What Does A Senior IT Project Manager Do?

WHAT DOES A SENIOR IT PROJECT MANAGER DO?

Updated: Nov 17, 2025 - The Senior Information Technology (IT) Project Manager develops detailed IT plans, schedules, estimates, and reports, interfaces with senior leaders, and drives process improvements. This role integrates strong technical and project leadership to align solutions with business objectives and guide junior analysts. The senior manager also performs advanced analysis, influences stakeholders through clear communication, and ensures strong risk management and compliance.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Senior IT Project Manager

1. Senior IT Project Manager Duties

Project Leadership: Manages very large, complex projects across multiple teams and stakeholders.
Status Reporting: Delivers project status and summary project information to all levels of the business including the executive level.
Dependency Analysis: Identifies interdependencies in projects across the department and guides project management processes and procedures.
Process Improvement: Derives and executes project management improvement efforts.
Feature Analysis: Participates in project definition activities including feature analysis and system tradeoffs.
Solution Design: Develops reliable solutions to complex problems that require the regular use of ingenuity and creativity.
Documentation Management: Develops and maintains all project documentation.
Team Motivation: Motivates and drives accountability of project teams and stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of projects.
Resource Coordination: Coordinates resources assigned to projects for which he/she is responsible without direct authority.

2. Senior IT Project Manager Details

Project Management: Independently manages assigned projects to ensure outcomes match agreed-upon customer expectations and outcomes.
Stakeholder Communication: Effectively communicates project information to stakeholders through agreed-upon channels and timelines.
Executive Communication: Communicates with multiple levels of the organization including Senior and Executive leaders.
Requirements Facilitation: Guides and facilitates stakeholders throughout the organization in establishing detailed requirements for complex projects.
Project Planning: Independently plans and organizes projects.
Scope Definition: Defines the scope and objectives of assigned project(s).
Timeline Planning: Determines time frame, funding limitations, and procedures for accomplishing the project.
Milestone Scheduling: Identifies and schedules project deliverables, milestones, and required tasks.

3. Senior IT Project Manager Responsibilities

Mentor Support: Serves as a mentor to more junior project managers.
Quality Planning: Establishes the project quality plan, including the application of Portfolio and Process Management Office testing standards.
Risk Planning: Independently establishes the project risks and mitigation plans.
Process Compliance: Adheres to standards and procedures for project initiation, planning, execution, control, monitoring, and closure defined by the Portfolio and Process Management Office.
Budget Authorization: Prepares the Authorization for Expenditure (AFE) for the project and assists IT Financial Analyst(s) with the approval process.
Financial Management: Manages Purchase Orders and invoices throughout the project life cycle.
Cost Closure: Closes all project expenditures at the end of the project.
Process Improvement: Proposes opportunities to improve the Portfolio and Process Management Office and leads improvement initiatives by planning, implementing, and ensuring adoption.
Career Development: Proactively manages own professional development and completes Individual Development Plan (IDP).

4. Senior IT Project Manager Job Summary

Obstacle Management: Drives through obstacles and time constraints to successfully deliver a project to completion.
Consensus Building: Delivers solutions through building consensus in business, technical, and vendor perspectives.
Team Coordination: Manages a project virtual team through creation, coordination, and motivation.
Budget Management: Manages the project budget end-to-end including estimation and sourcing.
Schedule Management: Oversees the project schedule including WBS creation, task coordination, and tracking.
Scope Management: Manages project scope through requirement clarification, build, and operationalization.
Innovation Support: Encourages innovation, adoption of cutting-edge technologies, teamwork, self-organization, and diversity.
Lifecycle Communication: Clearly communicates and documents each stage of the project lifecycle process.
Risk Evaluation: Evaluates project performance and identifies potential risks.
Decision Facilitation: Provides direction and facilitates information to drive the team decision-making process.

5. Senior IT Project Manager Accountabilities

Work Planning: Develops detailed IT work plans, schedules, project estimates, resource plans, and status reports.
Executive Liaison: Interfaces with senior project staff and client senior management teams regarding the status of projects.
Process Improvement: Recommends and oversees process improvements.
Leadership Expertise: Provides expertise in the area and an advanced understanding of the principles of IT project leadership.
Cross-Functional Insight: Possesses a comprehensive understanding of how own area and others (e.g., architecture or infrastructure) collectively integrate to contribute toward achieving business objectives.
Strategic Impact: Directly impacts the business by influencing strategic functional decisions through advice, counsel, or provided services.
Mentorship Coaching: Acts as an advisor or coach to new or lower-level analysts and allocates work.
Analytical Thinking: Provides in-depth and sophisticated analysis with interpretive thinking to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
Stakeholder Influence: Persuades and influences others through comprehensive communication and diplomacy skills.
Risk Assessment: Appropriately assesses risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients, and assets.
Compliance Governance: Drives compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, adheres to policy, applies sound ethical judgment, and escalates, manages, and reports control issues with transparency.

