Contract Principal Project Manager
Stable Kernel · Houston · $75/hr (stated in the posting)
About the Company:
Stable Kernel is a technology services firm and custom software developer building scalable software solutions for cutting-edge, innovative enterprises to move their business forward. We are headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
We’re a privately held, Great Place to Work Certified Company™ with a multi-award-winning culture and impressive 10+ year trajectory of sustainable growth. At Stable Kernel, we support our employees in ways that help them do some of the best work of their lives.
About the Role:
As a Stable Kernel Contract Principal Project Manager, you play an essential role in setting our portfolio of world-class clients up for success through the on-time and on-budget development and delivery of their most innovative, transformational initiatives. You are equal parts delivery expert and trusted advisor to internal and external project stakeholders. Your positivity, candor, and effectiveness make you the Project Manager that clients request to have assigned to their projects time and again.
You are a true partner to our sales, strategy, technical, and client services professionals and collaborate with them throughout the client life cycle to ensure outstanding work, documentation, and customer experiences.
Core Responsibilities Include:
- Technical Impact:
- Establishes scalable delivery solutions and defines the approach, phasing, and sequencing across complex, multi-project programs, making strategic trade-offs that account for cross-functional dependencies and evolving client needs.
- Establishes scope governance and change control discipline across the program, coaching project managers on managing scope creep and change requests.
- Sets standards for engagement health and quality benchmarks across multiple project teams; mentors project managers on interpreting delivery health indicators.
- Evaluates tool effectiveness at program scale, identifying gaps and making recommendations for procurement, integration, or retirement.
- Designs AI-enabled delivery workflows and leads responsible AI adoption across program teams.
- Serves as the bridge between technical, design, product, and business teams across enterprise-level programs, establishing cross-departmental coordination norms.
- Business Alignment:
- Clarifies strategic outcomes and defines integrated roadmaps across multiple projects; translates high-level client goals into actionable program-level objectives and anticipates shifts in client priorities.
- Establishes project planning standards across the program, coaching project managers on plan development, baselining, and tracking discipline.
- Supports statement of work (SOW) development and RFP and paid discovery engagements.
- Identifies and pursues opportunities to expand service offerings within existing programs.
- Helps lead estimation and financial calibration across the program; oversees burn tracking and forecasting and works with finance and account leadership to translate estimates into business forecasts.
- Interacting with Others:
- Leads coordination across the full program, orchestrating collaboration between multiple project teams, account leadership, technical leads, and senior business stakeholders.
- Leads program-level status reporting with governance cadences tailored to different stakeholder audiences.
- Influences the program and broader organization to drive adoption of new methodologies, tools, or practices across multiple teams through demonstration and consensus-building.
- Advises teams across the company, including executive leadership, on complex program challenges and strategic decisions.
- Mentors junior project managers on handling difficult stakeholder situations and advancing their delivery practice.
- Leads communication during critical situations, including escalations, major milestones, and strategic decisions.
- Consulting:
- Partners with leadership to shape delivery approaches; coaches project managers on large-scale initiatives and complex stakeholder dynamics.
- Leads stakeholder navigation across the full program, managing relationships with senior client stakeholders, cross-functional partners, and delivery teams across multiple interconnected projects.
- Coaches project managers on stakeholder mapping, dependency management, and navigating political complexity.
- Operates comfortably in ambiguous, high-stakes environments, helping program teams establish clarity when strategic direction is still evolving.
- Coaches project managers on developing an advisory mindset, moving from reactive execution to proactive strategic partnership with clients.
- Poses probing questions and challenges proposed solutions to drive teams toward the best possible outcome.
- Problem-Solving:
- Leads program-level problem solving and serves as the escalation point for assigned project managers, applying structured methodologies to diagnose root causes.
- Coaches project managers to think critically and analytically when problem-solving.
- Establishes risk management and escalation frameworks across multiple project teams and coaches project managers on early warning signals.
- Helps clients and colleagues understand and respond to risk.
- Escalates business-impactful issues with context, impact assessment, and recommended solutions while solving in parallel; establishes escalation pathways across the program.
- Analyzes patterns across multiple projects to identify systemic issues; establishes metrics and measurement frameworks for tracking program health.
- Leadership:
- Sets the strategic direction for how projects are managed within the program; leads multiple project teams or large programs.
- Exhibits strong capabilities in stakeholder management, negotiating, and problem-solving in complex situations.
- Proposes and leads process improvements across key program areas, such as team throughput, delivery quality, and engagement management, establishing standards that serve as models for broader adoption.
- Advocates for the iteration of practices and delivery philosophy across the program and organization; evaluates industry standards for applicability to program contexts.
- Helps lead resource management across the program, maintaining staffing plans, forecasting resourcing needs, and partnering with account and delivery leadership.
Intimate, Working Familiarity With:
- JIRA, Notion, Slack Claude, Github, Miro, and any budget tracking tools.
- Fluent in Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall and other project management methodologies, but willing to adapt as the SDLC evolves.
General Requirements:
- 8-10 years of experience in project management for consulting, professional services, or similar services-based organizations.
- Has PMP, CSM (Certified Scrum Master), CSPO (Certified Scrum Product Owner), or similar Project Management certifications.
- Proven track record of successful delivery of projects of all sizes and complexities.
- Exceptional communication skills, including client and stakeholder management.
- Experience crafting deliverable components of SOWs and writing business requirements documents.
A Bit More Info:
Minimum Base Rate: $75 per hour
This is a contract position.
Stable Kernel operates a People Before Place Hybrid model; however, this role requires location in Houston, TX in order to be on-site with the client as needed.
*Note – We are not sponsoring employment visas at this time. If you are currently in possession of an employment visa, it will need to be effective for at least 3 years from the date of your application for your candidacy for employment to be considered.
Stable Kernel’s culture is inclusive and expansive. We celebrate diversity in its many glorious forms and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender role orientation, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
However, we will discriminate against those unwilling to comply with the practice of our company values:
- we work with integrity always
- we respect our work and each other
- we are dedicated to life-long learning and sharing
- we stay hungry for new challenges
If you are like-minded in this regard, we hope you will apply. We look forward to meeting you.