1. What is a Project Manager at Lee Health?

As a Project Manager at Lee Health, you are at the center of operational excellence and strategic growth for one of the largest public health systems in Florida. This role is not just about tracking timelines; it is about driving initiatives that directly impact patient care, community health, and organizational efficiency. You will be responsible for leading complex, cross-functional projects that require a deep understanding of healthcare operations, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder alignment.

The impact of this position spans across multiple domains within the organization. Depending on your specific alignment—whether you are working as a Community Health Program Manager, overseeing Capital Sourcing, or managing Payor Contracts—your work ensures that our resources are utilized effectively and our community receives the highest standard of care. You will bridge the gap between clinical needs and business objectives, translating high-level strategy into actionable, measurable results.

Working at Lee Health requires agility and resilience. Our environment is dynamic, and project scopes can evolve rapidly to meet the changing needs of the healthcare landscape. You can expect a challenging but deeply rewarding experience where your leadership will directly contribute to the well-being of the Fort Myers community and beyond.

2. Common Interview Questions

The following questions represent the types of inquiries you will face during your Lee Health interviews. While you should not memorize answers, you should use these to practice structuring your responses using the STAR format.

Behavioral & Leadership

These questions test your ability to navigate human dynamics, resolve conflicts, and lead teams effectively.

• Tell me about a time you had to lead a cross-functional team where members had conflicting priorities.
• Describe a situation where you had to influence a senior leader to adopt your recommendation.
• Walk me through a time you had to deliver difficult news to a project sponsor.
• Give an example of how you have handled an underperforming team member who did not report directly to you.
• Tell me about a time you built a successful relationship with a difficult stakeholder.

Adaptability & Ambiguity

These questions evaluate your resilience and flexibility when project parameters change unexpectedly.

• Tell me about a time the scope of your project changed drastically. How did you adapt?
• Describe a situation where you had to make a critical decision with incomplete information.
• Give an example of a time your project lost its funding or resources, but you still had to deliver results.
• Walk me through a time you prepared extensively for a project or meeting, only to find out the goals had shifted at the last minute.
• Tell me about a time you had to pivot your strategy because your initial approach was failing.

Project Management Fundamentals

These questions assess your technical ability to plan, execute, and measure the success of an initiative.

• How do you determine the critical path for a complex, multi-phase project?
• Tell me about a time you successfully identified and mitigated a major project risk.
• Walk me through your process for gathering requirements from non-technical stakeholders.
• Describe a time you utilized data to improve a broken operational process.
• How do you ensure that a project's deliverables continue to provide value after the project has closed?

3. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for a Project Manager interview at Lee Health requires a strategic approach. We evaluate candidates not just on their technical project management skills, but on their ability to navigate complex organizational structures and lead with empathy.

Focus your preparation on the following key evaluation criteria:

Behavioral Competency and Leadership – We rely heavily on behavioral interviewing to understand how you have handled real-world challenges. Interviewers will look for your ability to influence without authority, manage cross-functional teams, and drive consensus among diverse stakeholders, including clinical staff and executive leadership. You must demonstrate these skills using clear, structured examples.

Adaptability and Ambiguity Navigation – Healthcare is a rapidly evolving sector, and project parameters at Lee Health can shift even while initiatives are in flight. We evaluate your capacity to pivot gracefully when goals change, re-align your resources, and maintain team morale during periods of uncertainty.

Process and Problem-Solving – We expect you to bring a structured approach to solving operational bottlenecks. You will be assessed on how you define problems, gather data, design solutions, and implement sustainable processes. Candidates who can articulate a clear methodology for risk mitigation and resource allocation stand out.

Healthcare Domain Awareness – While you do not always need to be a clinician, understanding the nuances of healthcare operations—such as payor contracting, capital sourcing, or community health dynamics—is crucial. We look for candidates who understand the regulatory and operational constraints unique to our industry.

4. Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Project Manager at Lee Health is rigorous, thorough, and designed to ensure a strong mutual fit. You will typically begin with an initial screening by our HR team, which focuses on your background, high-level qualifications, and basic cultural alignment. This is often followed by multiple virtual or in-person interviews with various levels of the organization, including peer project managers, department directors, and the hiring manager.

A defining characteristic of our process is the heavy emphasis on behavioral assessments. You should expect to spend roughly an hour with each interviewer, answering deep-dive questions based on the Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) framework. Furthermore, for critical project management roles, Lee Health frequently utilizes a comprehensive third-party psychological and behavioral assessment. This stage is designed to evaluate your working style, resilience, and decision-making under pressure.