6. Senior IT Project Manager Functions

Project Planning: Develop full-scale project plans, project life cycle deliverables and associated communications documents
Requirement Analysis: Works with business process owners and end-users to establish sufficient levels of detailed requirements
Scope Management: Manages scope, performs risk assessments and estimates impacts of changes in resource, scope, or investment
Process Improvement: Performs continuous improvement on project standards and methodologies
Technical Guidance: Guiding and managing the technical team during the development of the project and the final validation process
Ecommerce Management: Managing the whole process of e-commerce projects from business requirements to launch and user acceptance testing by the customer
Document Creation: Creating and editing customer documents such as functional specifications for customers, high-level technical specifications for developers, user acceptance plan
Quality Ownership: Committed to programming and testing standards, accuracy, and creativity in finding efficient solutions to given requirements
Quality Assurance: Taking ownership of the quality of the projects, managing the quality assurance team and validating the delivery of the project
Customer Communication: Communication with customers including kick-off meetings, business requirements, specifications validation, follow-up meetings during projects, user acceptance validation, and support

7. Senior IT Project Manager Job Description

Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders to successfully design, develop and support technology platforms to deliver business outcomes
Project Leadership: Leading complex project delivery from concept to the business case through to deployment and ultimately closure
Benefit Tracking: Identifying and tracking business benefits upon delivery of agreed outcomes
Vendor Management: Managing the procurement of services and any third-party suppliers
Risk Management: Identifying and managing risk and issues with appropriate mitigation and contingency plans
Stakeholder Management: Ensuring stakeholder management with the creation and implementation
Change Communication: Change and communications management plan, including comprehensive status reporting to various stakeholders
Vendor Assessment: Assisting in RFI / RFP, due diligence, and risk assessments on vendor solutions
Methodology Compliance: Ensuring projects remain compliant with IT Project Management methodology, IT project management framework, IT policies and standards and industry best practice
Process Automation: Fostering a highly automated working environment with open communications, accelerating ways of working and contributing to process improvements

8. Senior IT Project Manager Overview

Project Leadership: Lead all IT projects from planning to sustainment
Central Coordination: Act as the central contact for all IT-related projects within the corporation
PMO Alignment: Partner with PMO in ensuring complete alignment for all project management activities, including following the agreed-upon standard PMO practices at Champion Petfoods
Community Building: Help champion a cohesive project management community with the PMO and IT
Resource Planning: Provide IT working and resource plans for all projects at Champion Petfoods that require IT involvement
Resource Management: Manage external IT project resources (contract PMs, vendors, etc.)
Scope Definition: Work with project stakeholders to define the scope, deliverables and requirements of the project
Work Planning: Create a detailed work plan that identifies and sequences the activities needed to complete the project
Resource Estimation: Determine and communicate the resources (time, budget, equipment, etc.) required to complete the project
Schedule Development: Develop a schedule for project completion that effectively allocates the resources to the activities
Schedule Review: Review the project schedule with project stakeholders who will be affected by the project activities, and revise the schedule
Success Metrics: Work with stakeholders to determine the objectives and measures upon which the project will be evaluated at its completion
Project Execution: Facilitate the execution of the project according to the project plan
Activity Documentation: Develop forms and records to document project activities

9. Senior IT Project Manager Details and Accountabilities

File Management: Set up files to ensure that all project information is appropriately documented and secured
Progress Monitoring: Monitor the progress of the project and make adjustments to ensure the successful completion of the project
Communication Scheduling: Establish and execute a communication schedule to update stakeholders on the progress of the project
Quality Review: Review the quality of the work completed with the project team regularly to ensure that it meets organizational standards
Stakeholder Reporting: Write reports on the project for the project stakeholders
Budget Monitoring: Monitor project budget and track project costs
Cost Reporting: Report project cost variances to project stakeholders regularly
Cost Tracking: Ensure that all related budget and cost records for the project are up to date
Risk Identification: Identify and communicate project-related risks
Risk Contingency: Develop and present project risk contingency plans
Deliverable Assurance: Ensure that the project deliverables are on time, within budget and at the required level of quality
Outcome Evaluation: Evaluate the outcomes of the project as established during the planning phase
Project Closure: Conduct formal project closure processes and communicate lessons learned to project stakeholders

10. Senior IT Project Manager Tasks

Implementation Planning: Participate in end-to-end implementation planning including project management, issue management, communication, and change management
Project Leadership: Lead projects, process improvement and automation initiatives
Root Analysis: Dig into root causes, identify gaps and make recommendations
Experience Improvement: Improve the customer experience and operational efficiencies for IT and business partners
Process Documentation: Document stakeholder requirements, as-is and to-be processes
Tech Utilization: Leverage existing technologies for new use cases when possible
Dashboard Creation: Create dashboards, identify and monitor metrics for process health
Process Support: Support and address queries from employees around IT processes and policies

