Implementation Team Lead

BusPlanner is building a world-class Projects practice, and we are looking for a driven, talented, and experienced Implementation Team Lead to help us get there. This is a player-coach role: you will own and deliver your own client implementations while also guiding, mentoring, and elevating a team of Implementation Consultants. It is a unique opportunity to shape how we onboard clients and build the processes that scale our growing practice.

Who we are
BusPlanner builds market-leading software solutions for K-12 transportation departments across North America. We are on a mission to improve student transportation and empower the people who make it happen. We firmly believe that it takes both product innovation and stellar customer service to achieve our mission. BusPlanner has a 40-year legacy in delivering winning products and services to its clients, and we are only getting started!

What you will do

• Lead end-to-end client onboarding projects, building and managing detailed project timelines to ensure a smooth and transparent implementation journey
• Deliver clear, proactive, and client-friendly communication at every stage, and coordinate across Technical Solutions, GIS, and Development teams to keep deliverables, dependencies, and milestones aligned
• Mentor and coach Implementation Consultants through regular check-ins, project reviews, and real-time guidance on client situations
• Serve as the escalation point for complex client issues, helping ICs navigate difficult conversations and unblock stalled projects
• Monitor project health across the team - proactively identifying risks, resource conflicts, and capacity issues before they become problems

What success in this role looks like

• Your clients feel informed, supported, and confident throughout the entire implementation journey - no surprises, no confusion
• Data migrations are executed accurately and on time, with minimal back-and-forth or rework
• Implementation Consultants on your team are growing - they are handling more complex projects, making better decisions, and needing less hand-holding over time
• Cross-functional teams enjoy working with your team because projects are organized and communication is clear
• The Implementation Manager has strong visibility into project status and team performance without having to chase updates

You’ll likely do well in this role if you:

• Like owning outcomes, not waiting for direction - and you want your team to operate the same way
• Enjoy turning messy information into structured plans and teaching others to do it too
• Communicate early, clearly, and often rather than hoping problems fix themselves
• Care about client experience as much as technical accuracy
• Naturally look for ways to make the next project easier than the last

This probably isn’t the right fit if you:

• Prefer narrowly defined tasks instead of end-to-end ownership
• Dislike ambiguity or need every answer before starting
• Feel drained by explaining the same concept in different ways to different audiences
• Would rather do everything yourself than invest time developing others
• Are uncomfortable balancing your own project work with supporting a team

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in software implementations, client onboarding, or similar project management roles (bonus points for familiarity with public sector clients)
• Demonstrated experience mentoring, coaching, or leading peers - formal title not required, but you need to show you have elevated others
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills - you can make the complex feel simple
• Comfort working with data in Excel and an eagerness to leverage AI tools in your day-to-day work
• Ability to context-switch between your own client delivery and supporting the team without dropping either