Software Project Manager

Job Title: Software Project ManagerJob Description

The Software Project Manager leads planning, tracking, and delivery for multiple concurrent software initiatives, partnering closely with engineering teams to bring structure and visibility to complex, distributed work. This role focuses on coordinating resources, managing project scope and timelines, and ensuring clear communication between team-level engineering tools and corporate-level reporting systems. It is ideal for someone with a strong technical background who has transitioned into project or program management and can earn trust with engineers while keeping projects on track without becoming a bottleneck.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary project manager for the software engineering team, owning planning, tracking, and delivery across all active software projects.
• Create, maintain, and update detailed project plans in Smartsheet, keeping scope, timelines, and status visible to stakeholders and leadership.
• Track day-to-day engineering work and issues in GitLab and translate relevant status into JIRA to provide corporate-level visibility and cross-team alignment.
• Manage software team resource allocation to ensure engineers are appropriately staffed across projects and not overcommitted or fragmented across competing priorities.
• Protect the engineering team’s focus and productivity by managing incoming requests, minimizing unnecessary context switching, and enforcing a clear, deliberate work intake process.
• Partner with engineering leads to determine and continually reassess project prioritization so the team consistently works on the highest-value initiatives.
• Proactively identify when new projects or requests should be queued rather than started immediately, and communicate tradeoffs clearly and confidently to management and stakeholders.
• Coordinate work and communication across distributed teams spanning multiple continents and time zones, maintaining alignment despite limited overlapping working hours.
• Surface risks, blockers, and resourcing conflicts early and drive resolution before they impact delivery timelines.
• Facilitate team ceremonies and check-ins, such as standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives, in a way that fits the team’s existing GitLab-based workflow.
• Maintain clear, consistent communication with engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders regarding project status, risks, dependencies, and resourcing decisions.
• Translate stakeholder requirements and expectations into concrete project items, including timelines, risk assessments, and status reporting.
• Provide accurate project forecasting and scope management to keep initiatives aligned with business objectives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and project control functions to ensure compliance with relevant standards and processes.
• Support risk management and risk assessment activities across software projects, including identification, tracking, and mitigation planning.

Essential Skills

• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in project or program management, with the majority of background focused on software projects.
• Proven experience handling multiple large projects simultaneously.
• Strong project management skills, including project planning, project tracking, and project delivery in software environments.
• Hands-on experience using project management software such as Smartsheet, JIRA, or similar tools to track and manage projects.
• Direct experience with GitLab as a day-to-day engineering tracking tool, including issues, boards, and milestones.
• Ability to bridge visibility between team-level tools (e.g., GitLab) and corporate-level tools (e.g., JIRA).
• Strong background in resource planning, resource allocation, project forecasting, and project prioritization.
• Demonstrated ability to manage stakeholder expectations and translate stakeholder qualifications into clear project items, including timeline, risk, and status.
• Experience coordinating distributed or global teams across significant time zone differences.
• Solid understanding of software engineering workflows and terminology, enabling effective communication with technical contributors.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and project coordination in complex environments.
• Proficiency in risk management and risk assessment within software projects.
• background as a software engineer or technical contributor prior to moving into project or program management.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, or other hardware-adjacent software environments.
• DO-178 or similar regulated industry background strongly preferred, including experience in medical devices, transportation, or other regulated sectors.
• Familiarity with ITAR considerations and project control practices.
• Experience working in environments where office and production areas are closely integrated.
• Ability to earn trust with engineering teams, bring structure and visibility to complex work, and keep projects moving without becoming a bottleneck.
• Comfort operating in fast-paced settings where priorities can shift and travel may occur on short notice.
• Strong communication skills for status reporting to various stakeholders and leadership.
• Experience with sprint planning and agile ceremonies tailored to Git-based workflows.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and align them around shared project goals.

Work Environment

This is a hybrid position with approximately 80 percent of work performed onsite in Bingen, WA, and regular coordination across multiple time zones as a core part of the role. Travel is expected to be around 5 percent, both domestic and international, and may occur on short notice. The work involves sitting and working at a computer daily, reading screens, documents, and engineering drawings, and walking through office and production areas that can include uneven surfaces. The role may require carrying or lifting items up to 30 pounds while moving between office and production spaces. You will work closely with distributed teams using tools such as GitLab, JIRA, and Smartsheet, in a dynamic environment where software and hardware-adjacent projects intersect.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Bingen, WA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $143000.00 - $229000.00/yr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Relocation assistance is provided for qualified positions, along with a compensation and benefits package.

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Bingen,WA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 17, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.