Project Manager - Controls and Performance

Nakupuna Consulting is seeking a Project Manager - Controls and Performance to support a large-scale, multi-year federal IT program by ensuring projects are executed with predictability, transparency, and measurable outcomes. This role is responsible for strengthening project performance through disciplined risk management, schedule management, and performance reporting, while driving continuous improvement across project delivery practices.

Project Manager - Controls and Performance focuses on how well projects perform, rather than direct task-level execution. This role evaluates delivery health, identifies systemic risks and inefficiencies, and partners with project and technical leads to improve execution outcomes. The position serves as a trusted advisor to program leadership and government stakeholders by translating project data into actionable insights that improve decision-making and delivery effectiveness.

The following reflects management's definition of essential functions for this job but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned. Management may assign additional duties and responsibilities to this job at any time due to reasonable accommodation or other reasons.

Establish and maintain project effectiveness frameworks, standards, and performance expectations across the program
• Oversee, assess, and communicate project risk and issue management practices, ensuring risks are identified early, documented consistently, and mitigated effectively
• Create, manage, and communicate project schedule and roadmap deliverables working with and soliciting content from delivery teams and integrating with customer expectations
• Analyze integrated project schedules to assess feasibility, dependencies, and delivery risk
• Monitor schedule health, critical paths, and milestone performance; identify trends and systemic issues impacting delivery
• Develop and maintain project performance metrics, dashboards, and reporting to communicate delivery health, risks, and trends
• Translate project data into executive-level insights and recommendations for program leadership and government stakeholders
• Identify cross-project risks, recurring delivery challenges, and process inefficiencies; recommend corrective and preventive actions
• Support governance forums, risk boards, and milestone reviews by providing objective assessments of project performance
• Partner with agile delivery leads, technical leads, and functional managers to improve planning discipline, risk practices, and reporting quality
• Ensure project reporting and metrics align with contractual requirements, CDRLs, and program governance standards
• Apply PMI project management principles and best practices to strengthen project execution consistency
• Maintain project documentation related to performance, risk, and schedule management in accordance with program standards
• Tracking of EDEP metrics throughout each PI and notifying program leadership if any risk of not achieving the necessary thresholds before the end of current PI
• Manage direct report Analyst staff including conducting performance reviews, ensuring appropriate tasking, training, and mentoring, ensuring compliance with company policies, in addition to supporting recruiting/staffing initiatives, and other management duties

Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree with 7 or more years of experience in project management, program control, delivery assurance, or project performance analysis within the federal government, DoD, IC, or private sector preferred.

Skills/Qualifications:

• Expertise in project risk and issue management
• Strong experience assessing and managing project schedules
• Advanced capability in performance reporting, metrics, and trend analysis
• Ability to translate project data into leadership-level insights
• Strong stakeholder engagement and advisory skills
• Familiarity with PMI project management methodologies
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and project management tools

Clearance Requirements: This position requires a current Secret clearance. Must be a U.S. Citizen.

Work Location: Work location will be in Arlington, Virginia with an option for hybrid work.

Physical Requirements: The ideal candidate must at a minimum be able to meet the following physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation:

• Ability to perform repetitive motions with the hands, wrists, and fingers.
• Ability to engage in and follow audible communications in emergency situations.
• Ability to sit for prolonged periods at a desk and working on a computer.