Senior Program Manager

Reports To: Chief Operating Officer (or specify)
Location: New York State, US, preferably in Rochester, Syracuse, or Albany areas
Travel: domestic travel required 25%  
Employment Type: Full-time

Overview

The Senior Program Manager provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for large-scale, multifaceted programs—often involving multiple concurrent projects, workstreams, and delivery teams. This role requires an experienced professional with 10–15 years of program and project management experience who has successfully led complex initiatives valued at $1M or more within healthcare, mental health, or related settings.

The Senior Program Manager ensures that programs move from concept through planning, execution, evaluation, and scaling with clarity, discipline, and alignment to organizational goals. They apply project management best practices, and exceptional communication skills to coordinate internal teams, external partners, and senior leaders. While experience in mental health or suicide prevention is a plus, it is more critical that this person has a record of delivering complex, multi-team programs with excellence.

Duties and Responsibilities

Program Leadership & Strategy

• Provide overarching leadership for programs composed of multiple interdependent projects and delivery components.
• Translate client priorities into comprehensive program roadmaps with clear milestones, dependencies, and success criteria.
• Experience managing program budgets of $1M+ and ensuring sound resource planning across teams and workstreams.
• Guide program development, implementation strategy, and ongoing refinement to support scaling and sustainability.
  
  

Program Planning & Governance

• Ensure the creation and maintenance of program-level artifacts, including: Program charter, Program plan and roadmap, Milestone/maturity model, Interdependency and risk maps, Decision matrices. Program dashboards and performance reports
• Ensure that all projects within the program adhere to strong project management methodology and best practices.
• Clearly distinguish program-level milestones from project-level tasks and deliverables, ensuring alignment across workstreams.
  
  

Execution & Delivery Oversight

• Oversee multiple internal teams (content, operations, evaluation, training, marketing) and external vendors to ensure smooth program execution.
• Maintain visibility into all project timelines, risks, resourcing issues, and quality indicators.
• Anticipate problems and implement mitigation strategies before they impact delivery.
• Facilitate regular program reviews, cross-team coordination meetings, and status reporting to senior leadership internally and externally.
  
  

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary program-level contact for internal leadership, clients, partners, and external collaborators.
• Build trusted relationships with senior executives, subject matter experts, and implementation teams both internal and external.
• Communicate expectations with clarity, foster accountability, and ensure alignment at all stages of the program lifecycle.
• Support change management across teams and client organizations to ensure successful adoption and outcomes.
  
  

Quality Assurance, Evaluation & Scaling

• Ensure program quality standards are upheld across all project components and delivery channels.
• Collaborate with teams to build data collection plans, track metrics, and contribute to outcomes reporting.
• Apply Lean and Six Sigma principles to improve efficiency, reduce variation, and enhance the participant/client experience.
• Capture lessons learned and contribute to building scalable frameworks, SOPs, and operational models for future programs.
  
  

Qualifications

Required

• 10–15 years of experience in program and project management, with leadership of multi-team, multi-phased initiatives.
• Proven success overseeing programs or large-scale projects valued at $1M+, with measurable results.
• Experience in healthcare, mental health, public health, or health professions.
• Advanced ability to map programs from conception through delivery using program management best practices.
• Expertise in project management tools and methodologies, including decision matrices, RACI diagrams, program charters, and milestone-based planning.
• Strong background in risk identification, mitigation planning, and managing complex stakeholder environments.
• Prior leadership of both internal and external teams, including contractors and vendors.
• Outstanding communication, facilitation, and people skills.
• Ability to engage senior leaders with confidence and clarity.

Preferred

• Background or exposure to psychology, behavioral health, suicide prevention, or related domains.
• PMP, PgMP, or other program/project management certification.
• Experience scaling programs across multiple regions, systems, or organizational units.
• Experience in mission-driven or high-growth organizations.
• Lean and/or Six Sigma demonstrated experience

Competencies

• Program-level strategic planning
• Cross-functional leadership
• Systems and structural thinking
• Risk analysis and mitigation
• Communication and relationship building
• Data-informed decision making
• Process improvement
• Scalability and operational discipline
• Facility with and knowledge of best practices in use of project management software

What We Offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive onboarding and training in SafeSide’s approach
• Meaningful mission-driven work with measurable impact
• Supportive, collaborative team culture
• Opportunities for growth as SafeSide expands military and government partnerships
  
  

Work Location and Travel

The successful candidate will be located in the United States, working remotely from a home office. Additionally, you must be able to support work across multiple time zones, including early-morning or late-evening. Domestic is required up to 25%.

Equal Opportunity Employer

SafeSide is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit the required documentation:

• Your resume
• Program/Project Case Summary - As part of your application, please submit a written overview (1–2 pages) describing a large-scale program or project you led from conception through delivery. Select an initiative valued at $1M or more that involved multiple teams, stakeholders, and workstreams. (Please remove or redact confidential information.)

Your overview should address the following:

1. Project/Program Overview

• Name or general description (you may anonymize specifics if needed).
• Industry or setting (healthcare, mental health, public health, etc.).
• Total budget and duration.
• Scope and key objectives.

2. Your Role & Responsibilities

• Your title and level of authority.
• The size/types of teams you led (internal teams, external vendors, contractors).
• Your specific responsibilities and decision-making authority.

3. Planning & Methodology

Describe how you planned and structured the project/program, including:

• Program or project charter development
• Creation of the work breakdown structure (WBS)
• Milestones vs. tasks and how you distinguished them
• Program roadmap and timeline
• Governance framework
• Use of RACI, decision matrices, or similar tools
• Any Lean or Six Sigma applications

4. Risk Identification & Mitigation

Provide concrete examples of:

• Key risks you identified early
• How you assessed impact/likelihood
• Mitigation strategies implemented
• Risks that materialized and how you handled them

5. Stakeholder Engagement

Describe how you collaborated with:

• Senior leaders/executives
• Cross-functional teams
• External partners or clients
• End users or frontline staff (if applicable)
• Highlight communication strategies, alignment practices, and conflict resolution.

6. Execution & Delivery

Explain:

• How you managed progress across multiple workstreams
• How you ensured quality and on-time delivery
• How you adjusted course when challenges emerged
• How you maintained visibility across the entire program

7. Outcomes & Evaluation

Share:

• Final outcomes relative to the original goals
• Impact metrics, ROI, or performance indicators (if available)
• Lessons learned
• How the project/program contributed to organizational growth or scaling
  
  

8. Artifacts (Optional but Encouraged)

You may attach anonymized examples of:

• A milestone plan
• RACI diagram
• Risk log
• Decision matrix
• Dashboard/report snapshot
• Program roadmap
   (Please remove or redact confidential information.)
  
  

Full Job Description