Program Manager Lead- Strategic Programs
About The Position
The Program Manager Lead plays a highly visible role connecting strategy, culture, and employees across Underwriting & Product Development. The role orchestrates organizational routines such as town halls, strategy sessions, and leadership connections, while driving recognition, volunteerism, culture, engagement, and opportunities to strengthen military acumen and connection to the people USAA serves. The position calls for program management, strategic thinking, communication, creativity, stakeholder influence, and disciplined execution. The role leads strategic program implementation and development of multi-year business plans, coordinating sponsors and cross-functional teams to establish scope, roadmaps, resources, budgets, dependencies, and timing. It oversees program reporting, risk and issue identification, team coordination, performance metrics, analysis, program strategies, and change adoption. The position also negotiates program tradeoffs, mentors Program Managers, follows EPMO and governance processes, and ensures business risks are managed in accordance with applicable policies and procedures. This position is based in USAA’s San Antonio office and requires working in the office four days per week. The salary range is $127,310–$229,160. Employees may be eligible for performance-based pay incentives. USAA does not provide visa sponsorship for this role.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree, or four years of related experience in addition to the minimum experience requirement may be substituted for the degree.
- Eight years of project and/or program management experience, including defining a new program and/or managing large-scale projects.
- Demonstrated experience using Waterfall or Agile methodologies to execute program strategies and deliver complex work efforts.
- Advanced understanding and demonstrated application of risk management policies and procedures.
- Comprehensive knowledge of program management methodology and techniques, program performance evaluation, and change management principles and methodologies.
- Proficient experience with USAA’s change management methodology or a similar industry change management methodology.
- Extensive experience developing, maintaining, and reporting on large-cost work efforts or program budgets.
- Stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Expert-level experience in principles of project, program, or portfolio management.
- Expert experience applying knowledge of the business, its products, and processes to assess program risks and rewards across multiple technologies and business goals.
Nice To Haves
- Three or more years of experience planning and executing high-visibility organizational routines and experiences, including town halls, strategy sessions, employee forums, or large-scale events.
- Ability to proactively anticipate needs, identify opportunities, and develop forward-looking solutions with limited direction.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent initiatives and stakeholder groups, prioritizing work, coordinating dependencies, and delivering against commitments.
- Strong executive communication and presentation skills, including the ability to translate strategy and complex topics into clear, compelling messaging and experiences.
- Ability to use data, employee feedback, participation trends, and other measures to evaluate effectiveness, identify opportunities, and continuously improve programs.
Responsibilities
- Lead implementation of strategic tasks that align programs with organizational business strategy and goals.
- Develop multi-year business plans to deliver business capabilities, define execution approaches, reduce risk, and deliver early business value where possible.
- Work with program sponsors and cross-functional teams to evaluate, plan, and develop program scope, milestone roadmaps, required resources, work plans, budgets, dependencies, and timing.
- Prepare stakeholder and management status reports, identifying risks and issues.
- Ensure team members understand how to work together and understand interdependencies; coordinate efforts to complete program goals.
- Assist in developing performance metrics, dashboards, and management tools that communicate the status of key activities and support timely execution.
- Direct analyses, root-cause identification, and development and recommendation of key work products.
- Identify potential new program opportunities to deliver integrated solutions for multiple business partner needs.
- Define and maintain multiple program strategies based on business demand and ROI expectations.
- Negotiate agreements, settle disputes equitably, and diffuse high-tension situations.
- Negotiate program tradeoffs with IT and the business to align demand with capacity.
- Mentor Program Managers in identifying benefits and defining alternatives across departmental and USAA programs.
- Adhere to EPMO processes, procedures, controls, standards, tools, and templates as required, and to required governance rigor.
- Drive adoption and sustainment of organizational changes in compliance with USAA’s Change Management methodology.
- Ensure business risks are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical plans
- Dental plans
- Vision plans
- 401(k)
- Pension
- Life insurance
- Parental benefits
- Adoption assistance
- Paid time off program
- Paid holidays
- 16 paid volunteer hours
- Wellness programs
- Career path planning
- Continuing education
- Potential pay incentives based on overall corporate and individual performance, at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
