at prime contractor and/or Government facilities as needed (final schedule determined by team and project) and at the Rios Partners office in Arlington, VA as needed.

At Rios Partners, we believe that when our team thrives, our company thrives. That’s why we’re proud to offer a comprehensive and best-in-class benefits package that reflects how much we value our people. Below is an overview of the benefits available to our employees: Profit-Sharing / Performance Bonus We believe in shared success. That’s why a portion of company profits is distributed to employees each year through our Profit-Sharing/Performance Bonus program. The total amount may vary based on market conditions, company performance, and individual contributions-but the goal remains the same: to reward the team for our collective achievements. Retirement Plan (401k) We help you plan for your future. Rios Partners contributes 3% of your base salary each month to a 401(k) retirement plan, regardless of whether you choose to contribute yourself. You may also make additional contributions. Our 401(k) plan is administered through Fidelity, a leader in retirement planning. Health Insurance (ICHRA) We offer flexibility and choice through an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA). With ICHRA, Rios Partners contributes tax-free dollars toward your health insurance premiums, allowing you to select the plan that fits your needs rather than being restricted to a one-size-fits-all group plan. Vision Insurance We offer vision coverage through MetLife to help you care for your eye health. The plan includes benefits for eye exams, glasses, contact lenses, and more. Dental Insurance Rios Partners will pay the first $25 of the premium. We offer Dental coverage through MetLife to help you care for Oral Health. Employees will have the option to choose from two plans depending on their needs. Disability Insurance Rios Partners provides both short-term and long-term disability insurance at no cost to you. This coverage, offered through MetLife, ensures that you’re protected in case of illness or injury that prevents you from working. Paid Time Off (PTO) and Holidays We value work-life balance. You’ll receive:

• 15 days of PTO annually, with additional days based on your tenure
• 12 paid holidays per year
• Additional paid time off for life events such as bereavement, jury duty, and voting

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Your well-being matters. Our EAP, provided through Health Advocate, offers confidential support for personal and professional challenges-including mental health counseling, substance abuse, parenting support, grief counseling, and more. Work/life resources and healthcare navigation assistance are also included. Training and Development Rios Partners is committed to helping you achieve your highest potential. Our personal view is that this is best accomplished through a combination of client engagements, opportunities to take on new roles within the team, and internal (team) / external (expert) training.

Rios Partners is a mission-driven consulting firm creating positive change by delivering value for our clients, investing in our employees, and solving tough problems that benefit our local and global communities. We ground our approach in empathy, enabling our team members to hear our customers’ challenges better and work together to develop effective solutions. As a team, we know what it takes to move organizations forward with measurable, sustainable results. Our primary consideration when evaluating candidates is alignment with our Mission and Values.