1. What is a Project Manager at DICK'S Sporting Goods?

As a Project Manager at DICK'S Sporting Goods, you are at the heart of the intersection between retail innovation, technology, and the athlete experience. This role is crucial to our mission of equipping athletes and outdoor enthusiasts with the gear they need to perform at their best. You will be responsible for orchestrating complex, cross-functional initiatives that directly impact our omnichannel retail strategy, supply chain efficiency, and corporate operations.

Your impact extends far beyond standard project tracking. Whether you are driving an IT infrastructure upgrade at our Coraopolis campus, rolling out a new point-of-sale system across hundreds of retail locations, or optimizing our e-commerce platform, your work ensures that our business moves with agility and precision. You are the connective tissue between technical teams, business stakeholders, and executive leadership.

Expect a dynamic environment where passion for sports and retail is just as important as your technical project management expertise. You will navigate a blend of cutting-edge retail technologies and legacy enterprise systems. For the right candidate, this role offers tremendous visibility, the chance to influence strategic direction, and the opportunity to build products and processes that serve millions of athletes nationwide.

2. Common Interview Questions

The questions below represent the themes and patterns you will encounter during your interviews. While you should not memorize answers, you should use these to prepare structured, compelling stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Domain and Culture Fit

We want to know that you are excited to be here and that you understand our core business, even if your background is in IT.

• Why are you interested in joining DICK'S Sporting Goods?
• What do you know about the sporting goods retail market?
• How does your past experience translate to a retail and consumer-focused environment?
• Tell me about a time you had to quickly learn a new industry to be effective in your role.

Behavioral and Stakeholder Management

These questions test your emotional intelligence, leadership, and ability to navigate a conversational, relationship-driven culture.

• Tell me about a time you had to manage a difficult stakeholder.
• How do you handle a situation where project team members have conflicting priorities?
• Describe a time when you had to steer a meeting back on track when stakeholders were dominating the conversation.
• How do you build trust with a team that has been working together for a long time?

Project Execution and Problem Solving

We need to see your tactical project management skills and how you handle adversity, particularly regarding system integrations and requirements.

• Tell me about a time a project failed or missed a major deadline. What did you learn?
• How do you ensure that you have captured all technical requirements, including those for legacy systems?
• Walk me through your process for managing scope creep.
• Describe a situation where a critical requirement was missed during the planning phase. How did you pivot?

3. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparation is your greatest asset. At DICK'S Sporting Goods, we look for Project Managers who bring a blend of structured execution, exceptional communication, and a genuine connection to our core business.

You will be evaluated across several key dimensions:

• Domain and Retail Acumen – We evaluate your understanding of the sporting goods industry and the broader retail landscape. Even if you are interviewing for an IT-focused PM role, you must demonstrate curiosity and knowledge about how our business operates and serves athletes.
• Stakeholder Management and Influence – We look at how you build relationships, communicate across different levels of tenure, and align cross-functional teams. You will need to show how you guide conversations and manage expectations with directors and senior managers.
• Adaptability and Problem-Solving – We assess your ability to navigate ambiguity, particularly when dealing with complex enterprise environments that blend new platforms with legacy systems. You must demonstrate how you uncover hidden requirements and pivot when challenges arise.
• Cultural Fit and Communication Style – We value a collaborative, open, and relaxed working environment. Interviewers will look for candidates who are approachable, easy to talk to, and capable of naturally steering a conversation without being overly rigid.

4. Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Project Manager at DICK'S Sporting Goods is designed to be comprehensive, ensuring you have the opportunity to meet a wide array of team members, from peers to senior leadership. The process typically kicks off with an initial recruiter screening to assess your baseline experience and alignment with the role. This is usually followed by a deeper conversation with the hiring manager, who will evaluate your core project management competencies and overall fit for the team.

If you progress, you will enter our panel interview phase. We heavily utilize panel interviews to gather diverse perspectives on your candidacy. You can expect to meet with a mix of directors, senior managers, and cross-functional partners. Depending on the specific team and scope of the role, this phase can span across a few days and involve anywhere from two to several distinct panel sessions. While the time commitment can be significant, the environment is intentionally relaxed, welcoming, and conversational.

Our interviewers are known to be highly engaging and conversational. You will find that the discussions are less about rigid technical grilling and more about exploring your past experiences, your communication style, and your alignment with our company values.

This timeline illustrates the typical progression from your initial screening through the final panel rounds. Use this visual to anticipate the pacing of your interviews and prepare your stamina for the panel stages. Remember that the final stages are highly collaborative, so plan to bring plenty of questions for the various stakeholders you will meet.

5. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed, you must understand exactly what our interviewers are looking for in each phase of the conversation. Below are the core evaluation areas you will encounter.

Sporting Goods and Retail Domain Knowledge

Even if your background is strictly in IT or technical project management, DICK'S Sporting Goods is fundamentally a retail company driven by a passion for sports. Interviewers will evaluate your interest in and understanding of our industry. Strong candidates seamlessly connect their technical or operational project management experience to business outcomes that impact the customer or "athlete."

Be ready to go over:

• Industry Trends – Understanding the current landscape of sporting goods, e-commerce, and omnichannel retail.
• Customer Impact – How internal projects ultimately improve the retail experience or supply chain efficiency.
• Brand Alignment – Your personal connection to sports, fitness, or the outdoors, and how it aligns with our corporate mission.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "What do you know about the sporting goods industry, and why do you want to work here?"
• "How would you approach a project where the end-users are retail store associates?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to learn a completely new business domain to successfully deliver a project."

Stakeholder Communication and Leadership

Our culture is highly communicative. Interviewers will assess your ability to hold your own in a room full of senior leaders and your capacity to drive consensus among talkative, passionate stakeholders. Strong performance here means you can actively listen, respectfully take control of a wandering conversation, and present clear, actionable updates.

Be ready to go over:

• Cross-Functional Alignment – Navigating differing priorities between IT, merchandising, and store operations.
• Executive Communication – Tailoring your message for directors and senior managers versus technical execution teams.
• Conflict Resolution – Managing scope creep or pushback from tenured employees.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time you had to influence a senior stakeholder who disagreed with your project timeline."
• "How do you keep meetings productive when participants are highly conversational and prone to going off-topic?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news about a project's budget or schedule."

Project Delivery and Systems Adaptability

While our interviews lean heavily behavioral, you must prove your foundational project management chops. Furthermore, you must demonstrate adaptability. Like many large enterprises, our tech stack includes both modern cloud infrastructure and highly specific legacy systems. Interviewers want to see that you are meticulous about uncovering exact technical requirements and constraints early in a project.

Be ready to go over:

• Methodologies – Practical application of Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall methodologies depending on the project's needs.
• Risk Management – Identifying underlying technical constraints or legacy system dependencies before they derail a project.
• Resource Allocation – Managing budgets, timelines, and vendor relationships effectively.
• Requirement Elicitation – Specialized techniques for extracting exact system requirements from non-technical stakeholders.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you build a project plan when the underlying technology is outdated or unfamiliar to you."
• "Tell me about a time a project was delayed due to an unforeseen technical dependency. How did you handle it?"
• "How do you ensure that all specific system requirements are captured before development begins?"

6. Key Responsibilities

As a Project Manager, your day-to-day work is a balancing act of strategic planning and tactical execution. You will be tasked with leading end-to-end project lifecycles, from initial scoping and budget approval to final delivery and post-launch review. You will spend a significant portion of your time facilitating meetings, tracking milestones, and ensuring that all cross-functional teams—ranging from software engineering to retail operations—are aligned on the project's goals.

