The Senior Director leads operational effectiveness, project delivery, and people management in Advisory Services at Coalfire, ensuring client satisfaction and alignment with business strategy.
About Coalfire
Coalfire is on a mission to make the world a safer place by solving our clients’ hardest cybersecurity challenges. We work at the cutting edge of technology to advise, assess, automate, and ultimately help companies navigate the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. We are headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with offices across the U.S. and U.K., and we support clients around the world.
But that’s not who we are – that’s just what we do.
We are thought leaders, consultants, and cybersecurity experts, but above all else, we are a team of passionate problem-solvers who are hungry to learn, grow, and make a difference.
Position Summary
The Senior Director, Project Management and Operations for Advisory Services is responsible for leading the operational effectiveness, delivery excellence, and people management functions across the Advisory Services practice. This role oversees a team of project managers and resource deployment managers (RDMs), driving consistent execution, process improvement, and operational scalability to support Coalfire’s rapidly growing client base.
This position requires a dynamic, hands-on leader who can balance operational rigor with client delivery needs. The Senior Director partners with senior leadership to forecast demand, optimize resource allocation, implement PMO standards, and establish KPIs that drive accountability and continuous improvement. This leader will also mentor and develop the PMO and operations team, ensuring delivery quality, client satisfaction, and alignment with Coalfire’s business strategy.
What You'll Do
- Leadership & People Management
- Define and maintain the PMO’s strategic vision, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and priorities of the Advisory Services Leadership team.
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of project managers, program managers, and resource deployment managers (RDMs).
- Manage performance reviews, coaching, and career development.
- Foster collaboration across Advisory Services and with other business units.
- Serve as the primary liaison between the PMO and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), ensuring transparency and timely communication on project portfolio performance.
- Partner with ELT to define, plan, and implement organizational change initiatives that enable strategic transformation.
- Own PMO standards, methodologies, and project management delivery frameworks to ensure consistent client engagement execution.
- Establish governance frameworks, standards, and best practices for management across the enterprise and ensure adherence to those frameworks and standards.
- Drive continuous improvement through process optimization, automation, and adoption of best practices.
- Identify, assess, and mitigate enterprise-level risks impacting strategic initiatives.
- Escalate critical issues to ELT with recommended solutions and contingency plans.
- Leverage professional services automation (PSA) tools and delivery platforms (e.g., OpenAir, Jira, Smartsheet) to improve transparency and efficiency.
- Develop and deliver training programs for project management and resource management teams.
- Ensure successful execution of Advisory projects within the constraints of time, scope, and budget
- Oversee project delivery quality, client satisfaction, and risk management across Advisory engagements.
- Support the standardization and templatization of delivery engagements.
- Develop and maintain a delivery retrospective to capture lessons learned that can be integrated into an organizational change management plan.
- Establish and enforce project governance, reporting, and escalation procedures.
- Manage resource capacity planning, utilization targets, and deployment strategy.
- Collaborate with sales and delivery leaders to forecast demand and align staffing to client needs.
- Define and report on KPIs including utilization, delivery quality, margin, and client satisfaction.
- Develop and maintain partnerships with delivery business leaders and support internal initiative rollouts.
- Define and maintain an organizational change management methodology in support of the businesses need for continuous improvement and maturity.
- Provide operational insights, forecasts, and data-driven recommendations to Advisory leadership.
- Support strategic planning and business growth initiatives through operational modeling and scenario planning.
- Provide resourcing, cost, and efficiency inputs to the budgeting process for Advisory stakeholders in coordination with project leadership.
- Act as an escalation point for high-risk projects and clients.
- Lead mitigation and contingency plan development to address project risks.
- Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure delivery alignment and client success.
- Partner with quality management, sales, and delivery leaders to enhance client experience.
Operational Excellence
Project & Resource Management
Business Performance & Reporting
Client & Stakeholder Engagement
What You'll Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations, or related field (required).
- Master’s degree (preferred).
- 10+ years of progressive experience in professional services operations, PMO leadership, or consulting delivery.
- 5+ years of people management experience leading project management and/or resource management teams.
- Strong knowledge of project and portfolio management best practices, with success implementing PMO frameworks.
- Experience with professional services automation tools, resource planning, and project financial management.
- Proven ability to implement process improvement and change management initiatives at scale.
- Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.
- Demonstrated success managing cross-functional teams in a consulting or professional services environment.
- Ability to travel up to 20%
- Experience in cybersecurity, compliance, or IT consulting services.
- Familiarity with AI-driven automation in service delivery.
- Hands-on experience with Agile methodologies and tooling (Jira, Confluence).
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and security frameworks.
Preferred:
Certifications
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
- ITIL Certification
- Lean Six Sigma
- Cloud/security certifications (AWS, GCP, Azure, CISM, Security+)
Preferred:
Why You’ll Want to Join Us
At Coalfire, you’ll find the support you need to thrive personally and professionally. In many cases, we provide a flexible work model that empowers you to choose when and where you’ll work most effectively – whether you’re at home or an office.
Regardless of location, you’ll experience a company that prioritizes connection and wellbeing and be part of a team where people care about each other and our communities. You’ll have opportunities to join employee resource groups, participate in in-person and virtual events, and more. And you’ll enjoy competitive perks and benefits to support you and your family, like paid parental leave, flexible time off, certification and training reimbursement, digital mental health and wellbeing support membership, and comprehensive insurance options.
At Coalfire, equal opportunity and pay equity is integral to the way we do business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Coalfire is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact our Human Resources team at [email protected].
Top Skills
JIRA
Openair
Smartsheet
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