Iridium

Project Portfolio Lead

Iridium  •  Chandler, AZ (Hybrid)  •  9 days ago
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Job Description

Iridium is an award-winning and innovative satellite communications company with bragging rights to the only network that offers voice and data connectivity anywhere in the world. For over 20 years, Iridium’s unique network and services have supported critical communications needs for individuals, businesses, and the evolving Internet of Things.

At Iridium, we understand the importance of staying connected and the limitations of traditional communications networks. People across the globe, including first responders, humanitarians, global militaries, scientific researchers, and lone workers, as well as ships, aircraft and remote operations all rely on Iridium to stay connected. We take our responsibility for providing these essential communications very seriously and pride ourselves on offering a reliable lifeline when needed. Likewise, Iridium is committed to providing an exciting and innovative workplace, where employees are challenged to think outside the box and collaborate on new, bold ideas and solutions. Our talented teams are passionate about their work and the impact our company makes around the world. Iridium fosters an empowering and inclusive culture that allows employees to genuinely be their best selves. We are looking for others who want to join this truly unique company that celebrates our employees and provides the opportunity to truly make a difference in the world.

What We’re Looking For:

Iridium is seeking an experienced Project Portfolio Lead to shape and deliver complex, cross-functional initiatives that translate program strategy into measurable business outcomes. In this role, you will lead the planning, prioritization, governance, and performance management of the organization’s project portfolio, ensuring the right work is selected, sequenced, and executed to maximize business value. You will partner closely with leaders across the organization to align initiatives with strategic objectives, optimize resource allocation, and provide clear visibility into portfolio performance. By enabling strong decision-making and maintaining disciplined oversight, the Project Portfolio Lead ensures the portfolio delivers consistent, high-impact results that support organizational goals.

What You’ll Do:

  • Translate organizational strategy into a balanced, actionable portfolio of projects and programs
  • Ensure initiatives are aligned to strategic goals, business priorities, and value drivers
  • Support leadership in defining portfolio roadmaps and investment priorities
  • Lead portfolio intake, evaluation, and prioritization processes
  • Facilitate trade-off decisions based on value, cost, risk, and resource capacity
  • Drive annual and quarterly portfolio planning cycles
  • Establish and enforce portfolio governance frameworks, standards, and stage-gate processes
  • Lead portfolio review meetings and decision forums
  • Ensure transparency, accountability, and consistency across all initiatives
  • Define and track portfolio-level KPIs, including project execution status and benefits realization
  • Develop executive dashboards and reporting to support decision-making
  • Identify risks, dependencies, and systemic issues, and drive mitigation strategies
  • Partner with executives, business leaders, and project/program managers across functions
  • Act as a trusted advisor on portfolio health, risks, and opportunities
  • Facilitate alignment and resolve conflicts across competing priorities
  • Collaborate with the resource management lead and functional leaders to ensure effective allocation of resources
  • Monitor capacity constraints and recommend adjustments to optimize delivery
  • Support workforce planning aligned with portfolio demand
  • Drive maturity of portfolio management practices, tools, and methodologies
  • Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency and effectiveness
  • Champion a culture of data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement

What You’ll Need to Succeed:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Business, Project Management, Finance, or related field
  • 10+ years of professional experience, preferably with 5+ years’ progressive experience in the Project Management field (i.e., project scheduling, project controls, enterprise project planning, etc.)
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey products, deliverables, analyses, and/or issues to stakeholders and leadership teams
  • Ability to easily build relationships with leadership and colleagues
  • Possess an analytical mindset, with the ability to understand a situation or problem and think critically to make decisions and come up with out-of-the-box solutions
  • Be proactive in providing feedback and be enthusiastic in sharing your knowledge with others
  • Capable of prioritizing your own tasks and potentially the tasks of others while making sure deadlines are met

Things That Would be Great if You Brought to the Table:

  • Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
  • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
  • Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) certification
  • Experience with enterprise PMO / EPMO portfolio management tools such as Planview, Clarity, Planisware, ServiceNow SPM, or comparable platforms strongly preferred
  • Experience in enterprise PMO environments or large-scale program management
  • Familiarity with Earned Value Management (EVM) and performance tracking methodologies
  • Experience building portfolio dashboards and reporting frameworks

We’ll also need you to:

  • This position directly performs under, supports, or is exposed to a U.S. government contract. To comply with the requirements of that U.S. government contract, applicants for this position must be U.S. citizens
  • Be able to travel up to 10%

Work Environment:

This position primarily works in an office setting and is largely sedentary with the majority of the position working with a computer. The role typically requires the use of basic office equipment such as a phone, video, computer, keyboard, mouse, and printer.

We believe in-person connection drives innovation, strengthens mentorship, and builds culture, while flexibility enables employees to do their best work. Under Iridium’s Hybrid Work Policy, employees are expected to work at least three days per week (approximately 60%) in an Iridium office to support collaboration, relationship-building, and professional growth.

Additional Information

This job description outlines the general nature and level of work for this role and is not a comprehensive list of duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Employees may be assigned additional responsibilities as needed.

Iridium is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.

Iridium

About Iridium

In a world where global communications are increasingly essential, only one company connects everyone to the things that matter most, from pole to pole. Iridium Communications Inc. is the only mobile satellite service (MSS) company offering pole-to-pole coverage over the entire globe. The Iridium constellation of low-Earth orbiting (LEO), cross-linked satellites provides critical voice and data services for areas not served by terrestrial communication networks. Iridium's subscriber growth has been driven by increasing demand for reliable, secure, global communications. Iridium serves commercial markets through a worldwide network of hundreds of partners, and provides services to the U.S. Department of Defense, and other U.S. and international government agencies.

The company's worldwide customer base represent a broad spectrum of industry, including maritime, aeronautical, government/defense, public safety, utilities, oil/gas, mining, forestry, heavy equipment and transportation.

Iridium has been a profitable company since 2004. Business is growing at an impressive rate with the constant acquisition of new customers and partners both domestically and abroad in some of the furthest reaches of the planet. These individuals recognize the value of a system that is global, secure and reliable.

The company is headquartered in McLean, Va. and is traded on the NASDAQ (IRDM).

Industry
Telecommunications
Company Size
1,001-5,000 employees
Headquarters
McLean, VA
Year Founded
2000
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