Project Lead

About Cognizant: Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, bridging the gap between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, drive tangible outcomes and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world.

See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant. About the role As a Project Lead for Store Checkout , you will play a key role in delivering checkout and point-of-sale (POS) capabilities for new store launches and major retail transformation initiatives. You will be a valued member of our Retail & Consumer Technology team, working closely with Product Owners, Architects, Store Operations, Engineering teams, Vendors, and Business Stakeholders, you will drive the end-to-end delivery of checkout solutions across multiple store opening programs and rollout initiatives.

You will be responsible for ensuring that checkout capabilities are implemented safely, on schedule, and in alignment with business objectives and operational requirements. This is a highly visible role within a large-scale retail expansion and modernization program, requiring strong delivery leadership, stakeholder management, and execution expertise. You will shape delivery plans, manage dependencies across multiple teams, oversee rollout activities, and ensure every new store is equipped with reliable, scalable, and customer-focused checkout solutions.

Your ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on project execution will be critical to the successful launch of new retail locations and ongoing transformation efforts. In this role, you will: Project Lead for Store Checkout workstreams in New Store Openings, store rebuilds, relocations, and major refurbishments, ensuring successful deployment of POS, self-checkout, payment solutions, and supporting store technology in alignment with global standards, project timelines, budgets, and operational readiness requirements.

Lead and coordinate end-to-end delivery of Store Checkout initiatives across multiple product teams. Own scope, schedule, quality, and release readiness for committed SOW and change request deliverables. Coordinate cross-functional teams including Product, Engineering, Store Operations and external vendors. Plan and oversee phased store rollouts, including pilots, cutover windows, and rollback readiness. Support continuous improvement initiatives and identify opportunities for process optimization.

Ensure operational readiness before ownership transfer, including validated SOPs, runbooks, monitoring, and L1/L2 support handover. Partner with client stakeholders, architects, payments, retail platform, and store infrastructure teams to manage dependencies. Run operational and tactical governance, including status reporting, risk and issue management, and escalation. Work Model We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible.

Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs. The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What You Must Have to Be Considered 8+ years of experience in software delivery, with 3+ years leading multi-team programs or projects. Demonstrated experience delivering retail technology, ideally POS, checkout, payments, or store systems. Strong understanding of Agile at scale (SAFe or similar), including PI planning and cross-team dependency management. Proven experience managing SOW/CR-based commercials, budgets, and margin targets.

Familiarity with observability and operations tooling such as Dynatrace, Splunk, Prometheus, and Grafana. Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and leadership skills. Experience coordinating cross-functional teams in multi-vendor, hybrid, and distributed delivery environments. These Will Help You Stand Out Familiarity with in-store rollout logistics and change management. Experience with near-shore or hybrid delivery models.

Knowledge of retail operations, store support models, and incident management. Experience leading programs within retail, e-commerce, or omnichannel environments. PSM, SAFe, or equivalent certification. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. Experience within complex enterprise transformation programs.