Technical Project Manager

About the role

MSP4 operates as the embedded IT department for a portfolio of clients spanning professional services, legal, manufacturing, distribution, and government sectors. Environments carry real compliance weight: CMMC L2, NIST 800-171, and SOC 2 are active requirements across this client base, and project records serve as audit evidence.

What You Will Do

• Own client infrastructure projects end to end: intake, scoping, work breakdown, scheduling, budget tracking, risk management, change management, and closeout.
• Build project plans that map work to the right tier: L2 for endpoint and site work, L3 for server and platform execution, Senior Engineering for complex implementation, and the Principal Solutions Architect for design.
• Manage the L2 Field Support Technicians and L3 Systems Administrators assigned to your projects: assign and sequence tasks, run check-ins, triage escalations, clear blockers, and feed performance observations to each person's manager.
• Cook up project plans for platform administrators and Senior (L4) Engineers in a matrix model: own their project task sequencing, deliverable dates, and cross-project dependency conflicts, and hold them to the same change-record and closeout-documentation standards as the rest of the team. Their technical authority and line management stay with Senior Engineering leadership.
• Coach engineers on delivery discipline: change records, runbooks, closeout documentation, and client communication that holds up in front of a CMMC or SOC 2 assessor.
• Challenge estimates and plans with technical specifics, then commit to the number the accountable engineer owns.
• Participate in design reviews, enforce the approved design during execution, and route proposed deviations back to the Principal Solutions Architect rather than approving them in the field.
• Run client communication for project work: kickoffs, status reporting, change windows, delay conversations, and the case where a client dependency is the thing slipping the date.
• Integrate compliance into delivery: change control on CUI-relevant systems, evidence capture as the project runs rather than reconstructed afterward, US-person access constraints, and assessor-ready closeout packages aligned to NIST 800-171.
• Coordinate vendors and carriers inside project scope: circuit orders, hardware logistics, and vendor remote-access requests evaluated against security policy.
• Manage capacity conflicts between project work and the service desk in partnership with dispatch, and escalate to leadership when the math does not work.
• Track schedule and budget in a PSA/ITSM platform and a scheduling tool (Jira Service Management, Microsoft Project, or Smartsheet), and report project health to leadership with numbers: percent complete against baseline, budget burn, and risk register movement.

Qualifications Matrix

# Qualification Category Description 1 End-to-end delivery ownership Functional Intake, work breakdown, baselined schedule, budget tracking, risk register, change control, and documented closeout on infrastructure projects. 2 Infrastructure project domains Functional Server and platform migrations, network segmentation builds, Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant projects, and compliance remediation projects. 3 Technical depth to direct engineers Technical Reads a switch configuration or a virtualization cutover plan and spots the step that will fail; depth in networking or systems administration sufficient to challenge engineer work at the plan level. 4 People management Functional Direct management of L2 and L3 technical staff: task assignment, coaching, hiring input, and performance feedback; judgment to separate a skill gap from a will gap. 5 Matrix delivery authority Functional Holds the dates and dependencies of senior technical staff who took project direction without reporting in; can describe holding delivery without holding the performance review. 6 Compliance-aware delivery Functional Working knowledge of CMMC L2, NIST 800-171, and SOC 2 as they constrain project execution: change control on CUI systems, evidence capture during the project, and US-person access limits. 7 PSA and scheduling tooling Technical Project and ticket discipline in a PSA or ITSM platform (Jira Service Management preferred; HaloPSA, ConnectWise, Autotask, or ServiceNow transferable) and fluency with a scheduling tool (Microsoft Project or Smartsheet). 8 ITIL service-management practice Functional Change, incident, and problem management as practiced in a live environment, not as vocabulary. 9 Client and stakeholder communication Consulting Runs kickoffs, status reporting, change windows, and delay conversations with client executives and non-technical stakeholders; holds a date when a client dependency is the cause of slippage. 10 Three-way communication across tiers Consulting Works effectively with client stakeholders, with the engineers under management, and with Senior Engineering and the Principal Solutions Architect above the role's tier. 11 Enforces design without redesigning Consulting Participates in design reviews, enforces the approved design in execution, and routes deviations back to the Principal Solutions Architect rather than approving them in the field. 12 Holds the delivery boundary Consulting Unblocks and reviews without becoming a committed task resource; keeps the schedule honest by not making the project manager the bottleneck. 13 Documentation and audit discipline Consulting Change records, runbooks, and closeout packages another reviewer or assessor can follow without asking questions. 14 Vendor and carrier coordination Functional Circuit orders, hardware logistics, and vendor remote-access requests evaluated against security policy inside project scope. 15 Delivery experience Credentials 7+ years in IT delivery combining hands-on infrastructure work and project management, with at least 3 years managing or supervising technical staff. 16 Multi-client service delivery Credentials Prior experience in a multi-client delivery environment: MSP, MSSP, or consulting delivery. 17 US-person status Credentials US citizen, US national, lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual (refugee or asylee) under US law. Required for CUI and export-controlled system access under CMMC L2. Authorization to work in the US is not sufficient: a work visa (H-1B, L-1, TN), OPT/CPT, or an Employment Authorization Document does not satisfy this requirement. 18 US-based work location Credentials Based in the United States and performing the role from within the United States. 19 Project management certification Credentials PMP, or a delivery history demonstrating the same discipline: baselined schedules, change control, risk registers, and documented closeouts. 20 Network or systems credentials Credentials CCNP, CCNA, or equivalent network or systems credentials; a positive signal, not a requirement. Verifiable hands-on history is treated as equivalent.

Required vs Preferred

• 7+ years in IT delivery combining hands-on infrastructure work and project management, including at least 3 years managing or supervising technical staff (matrix #15).
• US-based work location and US-person status (matrix #17, #18). You must be based in the United States and qualify as a US person: US citizen, US national, lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual (refugee or asylee) under US law. Authorization to work in the United States is not sufficient on its own. A non-immigrant work visa (H-1B, L-1, TN, and similar), F-1 OPT/CPT, or an Employment Authorization Document does not meet this requirement. This role's access to Controlled Unclassified Information and export-controlled systems is restricted to US persons under CMMC L2 and US export control regulations (ITAR / EAR).
• End-to-end delivery ownership: baselined schedules, change control, risk registers, and documented closeouts (matrix #1).
• Technical depth to direct engineers in networking or systems administration (matrix #3).
• Direct people management of L2 and L3 technical staff (matrix #4).
• Matrix delivery authority over senior staff who do not report in (matrix #5).
• Working knowledge of CMMC L2, NIST 800-171, and SOC 2 as they constrain delivery (matrix #6).
• Project and ticket discipline in a PSA or ITSM platform plus fluency with a scheduling tool (matrix #7).

Core Competencies

Competency Behavioral indicator Technically credible direction Reads a firewall change plan and catches the missing rollback step; challenges an estimate with specifics rather than deferring to seniority. Holds the delivery boundary Unblocks and pairs to get an engineer moving, then steps back; does not absorb the task and become the schedule's bottleneck. Matrix leadership without line authority Holds the dates of staff who outrank the role technically, and goes on record about how they delivered, without owning their reporting line. Audit-grade delivery discipline Captures evidence and closeout records as the project runs so an assessor sees a complete trail, not a reconstruction. Enforces design, does not redesign Holds execution to the approved design and routes proposed deviations back to the Principal Solutions Architect instead of deciding in the field. Three-way communication Moves between client executives, the engineers under management, and Senior Engineering above the tier without losing clarity in any direction.