Ardent

Why do you need to choose between doing important work and having a fulfilling life? At Ardent, we have both. Ardent employees are committed to solving our customers’ most difficult problems—and we are committed to the well-being, personal goals, and professional development of our employee. We are “All In.” We put forth our strongest effort possible to get the mission accomplished and we do it together. We respect the skills and experience you bring to the Ardent team. And we provide a rewarding environment to help you succeed.

We offer highly competitive benefits, professional development opportunities, and an exceptional culture that embraces flexibility, innovation, collaboration, and career growth. A collective service mindset underpins our work, and a shared camaraderie to serve clients, colleagues and our communities set us apart. Our full commitment to being "All In" for our employees and our clients is not just our approach, it is our standard. If this sounds like the perfect fit for you, choose Ardent and make a difference with us.

Ardent is seeking a GIS Project Manager to join our team.

This is a hybrid position located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Position Description:

Ardent is seeking a GIS Project Manager to lead program coordination and delivery for a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiative. This individual will serve as the primary representative to DHS and will have full authority to act on behalf of the Contractor regarding all contract-related matters. The Project Manager will provide strategic oversight, ensure alignment across geospatial and IT functions, and drive cross-functional coordination. The successful candidate will combine strong technical knowledge in GIS and data science with leadership in Agile project delivery and change management.

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Act as the primary point of contact for DHS and lead all contract-related communications and activities.
• Provide expert-level guidance and oversight to ensure successful delivery of geospatial and IT projects.
• Apply project management methodologies to plan, organize, and monitor progress toward technical and operational goals.
• Coordinate and communicate effectively with internal teams, stakeholders, and DHS representatives.
• Lead Agile ceremonies, mentor Scrum teams, and ensure backlogs are refined and prioritized.
• Facilitate collaboration between geospatial scientists, developers, analysts, and leadership across distributed teams.
• Oversee change management efforts and help implement governance frameworks to improve service delivery.
• Track team performance, manage risks, and report on project metrics and milestones to stakeholders.

Requirements:

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI or equivalent project management credential (or ability to obtain within 6 months of contract start).
• Demonstrated experience performing tasks of similar size, scope, and complexity on prior federal government contracts.
• Strong command of Agile frameworks and project management best practices.
• Proven experience in:
  • Change management within large IT organizations
  • Geospatial systems and data governance
  • Requirements gathering and business process improvement
  • Facilitating collaboration and conflict resolution
• Ability to lead high-performing teams, including fully remote and geographically dispersed personnel.
• Familiarity with data science principles and their application in decision-making environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience working with DHS or other federal agencies.
• Hands-on technical background in GIS technologies.
• Experience with Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence), Microsoft Project, or similar platforms.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in GIS, Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field.

Due to the nature of the work we support, all candidates in consideration for this role must be willing to undergo the government issued background investigation process.

Ardent is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other basis protected by state, local, or federal law.