11. Senior IT Project Manager Roles

Project Management: Responsible for planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing technical and business projects across multiple stakeholders
Process Analysis: Developing analysis to support process and project improvements
Project Coordination: Manages and coordinates business and technical projects through all phases of initiation, development, and implementation
Waterfall Delivery: Tends to work on waterfall projects
Scope Management: Works with clients to define and manage the scope, strategy, requirements, and implementation of projects
Objective Delivery: Ensures that assigned projects are completed within budgets and schedules while meeting client business objectives
Risk Control: Identifies, analyzes, mitigates, documents, and controls project risks
Team Communication: Provides effective and regular communication within the project team, stakeholders, sponsors, and management
Resource Planning: Identifies resource needs for the project and establishes roles, expectations, and goals with team members
Risk Assessment: Assess and manage risks that impede successful project delivery
Contract Negotiation: Participates in negotiation of contract terms and conditions and ensures compliance with contract terms for project consultants and vendors
Team Development: Responsible for assisting in hiring project staff, developing, motivating, coaching, advising, and managing the project team

12. Senior IT Project Manager Additional Details

Project Scoping: Working with business and IT stakeholders to scope out projects including functional and technical deliverables, cost estimates, resources, and identification of benefits
Scope Documentation: Preparing project scope documents and charters to initiate IT projects
Plan Development: Preparing project plans and schedules
Risk Management: Conducting risk management assessments and plans
Task Oversight: Overseeing the completion of project tasks
Status Communication: Communicating project status to stakeholders
Performance Measurement: Measuring project performance using appropriate tools and techniques
Change Control: Maintaining project scope and raising change requests
Post Debrief: Conducting post-implementation debriefs to identify recommendations for continuous improvement
Process Improvement: Participating in continuous improvement activities for the IT department and the PMO team
Resource Allocation: Updating and managing resource allocations
Issue Resolution: Working with the project team and stakeholders to resolve issues and manage risks
Meeting Facilitation: Facilitating regular team meetings and Steering Committee meetings

13. Senior IT Project Manager Essential Functions

Meeting Coordination: Coordinates all key project meetings, phone calls, meeting rooms, etc.
Scope Finalization: Works with business stakeholders and vendors to finalize and get signoff on the detailed scope of the project in line with the high-level scope outlined in any Statements of Work (SoW) and project charters
Timeline Development: Following applicable IT SOPs and policies, works with the appropriate IT, vendor team, and business teams to develop the project timeline and schedule to deliver the project
Deliverable Tracking: Ensures all required deliverables are included in the overall project schedule and are completed by the project
Validation Support: Collaborates with the Validation Manager to ensure the system’s validation needs are assessed and defined
Kickoff Preparation: Prepares for and conducts the project kickoff meeting
Service Readiness: Begins preparations for Service Readiness Planning (handoffs to Production Support) at the onset of the project
Scope Management: Manages overall scope of the project as defined in the project charter, including the scope, schedule, financials, etc.
Project Communication: Manages overall project communications, including communications to executive stakeholders, IT colleagues, vendors, business stakeholders, and clients

14. Senior IT Project Manager Role Purpose

Financial Management: Manages overall financials of the project, ensuring key financial information is always up to date in the IT project portfolio
Risk Tracking: Maintains issues and risks logs, ensuring issues and risks are categorized and prioritized appropriately
Risk Mitigation: Working with project stakeholders on risk mitigation strategies and action plans for issues, and escalating at appropriate times
Schedule Management: Manages the project schedule, baselining it and getting sign-off on it when the scope is finalized, and always managing actuals vs. forecast vs. baseline
Status Meetings: Conducts regular action-oriented project status meetings with all key project stakeholders
Team Collaboration: Works in close collaboration with vendor resources, multiple business units, and all IT teams to ensure the project is executed and will deliver the baselined scope within budget and schedule
Task Involvement: Gets involved in tasks to ensure their quality and success
Deliverable Control: Ensures all key deliverables are being produced, stored in the appropriate repository, and signed off on
Status Reporting: Prepares weekly status reports (SharePoint) and monthly or bi-monthly steering committee presentations

15. Senior IT Project Manager General Responsibilities

Deliverable Management: Ensures all project deliverables are housed in the project document repository
Cutover Coordination: Manages all activities required for production cutover including a smooth handoff to Production Support and the associated decommissioning of any legacy systems or contracts
Acceptance Management: Obtains business acceptance of newly released production systems
Postmortem Facilitation: Conducts lessons learned and postmortem meetings with IT, business, and vendor resources
Financial Oversight: Manages overall project finances as defined in the approved Investment Request Form (IRF)
Expense Tracking: Set up purchase orders, track invoices, track actual and committed spend and accruals
Task Execution: Ensures resources assigned to tasks for a given project are executing those tasks
Issue Correction: Identifies out-of-line situations and takes appropriate actions to remedy them
Transition Support: Works with the project team and stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition of the project’s solution into productive use

Relevant Information

What Does An Senior IT Manager Do?