Sr. IT Project Manager (Banking/Financial Services)

Senior Project Manager – IT / Technology

Location: Chicago, IL

Work Arrangement: Hybrid

6-12+ Month contract

75-100/hour

Position Overview

We are seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead complex technology initiatives in a regulated environment. This person will work closely with technical stakeholders, business partners, and leadership to drive projects from planning through delivery while maintaining clear communication, accountability, and status reporting.

The ideal candidate is a strong, hands-on IT Project Manager who is comfortable operating in a technical environment, managing competing priorities, and translating complex project details into clear updates for both technical and executive audiences.

Experience supporting a large-scale cloud upgrade or transformation , particularly with responsibility for the testing and validation workstream , is highly desirable.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery of complex IT and technology projects, ensuring projects remain on scope, schedule, and budget.
• Partner closely with engineering, infrastructure, cloud, application, security, QA/testing, and other technical stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, and action items.
• Utilize Jira to manage project work, track progress, identify blockers, and maintain accurate project visibility.
• Drive project meetings, stand-ups, working sessions, and stakeholder checkpoints.
• Provide clear, concise, and timely project status updates to technical teams, business stakeholders, and leadership.
• Identify risks and dependencies early and proactively drive resolution.
• Coordinate across multiple teams and workstreams to ensure successful delivery.
• Support testing planning, execution, defect management, and go-live readiness where applicable.
• Ensure appropriate project documentation, governance, and controls are maintained.
• Operate effectively within a regulated or highly controlled environment , following established processes and compliance requirements.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience managing complex IT/technology projects .
• Proven experience working with technical teams and stakeholders.
• Strong working knowledge of Jira and project tracking methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams, dependencies, risks, and competing priorities.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to provide effective status reporting to both technical and executive audiences.
• Strong organizational, problem-solving, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience working in a regulated, highly governed, or compliance-driven environment .
• Demonstrated track record of delivering projects successfully from initiation through completion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing or supporting a large-scale cloud migration, cloud upgrade, or cloud transformation .
• Experience leading or coordinating testing/UAT, defect management, and deployment readiness for a major technology initiative.
• Experience working across infrastructure, applications, cybersecurity, data, or cloud engineering teams.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum or hybrid project delivery methodologies.
• PMP, CSM, or similar certification is a plus.

What We're Looking For

We need a competent, delivery-focused Senior PM who can get into the details, work effectively with technical teams, keep Jira and project artifacts current, and confidently communicate where things stand. Someone coming from a regulated environment is strongly preferred.

A candidate with large-scale cloud upgrade experience and a strong testing focus would be an especially strong fit, but we are also open to a proven Senior IT Project Manager who has successfully delivered complex technical initiatives.