Principal Technical Program Manager, Public Sector

Lumen Technologies • ,

2d • $152,066 - $223,031 • Remote

About The Position

Lumen is the trusted network for the AI‑powered world, connecting people, data, and applications through our expansive fiber network and connected ecosystem. We enable secure, high‑performance connectivity across cloud, edge, and AI workloads for enterprises, governments, and communities.
At Lumen, you’ll work on infrastructure customers rely on today and build for what’s next, where performance, security, and resilience matter.
This is a high accountability environment where bold ideas drive real innovation for our customers, partners, and industry. The work is challenging, expectations are clear, and trust is built into how we operate. If you’re ready to take ownership, deliver meaningful impact, and help shape the future of AI‑ready connectivity, join us today.
The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) to lead large, complex, cross-functional engineering programs supporting Public Sector. This is a senior individual-contributor role requiring strong technical depth, strategic program leadership, and the ability to communicate clearly at the VP/SVP/EVP level. The Principal TPM must maintain working fluency in cloud architecture, distributed systems design, large-scale enterprise integration patterns, data flows, APIs/services, network engineering fundamentals, security, reliability, and modern SDLC/DevOps practices. The Principal TPM converts business strategy into predictable engineering delivery, drives cross-value-stream alignment, manages critical dependencies and risks, and ensures executive stakeholders receive concise, decision-ready updates.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or equivalent experience; advanced degree is a plus.
• 12–15+ years of experience leading large-scale technical or engineering programs within complex, matrixed technology organizations.
• Strong technical fluency in architecture, system design, APIs/services, data flows, and SDLC/DevOps.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and influence at the VP/SVP/EVP level—distilling complex engineering issues, risks, and trade-offs into concise recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience managing engineering dependencies, sequencing across multiple teams, and driving outcomes across software and/or network domains.
• Strong ability to navigate ambiguity, resolve cross-team conflicts, and turn strategy into structured engineering execution plans.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Operations, and Finance.
• High urgency, accountability, and operational rigor; sets high standards for clarity, delivery predictability, and tooling hygiene.

Nice To Haves

• PMP/PMI, Agile/SAFe, or Lean Six Sigma certifications are a plus.
• Experience leading or supporting large-scale Public Sector programs serving Federal, DoW, or other regulated government customers.
• Working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and their impact on technology delivery, cybersecurity, and contractual obligations.
• Familiarity with federal cybersecurity and compliance frameworks, including FedRAMP, CMMC, FISMA, and applicable NIST publications (e.g., NIST SP 800-53 and NIST SP 800-171).
• Understanding of Federal Contract Information (FCI), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and associated security, privacy, and data handling requirements.
• Ability to translate regulatory, contractual, and cybersecurity requirements into executable program plans, risk management strategies, and executive-level communications.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of large, complex, multi-team engineering programs, ensuring program structure, delivery rhythms, and engineering outcomes are clear and predictable.
• Define and track performance metrics tied to engineering execution, program health, and SLAs with business and product stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain engineering-aligned roadmaps, integrated timelines, dependency maps, budgets, and risk mitigation plans.
• Build and lead program governance for executives, synthesizing engineering progress, risks, and technical trade-offs into clear, decision-oriented updates.
• Implement best practices in engineering program governance, dependency management, cross-team risk visibility, SDLC alignment, and change management.
• Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, and delivery predictability across engineering teams and partner groups.
• Partner with finance, engineering, and product to monitor capital/opex, capacity utilization, and resource allocation across internal teams and vendors.
• Report on program status including engineering risks, dependencies, integration concerns, and mitigation paths to senior leadership and key stakeholders.
• Coordinate engineering planning cycles (roadmap planning, PI planning, quarterly commitments) and ensure backlogs are prioritized, estimated, and aligned with program objectives.
• Contribute to strategic planning and partner across Product, Engineering, Architecture, and Operations to ensure engineering readiness for launches and major releases.

Benefits

• Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing.
• Bonus structure (short-term incentives, long-term incentives and/or sales compensation)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal