Technical Program Manager

Overview

• Organize and manage the activities that lead to the outcomes of a project, what, who, when, and how.
• Adjust to deliver results on time. Monitor and communicate progress, risks, and mitigations.
• Align stakeholders on decisions and changing circumstances.
• Proactively manage the dependencies and deliverables with other related projects/teams and functions.
• Establish systems to identify improvements and in processes, products, or services on an ongoing basis, through measurement of performance, progress, and success metrics.
• Work closely with partner teams to manage and communicate changes.

Challenges:

• Independently manage existing and new cross-functional programs through their full lifecycle to meet team-level objectives.
• Balance the immediate needs of the project with the longer-term goals of the greater organization
• Collaborate to identify stakeholders and manage their expectations across program lifecycles.
• Listen effectively to stakeholders, communicate program goals, progress, and health to them in a manner tailored to their interests and concerns at all levels, and to drive understanding and inform decisions.
• Develop proficiency in planning, and leverage at least one of execution methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall) to make teams most effective.
• Possess proficiency in communications management and tailoring to different audiences and develop relevant domain knowledge required to perform job (e.g., Networking Protocols, Payments Infrastructure, OS Ecosystem, Release Management, Cloud Computing).
• Demonstrate technical understanding to the degree required and be comfortable working with engineers and with technology.

Responsibilities under the direction of Manager

Communications management (PgM/TPgM)
Design and deliver predictable program communication plans in collaboration with program stakeholders, including targeted communications by stakeholder type. Represent the program team across a wide range of communications touchpoints including Director level comms. Manage sensitive communications in close collaboration with program stakeholders.

Continuous improvement (PgM/TPgM)
Determine phasing and metrics associated with program lifecycle that effectively address continuous improvement including Resource Stewardship (effective deployment of machine and people resources) in close collaboration with program stakeholders, including near- and long-term objectives. Establish regular checkpoints to assess improvement metrics. Deliver metrics dashboards in close collaboration with program stakeholders. Provide transparency into and rationale for program pivots related to continuous improvement.

Execution and governance (PgM/TPgM)
Independently determine and collect data required to execute and govern programs effectively. Independently maintain project trackers and status reports. Identify and execute on program tasks including proactively managing dependencies. Define program governance structure by determining an effective way to manage mitigations, postmortems, and escalation reports. Lead effective program team meetings. Ensure programs instill Product Excellence values by keeping product quality, utility, and user experience top of mind. Ensure programs address Trust and Privacy by incorporating brand trust and reputation into decision-making. Advocate for Product Inclusion by considering equitable outcomes for all users in all addressable markets.

Managing organizational change (PgM/TPgM)
Execute change management requirements that are identified by program stakeholders. Develop change management rollout plans for programs including impact analyzes in close collaboration with program stakeholders. Monitor progress of change management rollout and resolve misalignments. Anticipate and influence future change management needs.

Planning (PgM/TPgM)
Independently author program charter that addresses scope and timeline of straightforward program(s), specify program OKRs, and explain resource requirements/dependencies. Create project plans that break down a project into discrete phases aligned to the product development lifecycle, including risks/dependencies, and clearly provide visibility into program constraints (scope, time, and resources).

Stakeholder management (PgM/TPgM)
Effectively build trusted relationships with program stakeholders, including managing expectations of program stakeholders and ensuring they have the insights they need to make effective decisions. Resolve duplicate efforts across program team roles and responsibilities. Identify, drive, and resolve escalations associated with missed program expectations in close collaboration with program stakeholders.

Technical judgment (PgM/TPgM)
Independently triage technical bugs and feature requests for purposes of prioritization, resourcing, and tracking execution. Where relevant, resolve bugs related to tooling and process. Assess the impact of technical regressions and other technical escalations. Design and engineer dashboards and processes that result in technical execution and velocity.

Mandatory Skills:
Communications Management (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to listen effectively to stakeholders, to communicate program goals, progress, and health to them in a manner tailored to their interests and concerns at all levels, and to drive understanding and inform decisions.
• Typical artifacts include communications plans, metrics and status reports, decision logs, newsletters, and websites.

Continuous Improvement (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to establish systems to identify improvements and drive future needs around business processes, products, or services on an ongoing basis, through measurement of performance, progress, and success metrics.
• Typical artifacts include metric plans (e.g., leading and trailing KPIs), dashboards, trend analyzes, control charts, and retrospectives.

Execution and Governance (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to organize and manage the activities that lead to the outcomes of a project. 
• Adjust to deliver results on time. Effectively monitor and communicate progress, risks, and mitigations.
• Typical artifacts include governance plans, project trackers, status reports, OKRs, retrospectives, and escalation reports.

Managing Organizational Change (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to discern when a change is appropriate and to drive change across the organization, working closely with partner teams to manage and communicate changes, introducing them in the least disruptive manner.
• Put systems and mechanisms in place to facilitate future changes. Typical artifacts include rollout plans and impact analyzes.

Planning (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to identify stakeholders and work with them to strategize, plan, and prioritize objectives, estimate task durations, and ensure schedules and dependencies are aligned and support those objectives.
• Leverage a variety of methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall) to make teams most effective.
• Typical artifacts include proposals, program charters, project plans, OKRs, roadmaps, and risk registers.

Stakeholder Management (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to forge and maintain effective program teams within and across an organization, understand and address their needs and health, and support them throughout the lifecycle of their undertaking.
• Typical artifacts include RACI charts, stakeholder maps, OKRs, and CSAT reports.

Technical Judgment (PgM/TPgM)

• Ability to assess engineering problems (see SWE Knowledge and Skills for reference), understand the interplay between program and technical issues, and contribute to shaping technical directions.
• Typical artifacts include technical analyzes, bugs and CLs, Eng Review presentations, and technical roadmaps and white papers.