Director, Technical Program Management
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 24, 2026. First seen by Alion on Jul 10, 2026. Samba TV scores A on the Alion truth index.
We are looking for a Director of Technical Program Management to lead and grow our TPM function at a critical inflection point in the company's expansion. This is not a pure execution role - it is a strategic leadership position. You will be a peer to VPs and Sr. Directors across Engineering, Product, Data Science, and Executive Leadership, owning how we plan, execute, and govern complex programs that span the full ad tech stack: data collection, identity, audience platforms, measurement solutions, and third-party integrations.
You will own, build and develop a small but high-impact team of TPMs, establish the frameworks and operating model that scale with the organization, and personally drive the most complex, cross-functional programs. The right candidate brings deep engineering discipline, ad tech domain knowledge a plus, proven people leadership, and the organizational instincts to operate credibly at the senior leadership level.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Lead, mentor, and grow a team of 2-4 TPMs, setting a high bar for program ownership, communication, and technical credibility.
Define the TPM team's operating model - how programs are staffed, governed, escalated, and reported - and evolve it as the organization scales.
Act as the senior-most TPM voice in leadership forums, representing program health, risk posture, and execution capacity to the CTO, SVP of Engineering and cross-functional peers.
Drive hiring decisions, performance development, and career growth for the TPM team.
Own the end-to-end program execution strategy for the technology organization's most complex, cross-functional initiatives - from annual planning through delivery.
Define and enforce program governance frameworks: scope, milestones, dependency management, risk registers, and earned value tracking.
Partner with Engineering, Product, and Data Science leadership to align program roadmaps with business priorities, capacity constraints, and strategic objectives.
Drive the shift from bespoke, one-off execution to scalable, repeatable program infrastructure - ensuring teams build for hundreds of integrations, not one at a time.
Personally lead the highest-stakes programs when complexity, risk, or organizational span demands senior TPM ownership.
Operate as a credible peer to VPs and Sr. Directors - not just a coordinator, but a strategic partner with a clear point of view on tradeoffs, priorities, and risk.
Communicate program status, risks, and strategic dependencies to the CTO,SVP of Engineering and executive leadership with clarity, precision, and appropriate urgency.
Build and maintain alignment across Engineering, Product, Legal, Data, and Operations on programs that cut across organizational boundaries.
Surface and resolve cross-functional blockers that cannot be handled at the team level - escalating with a recommended resolution, not just a flag.
Use of AI tools and skills for acceleration of automations from the perspective of TPM artifacts. Claude / Gemini / Cursor / Codex preferred
Establish and continuously improve the standard TPM toolkit: program templates, RAID frameworks, status reporting cadences, and planning rituals.
Champion Agile and scaled Agile (SAFe) practices across engineering teams, partnering with Engineering Managers to ensure methodology serves delivery - not the other way around.
Ensure programs reflect regulatory and compliance requirements (GDPR, CCPA, privacy-by-design) as first-class planning inputs, not afterthoughts.
Stay current on industry trends in ad tech, programmatic advertising, and digital measurement - bringing external perspective into internal planning.
Organizational Leadership
Program Strategy & Execution
Cross-functional Influence & Stakeholder Management
Process, Tooling & Governance
WHO YOU ARE
10+ years of experience in technical program management, with at least 5+ years in a senior or lead TPM role.
Demonstrated experience managing and developing a team of TPMs - hiring, coaching, setting standards, and building a high-performance culture.
Proven track record operating as a peer to VPs and Sr. Directors - influencing strategic decisions, representing program risk at the executive level, and driving alignment across senior leadership.
Expertise in Agile, Scrum, and SAFe methodologies with hands-on experience driving adoption across engineering organizations.
Strong command of program governance: earned value metrics, dependency management, risk mitigation, and structured escalation frameworks.
Exceptional written and verbal communication - able to adapt from engineering deep-dives to executive briefings without losing precision or credibility.
Experience managing programs that span regulatory or compliance constraints (GDPR, CCPA, or similar privacy frameworks).
Background in software engineering, computer science, or a related technical field - prior hands-on engineering experience gives strong credibility with technical teams.
Experience with cloud-based data platforms, big data technologies, and/or real-time data pipeline infrastructure.
Experience managing TPM functions during periods of rapid organizational growth, M&A integration, or geographic expansion.
MBA or advanced technical degree - valued but not required where equivalent experience is clear.
Nice to have
- Deep domain expertise in ad tech - including programmatic advertising, audience data platforms, measurement and attribution solutions, identity, and/or data product delivery.
- Familiarity with ACR (Automatic Content Recognition), connected TV data, or OEM-level data collection.