Program Lead

We are seeking an experienced Program Lead to transform complex, high-visibility initiatives into structured, scalable product delivery programs. This is a senior leadership role for someone who has successfully built governance, delivery frameworks, and operating models around large enterprise technology initiatives-not simply managed existing processes.

The ideal candidate has a proven history of taking ambiguous, cross-functional programs and establishing the discipline needed to deliver measurable business outcomes. They excel at bringing order to complexity by creating product roadmaps, governing backlogs, driving executive reporting, and holding diverse technical teams accountable without direct management authority.

This individual will work closely with executive stakeholders, finance leaders, product teams, engineering organizations, enterprise architects, and business leaders to ensure strategic initiatives move from concept to execution through disciplined program management.

Key Responsibilities

· Establish and lead the overall program governance model, including roadmap, backlog management, dependency tracking, release planning, and delivery reporting.

· Transform loosely defined initiatives into structured programs consisting of multiple product workstreams with clear ownership, priorities, milestones, and release cadence.

· Serve as the primary owner of executive-level program reporting, communicating progress, risks, dependencies, business value, and strategic trade-offs.

· Facilitate prioritization discussions with senior business and technology leaders, ensuring decisions are documented and aligned with organizational objectives.

· Coordinate cross-functional delivery efforts spanning product management, engineering, data and analytics, enterprise architecture, quality assurance, and business stakeholders.

· Drive accountability across internal and partner teams without direct organizational authority.

· Identify program risks, remove delivery obstacles, and proactively resolve cross-team dependencies.

· Implement pragmatic Agile and product management practices appropriate for experienced technical teams, balancing process discipline with execution speed.

· Ensure requirements, delivery milestones, testing, and release activities maintain appropriate traceability throughout the program lifecycle.

· Build sustainable operating rhythms including planning sessions, executive reviews, steering committee updates, release planning, and retrospective activities.

· Mentor client teams on modern program management practices, leaving behind stronger governance and delivery capabilities.

· 15+ years of progressive experience leading large-scale enterprise technology programs.

· Demonstrated success building and leading enterprise product or transformation programs-not simply maintaining existing delivery processes.

· Experience operating at the Director level or above, regularly interacting with executives, senior directors, and vice presidents.

· Proven ability to influence teams and drive accountability without direct management authority.

· Deep expertise in Agile delivery, product management, program governance, and enterprise portfolio management.

· Experience establishing and managing:

o Product roadmaps

o Enterprise backlogs

o Release planning

o Dependency management

o Executive dashboards

o Program metrics and reporting

· Strong understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC), quality assurance, and release management practices.

· Experience working closely with finance, business operations, or strategic planning organizations where technology investments are measured against business outcomes.

· Exceptional communication, facilitation, negotiation, and executive presentation skills.

· Comfortable working in highly ambiguous environments and creating structure where little formal process exists.

· Hands-on leadership style with a willingness to solve problems, remove blockers, and support delivery teams directly.

Preferred Qualifications

· Experience leading enterprise digital transformation or modernization initiatives.

· Background working with product organizations, consulting firms, or large Fortune 500 enterprises.

· Experience coordinating cross-functional teams including software engineering, data engineering, analytics, architecture, QA, and business operations.

· Familiarity with portfolio management and Agile planning tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, Rally, or similar platforms.

· Experience implementing governance models for large, multi-team programs.

· Basic AI literacy and familiarity with AI-assisted productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot) in enterprise delivery environments.

What We’‘re Looking For

We’‘re looking for a leader who has built programs-not simply inherited them. Someone who can walk into a complex environment with competing priorities, establish governance, create transparency, earn executive trust, and guide multiple teams toward predictable, measurable delivery.

The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking with operational excellence, is comfortable engaging executives one moment and delivery teams the next, and thrives in environments where influence, accountability, and execution matter more than organizational hierarchy.