Director, Technical Programs
About The Position
PayPal, Inc. seeks a Director, Technical Programs in Austin, Texas, to provide strategic leadership and direction for the organization’s engineering operational programs. The role develops and implements the strategic vision for engineering programs, aligns them with business goals, and oversees their planning and execution across engineering, technical, and procurement activities. The Director monitors program performance, drives continuous improvement, communicates program status and strategic initiatives to executive leadership, and manages program budgets and financials. The position leads and mentors program managers and engineering teams, including seven direct reports: two Managers, Technical Programs; two Senior Managers, Technical Programs; two Engineering Program Managers; and one Project Manager, Technical Programs. The role is responsible for complex, customer-facing technology programs across product development, release readiness, platform modernization, data enablement, and go-to-market execution. Partial telecommuting is permitted from within a commutable distance of Austin.
Requirements
- Master’s degree, or foreign equivalent, in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a closely related field.
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the job offered or a related occupation.
- 10 years of end-to-end Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC) ownership, delivering complex customer-facing technology platforms from concept through production deployment and post-launch optimization.
- Experience leading large, complex engineering programs with full accountability for scope, schedule, budget, and cross-functional execution across global teams.
- Experience in roadmap strategy, backlog prioritization, and phased release planning, balancing customer impact, revenue implications, technical dependencies, and operational risk.
- Experience building product readiness and release governance frameworks, including structured go-live management, rollback planning, and production stabilization.
- Experience leading Conversational AI/Generative AI product strategy and enterprise implementation.
- Experience with cloud-native and distributed systems modernization, including AWS-based architectures and high-availability enterprise platforms.
- Experience with enterprise data architecture, ETL modernization, and real-time data enablement for downstream digital products and analytics-driven decisioning.
- Experience with program financials and P&L oversight, including margin optimization, cost efficiency, and revenue expansion initiatives.
- Experience supporting go-to-market and launch enablement strategies across product, operations, marketing, and commercial teams.
- Experience delivering mission-critical platforms in highly regulated environments while adhering to data privacy, security, audit, and compliance standards.
- Experience embedding risk management, controls, and compliance-by-design principles into release and operational processes in partnership with Security, Legal, Privacy, and Risk stakeholders.
- Experience supporting high-volume, customer-facing transaction ecosystems and driving release discipline, performance reliability, and operational resilience.
- Experience leading a high-performing team to drive strategic goals.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
Responsibilities
- Develop and implement the strategic vision for engineering operational programs.
- Oversee the planning and execution of engineering programs.
- Ensure engineering programs align with business goals.
- Manage and mentor program managers and engineering teams.
- Monitor program performance and drive continuous improvement.
- Communicate program status and strategic initiatives to executive leadership.
- Manage program budgets and financials.
- Lead complex engineering programs with accountability for scope, schedule, budget, and cross-functional execution across global teams.
- Set roadmap strategy, prioritize backlogs, and plan phased releases.
- Build and scale product readiness and release governance frameworks, including go-live management, rollback planning, and production stabilization.
- Lead Conversational AI/Generative AI product strategy and enterprise implementation.
- Oversee cloud-native and distributed systems modernization, enterprise data architecture, ETL modernization, and real-time data enablement.
- Support go-to-market and launch enablement in partnership with product, operations, marketing, and commercial teams.
- Embed risk management, controls, and compliance-by-design into release and operational processes.
- Lead a high-performing team to achieve strategic goals.
Benefits
- Comprehensive, choice-based programs supporting physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing.
- Generous paid time off.
- Healthcare coverage for employees and their families.
- Resources to support financial security and mental health.
- Annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