Because our organizational needs can shift, you may occasionally find that the focus of the role evolves slightly between your initial screen and your final interview. We value candidates who remain flexible and approach these shifts as opportunities to showcase their broad strategic capabilities.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression from your initial HR screen through the multiple behavioral rounds and the specialized third-party assessment. Use this to pace your preparation, keeping in mind that the later stages—particularly the behavioral testing—will require significant mental endurance. Variations in this timeline may occur depending on the specific department, such as Capital Sourcing versus Payor Contracting.

5. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed in your interviews, you must understand exactly what our teams are looking for. Below is a detailed breakdown of the primary areas where you will be evaluated.

Behavioral and Situational Leadership

Because project managers at Lee Health must align diverse teams, your behavioral track record is the most critical component of your evaluation. Interviewers will probe deeply into your past experiences to see how you handle conflict, drive accountability, and communicate across different levels of an organization. Strong performance here means providing highly specific examples that highlight your direct contributions and leadership style.

Be ready to go over:

• Stakeholder alignment – How you build consensus between clinical leaders, financial teams, and external vendors.
• Conflict resolution – Your approach to navigating disagreements regarding project scope, budget, or timelines.
• Change management – How you guide teams through new software implementations or operational restructuring.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Crisis communication protocols, managing vendor non-performance, and executive-level reporting strategies.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you had to align two stakeholders who had completely opposite goals for a project."
• "Describe a situation where a critical project was falling behind schedule. What specific actions did you take to course-correct?"
• "Walk me through a time you had to implement a new process that was met with significant resistance from the team."

Adaptability and Scope Management

Projects at Lee Health can experience scope changes due to shifting regulatory requirements, funding adjustments, or immediate clinical needs. We evaluate how you handle these pivots. A strong candidate does not just accept changes; they proactively analyze the impact on the timeline and budget, and communicate these impacts transparently to stakeholders.

Be ready to go over:

• Scope creep mitigation – Techniques you use to keep projects focused while accommodating necessary changes.
• Agile prioritization – How you decide which deliverables to pause when urgent organizational priorities emerge.
• Resource reallocation – Strategies for moving budgets or personnel when a project's direction changes mid-flight.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time when the requirements of your project changed significantly halfway through. How did you handle it?"
• "Tell me about a situation where you lacked the necessary resources to complete a project but still had to meet the deadline."
• "How do you manage your team's morale when leadership abruptly shifts the strategic direction of your work?"

Process Improvement and Execution

We look for project managers who are not just administrators, but true problem solvers. You will be evaluated on your ability to look at an inefficient workflow, identify the root cause of the delay, and implement a streamlined solution. Strong candidates will speak to specific methodologies (like Lean, Six Sigma, or Agile) and demonstrate how they track post-implementation success.

Be ready to go over:

• Root cause analysis – How you identify why a project failed or a process is broken.
• KPI development – The metrics you establish to ensure a project delivers its intended value.
• Risk management – How you build contingency plans for high-stakes healthcare initiatives.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through a time you identified a major inefficiency in your organization's operations. How did you fix it?"
• "Explain your process for identifying and mitigating risks at the beginning of a complex project."
• "Tell me about a time a project you managed failed to meet its key objectives. What did you learn?"

6. Key Responsibilities

As a Project Manager at Lee Health, your day-to-day work will revolve around driving strategic initiatives from conception to execution. You will be tasked with developing comprehensive project plans, defining resource requirements, and establishing clear timelines. A significant portion of your day will be spent in active communication—facilitating meetings, drafting status reports, and ensuring that all project contributors understand their deliverables and deadlines.

Collaboration is at the heart of this role. You will work closely with clinical staff, financial analysts, IT professionals, and external vendors. For example, if you are working as a Program Manager for Capital Sourcing, you will partner heavily with supply chain and finance teams to optimize procurement strategies. If you are managing Payor Contracts, your focus will shift toward legal, compliance, and revenue cycle teams.

You will also be responsible for continuous process improvement. Lee Health expects its project managers to identify bottlenecks within existing workflows and propose data-driven solutions. You will track project performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and present these findings to senior leadership, ensuring that every initiative aligns with our overarching mission to provide exceptional community health services.

7. Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be competitive for the Project Manager position at Lee Health, you must bring a blend of structured methodology and exceptional interpersonal skills. We look for candidates who can seamlessly transition between high-level strategy and granular execution.

• Must-have skills – Deep proficiency in behavioral interviewing (specifically the STAR method), strong cross-functional communication, proven experience managing end-to-end project lifecycles, and the ability to navigate ambiguous or shifting project scopes.
• Must-have experience – Several years of dedicated project or program management experience, a track record of managing multiple concurrent initiatives, and experience presenting to senior leadership.
• Nice-to-have skills – Familiarity with healthcare operations (such as payor contracting or capital sourcing), proficiency with enterprise project management software, and experience in process improvement methodologies (Lean/Six Sigma).
• Nice-to-have qualifications – Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, or specific educational backgrounds in Healthcare Administration or Business Management.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? The process can be lengthy, often spanning several weeks. You should expect an initial HR screen, followed by up to three 1-hour virtual interviews with different levels of leadership. For many PM roles, you will also be scheduled for a comprehensive 2.5-hour third-party psychological/behavioral assessment, followed by a final interview.

Q: What is the purpose of the third-party psychological assessment? Lee Health uses this assessment to ensure a strong cultural and behavioral fit. The 2.5-hour test evaluates your working style, problem-solving approach under pressure, and leadership tendencies. It helps us understand how you will integrate with our existing teams and handle the high-stakes environment of healthcare management.

Q: Why might the role description change during the interview process? Healthcare is a dynamic industry, and our strategic needs can shift rapidly. As noted in past candidate experiences, it is possible for the exact scope of a PM role to evolve between your initial screen and your hiring manager interview. We view a candidate's ability to adapt to these changes during the interview as a strong indicator of their on-the-job flexibility.

Q: How strictly does Lee Health look for the STAR method? Very strictly. Our interviewers are trained to listen for the Situation, Task, Action, and Result. If you provide vague answers or focus too much on what "we" did rather than what "I" did, interviewers will continually probe for specific, individual actions.

Q: Is healthcare experience strictly required for this role? While highly preferred—especially for specialized roles like Payor Contract Manager—it is not always an absolute requirement if your core project management and behavioral skills are exceptional. However, you must demonstrate a clear understanding of the regulatory and operational complexities of the healthcare sector.

9. Other General Tips

• Master the STAR Framework: Do not deviate from this structure. Write down 5-7 versatile stories from your past experience and practice molding them into the Situation, Task, Action, Result format. Ensure your "Result" includes quantifiable data wherever possible.
• Prepare for an Endurance Test: The interview process is thorough. Treat the multiple 1-hour interviews and the lengthy third-party assessment like a marathon. Rest well beforehand and maintain a consistent, positive energy across all rounds.

• Clarify the Scope Early and Often: Because project needs can evolve, make it a habit to ask clarifying questions at the beginning of each interview round. Confirming the current priorities of the role will help you tailor your answers effectively.
• Bring a Flexible Portfolio: If you plan to share a portfolio or project examples, ensure they highlight a diverse range of skills. If the role's focus shifts during the interview process, you want to be able to pull from different examples that match the new direction.

• Connect to the Community: Lee Health is deeply embedded in the Fort Myers community. Whenever possible, tie your project management philosophy back to how efficient processes ultimately improve patient care and community well-being.

10. Summary & Next Steps

Stepping into a Project Manager role at Lee Health means taking on a position of significant influence and responsibility. You will be challenged to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes, adapt to shifting priorities, and drive initiatives that have a tangible impact on healthcare delivery in Southwest Florida. By mastering your behavioral narratives and demonstrating your ability to lead through ambiguity, you will position yourself as a highly competitive candidate.

The compensation data above reflects the variations in the Project Manager title at Lee Health. Depending on the specific focus—such as Community Health, Capital Sourcing, or Payor Contracts—roles may be structured hourly (ranging from $30 to$42 USD) or as a salaried position (ranging from $57,000 to$74,000 USD). Use this information to set realistic expectations and negotiate effectively based on the specific scope of the role you are offered.

Your preparation should now focus heavily on refining your STAR stories and mentally preparing for a rigorous, multi-stage evaluation. Remember that every question is an opportunity to showcase your resilience, strategic thinking, and dedication to process excellence. For more insights, practice questions, and peer experiences, continue exploring resources on Dataford. You have the skills to succeed—now it is time to execute with confidence.