Technical Debt Project Manager

Job Title: Senior Technical Debt Project Manager

Location: Fully Remote - MUST BE IN EST/CST Time Zone

Client: State of North Dakota - Health and Human Services (NDHHS)

Pay Rate: $65/hr on Agama W2 or Own Corp C2C - no 3rd Party Vendors

Job Summary:

The State of North Dakota is seeking a seasoned Technical Debt Project Manager to lead the retirement of mainframe-based legacy applications and oversee efforts to reduce technical debt across NDHHS. This role will manage the decommissioning of 27 applications currently operating on outdated platforms like COBOL, DB2, and ADABAS running on IBM Z-Series mainframes. The PM will drive coordination between IT and business stakeholders, manage vendors and costs, and ensure the successful migration or elimination of unsupported systems.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead and manage mainframe retirement projects and technical debt reduction initiatives

Coordinate work across IT, business units, and vendor teams

Track project scope, resources, costs, timelines, and deliverables

Collaborate closely with the larger PM and LPO PM teams to ensure compliance and QA

Support modernization efforts, IT process updates, and data decommissioning activities Required Qualifications:

10+ years of IT project management experience

5+ years in software development, systems architecture, or IT infrastructure

Demonstrated experience managing the retirement of mainframe technologies

Proven experience handling technical debt initiatives

Familiarity with Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall methodologies

Strong communication, leadership, problem-solving, and risk management skills Preferred Qualifications:

State government experience in mainframe retirement projects

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) or GIAC Project Manager (GCPM)

Technical knowledge of COBOL, DB2, ADABAS, and IBM Z-Series systems