Lead Technical Program Manager – Wealth

Northwestern Mutual

22h • Hybrid

About The Position

Join Northwestern Mutual as a Lead Technical Program Manager - Wealth: Shape the Future of Financial Security About the role In this role, you will contribute directly to a strategically critical portfolio that shapes long‑term outcomes. It requires a seasoned leader, with several years experience in aligning executive stakeholders around large-scale, multi‑year digital delivery plans. You will be equally adept and experienced advancing agile and flow practices by applying your deep expertise and data insights to improve throughput and drive a clear, continuous‑improvement roadmap at the team/program-level.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Systems or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• Minimum 6 years of professional experience.
• Five or more years of program management experience in technology and/or business functions.
• Experience with program management methodologies & governance.
• Experience with project management methodologies & SDLC.
• Working knowledge of project management / agile tooling.
• Financial & team management.
• Understands how software is developed, tested and implemented as well as technical concepts.
• Ability to work closely with engineers, product managers and business leaders.
• Experience managing large scale, cross-functional initiatives using a variety of delivery methodologies (i.e. waterfall, agile, lean, scrum, etc.)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Intellectual curiosity and a desire to dig into details, learn, ask questions and become the "go to expert" on certain concepts and topics.
• Leads highly visible multidisciplinary project teams or initiatives; provides thought leadership.
• Solves unique problems with broad impact on the business; requires conceptual and innovative thinking to develop solutions.
• Impacts the direction and resource allocation for program, project or services; works within general department policies and industry guidelines.
• Explains difficult or sensitive information; works to build consensus.
• Analytical Thinking: Organizes and compares various aspects of a situation to comprehend and identify key or underlying complex issues through the use of quantitative data and analysis; leverages strong business acumen, problem solving, and interpersonal skills to think critically about situations from multiple perspectives and consistently seeks ways to improve processes.
• Cross Functional Partnering & Planning: Facilitates collaboration, communication, coordination, and planning with individuals and teams from different functions within the organization, and who have different areas of expertise, to achieve common goals.
• Development & Delivery Methodologies: Practices knowledge of industry standard methodologies and frameworks for the purpose of determining and implementing the best approach(s) to support the development of products, service delivery or projects in order to deliver on business goals. Adapts project approach to the underlying delivery methodology and bridges various delivery methodologies across functions and teams to agile methodology.
• Program Governance: Establishes and manages policies, processes, and structures to guide the decision-making, roles and responsibilities, and overall direction of the program. Defines the framework to ensure the program is aligned with organizational goals and is executing in compliance with requirements.
• Program Management: Oversees and is responsible for the realization of larger workstream goals and manages activities that span across the program. Understands technical aspects of the program, defines scope, develops schedules, and manages resourcing, risks, and dependencies to deliver successful outcomes.
• Strategic Thinking: Uses critical thinking and knowledge of business demand to plan, design, prioritize and execute high impact initiatives and programs.

Responsibilities

• Accountability for aligning one or more large, complex programs consisting of multiple efforts.
• Make connections across teams and work streams to drive identification and facilitation of interdependencies.
• Accountability for defining the program structure and creating a single, unified plan to deliver on the program objectives.
• Drive for clarity on objectives, priorities and measures.
• Accountability for identifying, assessing and mitigating program risks and issues, and removing impediments.
• May lead or mentor program managers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees