Client: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement

Work Location: 40 St. Clair West, Toronto, Ontario – Hybrid Estimated Start Date: August 24, 2026

Estimated End Date: June 30, 2027

Business Days: 264

Extension: Probable after the initial mandate

Hours: 7.25 hours per day

Security Level: No Clearance Required

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager/Leader to provide project management leadership for large-scale, highly complex, high-profile, multidisciplinary and enterprise-wide digital Discovery initiatives.

The successful candidate will lead projects through progressive stages including Concept, Discovery, Design, Prototype, Implementation and Go-Live , while managing scope, budget, schedule, risks, issues, resources, governance, stakeholders and vendor deliverables.

This role requires strong leadership, communication, stakeholder engagement, change management, procurement and vendor management skills, preferably within a public-sector or Ontario Public Service environment.

Must-Have Qualifications

- 10+ years of senior project management experience.
- Proven experience leading large, complex and high-profile multidisciplinary projects involving multiple business and IT stakeholders.
- Strong scope, budget, schedule and IRAD (Issues, Risks, Actions and Decisions) management experience.
- Proven experience leading digital initiatives from Concept through Discovery, Design, Prototype, Implementation and Go-Live.
- Strong stakeholder consultation, facilitation, negotiation and consensus-building capabilities.
- Proven ability to build positive relationships with project teams, business stakeholders, vendors and external parties.
- Experience developing strategies to overcome resistance to change and support successful transformation initiatives.
- Solid political acuity and ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary stakeholders and senior leadership.
- Ability to establish and facilitate effective IT partnerships with business clients.
- Experience managing vendor teams through planning, milestones, policies, procedures and project deliverables.
- Ability to influence vendors to deliver on scope, on time, on budget and with required quality.
- Experience working within formal project methodologies, governance frameworks and organizational standards.

Nice-to-Have
- Ontario Public Service (OPS) experience.

Key Responsibilities
- Provide project management leadership and expertise for large-scale, highly complex, high-profile, multi-jurisdictional and enterprise-wide Discovery initiatives.
- Follow the Ontario Digital Standard and applicable organizational methodologies, digital standards and governance frameworks.
- Manage project scope, budget, schedule, financials, resources, stakeholders, risks, issues, actions and decisions.
- Establish and manage project governance committees, including steering committees, gating reviews and checkpoints.
- Prepare project reporting, escalations and executive-level updates.
- Lead stakeholder consultations, facilitation and consensus-building activities.
- Build strong relationships with divisional stakeholders, subject matter experts, project teams, vendors and external parties.
- Manage interdependencies and resolve complex issues across multiple project streams.
- Provide strategic direction, recommendations and operational support to project teams and stakeholders.




- Analyze options presented by vendors and IT partners and provide strategic recommendations to management.
- Coordinate and complete the Digital First Assessment (DFA) for the Discovery phase.
- Lead Discovery initiatives from inception through project close-out and transition to operations.
- Support business planning, benefits identification and organizational funding requests for I⁢ projects.
- Lead and facilitate user research, service design, journey mapping, jurisdictional scans, conceptual solution development and problem-statement development.
- Translate business and IT executive expectations into clear project deliverables.
- Monitor project scope, budget, schedule, risks, resources, deliverables, governance and technical performance.
- Identify and prioritize risks and issues and recommend appropriate mitigation strategies.
- Monitor internal and external project dependencies and report exposure levels.
- Develop procurement artifacts, including RFS, SOW/Contract and approval documentation.
- Manage Discovery vendor deliverables and provide effective vendor oversight.
- Plan and lead project deliverables using Agile and OPS Digital approaches.
- Direct multidisciplinary project teams to ensure deliverables meet government and ministry standards.
- Coordinate project processes, progress, roadblocks, interactions and stakeholder communications.

