A Project Manager at BankUnited plays a critical role in driving strategic execution across the organization. Operating primarily within the Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), you will be responsible for leading complex initiatives that directly impact the bank's digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency. Unlike project management roles in non-regulated industries, a Project Manager at BankUnited must balance rapid execution with strict adherence to financial regulations and risk management frameworks.

Your work will directly influence how the bank serves its customers, protects its assets, and scales its operations. Whether you are leading a cross-functional team as an EPMO Portfolio Manager in Miami Lakes or facilitating agile delivery as a hybrid Scrum Master, you will act as the vital link between executive stakeholders, technology teams, and business units. This requires not only strong organizational skills but also the business acumen to ensure every project aligns with the bank's broader financial goals.

The environment is highly collaborative, structured, and execution-oriented. You will navigate a matrixed organization where clear communication, risk mitigation, and stakeholder alignment are paramount. For candidates who thrive on bringing order to complex, high-stakes environments, this role offers a platform to drive visible, lasting change within a leading regional financial institution.

The questions you will face during your BankUnited interview are designed to evaluate your practical project management experience, leadership style, and ability to navigate a regulated corporate environment. Interviewers focus on real-world scenarios rather than theoretical frameworks, looking for a track record of successful delivery and structured problem-solving.

Project Management Methodology & Governance

• How do you determine the best methodology (Waterfall, Agile, or Hybrid) for a new project within a financial services environment?
• Can you walk me through your approach to setting up a project charter and establishing governance with senior stakeholders?
• Describe a time when a project's scope began to creep. How did you identify it, and what steps did you take to bring the project back on track?

To succeed in the BankUnited interview process, you must demonstrate a balance of technical execution, structured leadership, and cultural alignment. Your preparation should focus on how you deliver value while managing risk.

Role-Related Knowledge – You must show a deep understanding of project management frameworks (such as PMBOK or Agile/Scrum) and how to apply them practically. Interviewers will evaluate your ability to manage budgets, project schedules, resource allocation, and risk registers within a structured EPMO framework.

Execution & Problem-Solving – You need to prove that you can drive projects to completion despite ambiguity, shifting priorities, or resource constraints. Be prepared to explain how you identify critical path dependencies, mitigate risks before they become issues, and make data-driven decisions under pressure.

Stakeholder Leadership – Managing relationships is at the core of this role. You will be evaluated on your ability to influence without authority, negotiate compromises between competing business units, and communicate complex technical or operational concepts clearly to executive leaders.

Regulatory & Risk Awareness – Operating in the banking sector means every project has compliance, security, and regulatory implications. You should demonstrate an understanding of how to incorporate risk assessments, internal audits, and compliance reviews into your project plans.

The interview process for a Project Manager at BankUnited is highly structured, practical, and collaborative. It is designed to evaluate both your technical project management capabilities and your cultural fit within the EPMO and broader business teams.

The process typically begins with an initial screening conversation, which may be conducted by an internal recruiter or an external staffing partner like Randstad. This conversation focuses on verifying your core qualifications, salary expectations, and alignment with the role's location requirements (such as hybrid or onsite work in Miami Lakes, FL).

Following a successful screen, you will move to a deep-dive interview with the hiring manager, typically the PMO Manager or a senior Portfolio Manager. This stage focuses heavily on your past work experience, project delivery methodology, and behavioral scenarios. The final stage is a panel interview consisting of senior program managers, peer project managers, and key business stakeholders. This round assesses your ability to collaborate, manage stakeholder expectations, and fit into the team dynamic.

The visual timeline outlines the typical progression from the initial contact to the final decision. You should expect the entire process to take approximately two to four weeks, depending on stakeholder availability. Use this timeline to pace your preparation, ensuring you focus on core behavioral stories early on and refine your stakeholder management examples before the final panel.

To stand out in the BankUnited interview process, you must understand the specific competencies the hiring team evaluates during each round.

EPMO Governance & Methodology

The EPMO at BankUnited operates with a high level of rigor to ensure all initiatives align with corporate strategy and regulatory standards. Interviewers will assess how well you understand project governance, documentation, and reporting.

Be ready to go over:

• Project Chartering – How you define scope, objectives, and stakeholder roles at the initiation of a project.
• Financial Management – Your experience tracking project budgets, forecasting variances, and managing capital versus operational expenses.
• Stage-Gate Processes – How you navigate project phases, from discovery and planning through execution, testing, and closure.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Portfolio-level resource capacity planning and capital allocation modeling.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you establish a communication plan and governance structure for a multi-million dollar project with multiple business sponsors."
• "How do you handle a situation where a project budget is tracking 15% over plan mid-way through the execution phase?"

Agile & Hybrid Delivery

With roles like hybrid Scrum Master being key to the bank's modern delivery model, you must demonstrate flexibility in your execution approach. You need to show that you can apply Agile principles effectively within a historically traditional corporate environment.

Be ready to go over:

• Ceremony Facilitation – Running effective daily standups, sprint planning, backlog grooming, and retrospectives.
• Velocity & Capacity Tracking – Using data to help teams commit to realistic sprint goals and improve delivery predictability.
• Hybrid Frameworks – Managing projects where the software development is Agile, but the business readiness and deployment follow a Waterfall timeline.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you transition a team that is accustomed to Waterfall project management into a highly collaborative Scrum framework?"
• "Describe how you manage dependencies when your Agile team relies on a legacy systems team that operates on a monthly release cycle."

Risk, Issue, and Dependency Management

In banking, risk management is not an afterthought—it is a core component of project delivery. Interviewers will look closely at how you proactively identify, log, and mitigate risks.

Be ready to go over:

• RAID Logs – How you actively maintain and utilize Risk, Action, Issue, and Dependency logs to keep projects on track.
• Critical Path Analysis – Identifying the sequence of crucial stages determining the minimum time needed for project completion.
• Vendor Management – Managing third-party software providers or integration partners to ensure they meet their contractual milestones.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a project risk that escalated into a critical issue. How did you handle the escalation, and what was the outcome?"
• "How do you manage a critical dependency on an external vendor when they fall behind schedule?"