You will act as the primary point of contact for project status, meaning you must constantly synthesize complex updates into digestible reports for senior leadership. Additionally, you will be responsible for identifying risks, managing vendor relationships, and ensuring that legacy system integrations are handled smoothly without disrupting ongoing retail operations. Your ability to maintain a calm, organized environment amidst the fast-paced nature of retail will be critical to your success.

7. Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be competitive for this role, you must bring a mix of structured project management discipline and exceptional interpersonal skills.

• Must-have skills – Proven experience managing large-scale, cross-functional projects. Strong command of project management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, MS Project). Exceptional verbal and written communication skills. The ability to manage and influence senior stakeholders. A demonstrated ability to adapt to new business domains quickly.
• Nice-to-have skills – Prior experience in the retail, e-commerce, or sporting goods industry. PMP, CSM, or related certifications. Experience navigating and integrating specific legacy enterprise systems or ERPs. Familiarity with both Agile and Waterfall methodologies in a hybrid environment.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How technical are the interviews for an IT Project Manager role? The interviews are generally not highly technical in the sense of coding or architecture design. Instead, they focus heavily on behavioral questions, your communication style, and your ability to manage technical projects and stakeholders.

Q: What is the interview environment like? Candidates frequently describe the environment as relaxed, calm, and friendly. Our interviewers are often "talkers," meaning conversations flow easily. You will find our campuses (like Coraopolis and Pittsburgh) to be highly welcoming and visually impressive.

Q: How many rounds of interviews should I expect? The process has recently shifted to be more panel-heavy. After the initial recruiter and hiring manager screens, you should be prepared for 2 to 3 panel sessions, which may involve meeting with up to 6 or more cross-functional leaders over a few days.

Q: Do I need to be an expert in sports to get the job? While you do not need to be a professional athlete, you absolutely must show an interest in the sporting goods domain. Interviewers will ask you about the industry, so having a foundational understanding of our products and market position is essential.

Q: What is the biggest pitfall for candidates in this process? Assuming that general project management skills are enough. Candidates sometimes fail because they lack specific experience with a legacy system that the team heavily relies on. Always ask probing questions about the exact tech stack during your initial interviews.

9. Other General Tips

• Guide the Conversation: Our interviewers are friendly and love to talk. Use this to your advantage. You can easily control the flow of the interview by actively listening and naturally guiding the conversation back to your strengths and project management methodologies.
• Show Your Passion for the Brand: Do not underestimate the importance of domain knowledge. Spend time researching our recent strategic initiatives, store concepts (like House of Sport), and community impact. Bring this knowledge into your answers.

• Probe for Hidden Requirements: A common challenge is discovering late in the process that the team is looking for experience with a very specific, sometimes outdated, enterprise system.

• Prepare for Panel Dynamics: When interviewing with a mix of directors and senior managers, ensure you make eye contact (or address by name if virtual) with everyone. Balance your answers to appeal to both the strategic concerns of directors and the tactical concerns of managers.

10. Summary & Next Steps

Stepping into a Project Manager role at DICK'S Sporting Goods is a unique opportunity to blend operational excellence with a passion for retail and sports. You will be challenged to drive high-impact projects that touch every corner of our business, from corporate infrastructure to the in-store athlete experience.

Your success in this interview process relies on your ability to confidently showcase your project management fundamentals while demonstrating exceptional stakeholder communication. Embrace the conversational nature of our interviews, be prepared to navigate a panel-heavy process, and always tie your technical execution back to our core mission of serving the athlete.

This compensation data provides a baseline expectation for the Project Manager role. Keep in mind that actual offers will vary based on your specific years of experience, your location, and whether the role falls into a specialized IT or general business classification. Use this information to anchor your expectations and negotiate confidently when the time comes.

You have the skills and the drive to succeed in this process. Take the time to refine your stories, research our business, and prepare your questions. For even more detailed insights, peer experiences, and preparation tools, continue exploring resources on Dataford. Good luck—you are ready for this!