General Skills & Experience

- Demonstrated experience leading and overseeing Discovery projects from inception through close-out.
- Experience coordinating Digital First Assessments and transitions to operations.
- Experience with business planning, benefits identification and funding requests for I⁢ projects.
- Experience leading user research, service design, journey maps and jurisdictional scans.
- Strong understanding of business and IT executive expectations and ability to translate them into project deliverables.
- Experience managing complex projects involving multiple business and IT stakeholders.
- Strong risk and issue analysis, prioritization and mitigation experience.
- Experience with project interdependencies and dependency management.
- Strong stakeholder consultation and consensus-building skills.
- Experience managing resistance to change and supporting transformation initiatives.
- Strong relationship-building skills with internal teams, senior stakeholders and vendors.
- Experience developing procurement artifacts such as RFS and SOW/Contract documentation.
- Effective vendor management and oversight experience.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary project teams.
- Strong ability to coordinate project processes, interactions, progress and roadblocks.
- Formal project management training/certification such as PMP, Scrum or Agile.

Desirable Skills
- Knowledge of OPS enterprise architecture practices, particularly business and information architecture.
- Knowledge of Information Management principles, concepts, policies and practices.
- Experience with both predictive and Agile methodologies.




- Knowledge of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and related regulations and standards.
- Experience with public-sector project governance, including Digital First Assessment, Cyber Security, Privacy, Architecture and Project Gating.

Experience & Skill Set Requirements Project Management Experience – 30%

- Large, complex and high-profile multidisciplinary project leadership.
- Digital initiatives across Concept, Discovery, Design, Prototype, Implementation and Go-Live.
- End-to-end Discovery project leadership.
- Project governance, financials, resources, reporting and escalation.
- Stakeholder consultation, facilitation and consensus building.
- Executive-level communication and presentation experience.
- Large-scale transformation and change management.
- PMP, Scrum or Agile project management training/certification.

Leadership & Communication Skills – 20%

- Strong political acuity and multidisciplinary stakeholder collaboration.
- Ability to establish solid business and IT partnerships.
- Experience preparing presentations, dashboards, briefing papers, submissions, business cases and status reports for senior executives.
- Strong senior leadership and executive relationship-building skills.
- Business transformation and change management expertise.
- Experience supporting strategic IT investment planning and business case development.

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Building – 25%

- Strong facilitation, negotiation and diplomacy skills.
- Ability to resolve issues, defuse tensions and obtain stakeholder buy-in.
- Ability to manage stakeholder expectations and clarify business processes, requirements and project scope.
- Experience collaborating with vendors, senior management and client stakeholders.
- Proven ability to influence outcomes and build consensus.

Procurement & Vendor Management – 20%

- Knowledge of procurement processes and development of RFS/RFP documentation.
- Experience acquiring vendor services, business solutions and project resources.
- Experience managing vendor teams through planning, milestones, policies, procedures and deliverables.
- Ability to ensure vendor deliverables are completed on scope, on time, on budget and to required quality standards.

Public Sector Experience – 5%

- Experience leading complex multidisciplinary Discovery and IT/business projects for municipal, provincial or federal government organizations.
- Experience with Digital First Assessment, Cyber Security, Privacy, Architecture and Project Gating within public-sector projects.

Mandatory Submission Documents If you are interested and your profile matches the requirements, please send the following documents to [email protected] by Friday, September 18, 10:00 AM EST :

- Updated Resume in Word format – Mandatory
- References – Mandatory
- Expected Hourly Rate – Mandatory
- Visa Status – Mandatory
- LinkedIn ID – Mandatory

Please note: Applications without all mandatory documents cannot be submitted. How to Apply Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their complete documentation by the deadline.

If this opportunity is not suitable for you, please feel free to forward it to qualified Senior Project Managers/Leaders with 10+ years of experience in complex digital transformation, Discovery initiatives, stakeholder engagement, project governance, vendor management and public-sector IT/business projects.

📌 – Project Manager/Leader – Senior (Toronto)
🏢 S M Software Solutions
📍 Toronto