Staff Project Manager, Professional Services

US | California | San FranciscoSenior$160,000 - $180,0005-7 years

OpenGov is the leader in AI and ERP solutions for local and state governments in the U.S. More than 2,000 cities, counties, state agencies, school districts, and special districts rely on the OpenGov Public Service Platform to operate efficiently, adapt to change, and strengthen the public trust. Category-leading products include enterprise asset management, procurement and contract management, accounting and budgeting, billing and revenue management, permitting and licensing, and transparency and open data. These solutions come together in the OpenGov ERP, allowing public sector organizations to focus on priorities and deliver maximum ROI with every dollar and decision in sync. Learn about OpenGov’s mission to power more effective and accountable government and the vision of high-performance government for every community at OpenGov.com.

Job Summary

The Staff Project Manager is a senior individual contributor within OpenGov's Professional Services Strategic Projects team, responsible for owning delivery on specific multi-suite, high-complexity government implementations. This role sits above the Lead/Sr. PM tier and below Principal PM: the Staff PM defines and oversees implementation strategy for the projects assigned to them, without holding people-management authority and without the org-wide, cross-portfolio strategy mandate carried by the Principal PM.

The Staff PM operates as the connective tissue on their assigned engagements — coordinating Solutions Architecture, Technical, and Change Management functions, managing scope and risk with commercial discipline, and serving as the primary program-level point of contact for Director- and VP-level client stakeholders. The role requires the judgment to run a complex, multi-department implementation independently, while building the documentation and governance habits that make the engagement defensible under scrutiny.

This is an individual-contributor role. Influence across matrixed delivery teams — SA, Technical, Change Management, and vertical resources — is exercised through structured process and stakeholder trust, not direct authority.

Responsibilities

Program & Project Delivery

Own end-to-end delivery for one or more multi-suite, multi-department government implementations, including cross-workstream sequencing and phased go-live planning.
Apply matrix program management discipline to coordinate SA, Technical, and Change Management resources without direct reporting authority over those functions.
Establish and maintain project governance artifacts: RAID logs, decision registers, escalation paths, and configuration-freeze protocols appropriate to the engagement's complexity.
Define scope boundaries at the project and workstream level; identify client-side triggers for change orders and document them in writing before they become disputes.
Escalate risks to the Principal PM / Sr. Director with enough lead time for intervention — no risk is surfaced for the first time in a client meeting.

Stakeholder Management

Serve as the primary point of accountability for Director- and VP-level client stakeholders throughout the implementation lifecycle.
Navigate multi-department client governance, competing priorities, and shifting decision-makers with professionalism and a clear paper trail.
Deliver structured, client-ready status reporting, escalation memos, steering committee materials, and go/no-go readiness briefs.
Partner with Sales and PS Leadership during scoping on assigned or prospective engagements to assess delivery feasibility and inform SOW structure.

Delivery Governance & Quality

Define and enforce go-live readiness criteria, configuration-freeze processes, and UAT acceptance standards for assigned engagements.
Proactively identify project-level risks — scope, resource, timeline, and client-readiness — and own mitigation plans through resolution.
Lead root-cause analysis on delivery issues that span multiple workstreams; document findings and surface them to the Principal PM / PS leadership when the fix has implications beyond the current engagement.
Ensure delivery consistency through adherence to PS methodology and shared tooling (RocketLane, Salesforce), and contribute observations to playbook development.

Change Management & Client Enablement

Coordinate change management activities for assigned implementations — organizational readiness, adoption risk, and stakeholder alignment across departments — in partnership with the Change Management function.
Advise client stakeholders on readiness gaps and adoption risk specific to their governmental constraints and political dynamics.
Guide clients through scope evolution without losing delivery momentum or allowing verbal-only agreements to stand as commitments.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Mentorship

Act as a day-to-day resource and informal mentor for Lead/Sr. PMs and Implementation Consultants staffed on the same engagements.
Identify delivery trends within assigned engagements — scope patterns, resource gaps, client-readiness indicators — and raise them to PS leadership with a recommendation.
Partner with Product and Engineering to route field delivery observations into product feedback for the assigned account(s).
Feed engagement-specific learnings from multi-department, multi-suite projects up to the Principal PM and PS leadership for incorporation into the broader delivery methodology.

Requirements and Preferred Experience

Experience

5–7 years of progressive program and project management experience in a SaaS environment, including ownership of at least one enterprise-scale, multi-product implementation.
Demonstrated experience coordinating across implementation, product, engineering, and sales functions without direct authority over those teams.
Experience with complex governmental clients or equivalent regulated/public-sector environments; understanding of procurement constraints and multi-department governance is strongly preferred.
Prior experience supporting SOW language, change-order rationale, or commercial framing in partnership with sales or PS leadership.

Technical & Analytical Proficiency

Strong technical aptitude for enterprise SaaS platforms and deployment methodology, including configuration management, data migration oversight, and integration coordination.
Proficiency with project/program management tooling and CRM platforms (RocketLane, Salesforce, or equivalent).
Ability to evaluate cross-system dependencies and resource constraints and translate findings into clear, actionable mitigation plans.
Working knowledge of project-level budget tracking and delivery-margin awareness for assigned engagements (portfolio-level forecasting sits with the Principal PM).

Communication & Stakeholder Influence

Strong written and verbal communication skills; demonstrated ability to produce client-ready documentation (status briefs, steering committee materials, escalation memos).
Demonstrated ability to influence without authority — aligning cross-functional teams and driving accountability across a matrixed environment.
Skilled at translating technical delivery complexity into clear narrative for non-technical client stakeholders and department-level executives.

Certifications & Methodology

PMP certification preferred; Scrum Master (CSM or PSM) or SAFe Agile certification accepted as equivalent or supplementary.
Prosci, CCMP, or equivalent Change Management certification a plus.
Working knowledge of PMBOK, Agile, and hybrid delivery frameworks.

Additional Requirements

Willingness to travel to client sites for discovery, steering committee meetings, go-live support, and executive relationship management.
Bachelor's degree preferred or commensurate experience demonstrating the ability to perform the responsibilities above.
This is an individual-contributor role with cross-functional influence; people-management experience is not required, though mentorship capability is expected.

Compensation

San Francisco, CA: $160,000 - $180,000

On target ranges above include base plus a portion of variable compensation that is earned based on company and individual performance.

The final compensation will be determined by a number of factors such as qualifications, expertise, and the candidate’s geographical location.

Why OpenGov?

A Mission That Matters.

At OpenGov, public service is personal. We are passionate about our mission to power more effective and accountable government. Government that operates efficiently, adapts to change, and strengthens public trust. Some people say this is boring. We think it’s the core of our democracy.

Opportunity to Innovate

The next great wave of innovation is unfolding with AI, and it will impact everything—from the way we work to the way governments interact with their residents. Join a trusted team with the passion, technology, and expertise to drive innovation and bring AI to local government. We’ve touched 2,000 communities so far, and we’re just getting started.

A Team of Passionate, Driven People

This isn’t your typical 9-to-5 job; we operate in a fast-paced, results-driven environment where impact matters more than simply clocking in and out. Our global team of 800+ employees is united in our commitment to challenge the status quo. OpenGov is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dubuque, Dallas, and Pune.

A Place to Make Your Mark

We pride ourselves on our performance-based culture, where every employee is encouraged to jump in head-first and take action to help us improve. If you have a great idea, we want to hear it. Excellent performance is recognized and rewarded, and we love to promote from within.

Benefits That Work for You

Enjoy an award-winning workplace with the benefits to match, including: