Senior Manager - Program Management

Freshworks•San Mateo, CA

6d•$203,000 - $251,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As part of Freshworks’ R&D Ops team, the Senior Manager will partner with Product, Engineering, and go-to-market teams to create a consistent, scalable framework for taking products from readiness through launch. The role leads a team and reports to the Sr. Director, R&D and Ops. The position calls for building an operational readiness process from the ground up and working closely with GTM functions such as Marketing, Sales, Technical Resources, Professional Services, and Support. It involves navigating ambiguity, assessing business needs, identifying process and content gaps, and turning problem statements into prioritized plans. The role operates in a global, collaborative, cross-functional environment, ideally within a product organization, and has direct people leadership responsibilities. This is a hybrid role based at Freshworks’ San Mateo, California headquarters, with onsite expectations three days per week, Tuesday through Thursday. Quarterly travel to India is optional.

Requirements

8–10 years of operations and program or project management experience, with readiness to build, lead, and develop a team.
Proven experience establishing a new process or program from scratch, as well as business change management experience.
Ability to thrive amid ambiguity, clear obstacles, and solve problems resourcefully and creatively.
Ability to operate effectively and autonomously with high-level direction.
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate with individual contributors and executives and with technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong attention to detail and ability to distill large amounts of information into essentials.
Strong people skills and ability to motivate and align direct reports and cross-functional partners, including those outside a formal reporting line.
Excellent negotiation, conflict management, and resolution skills, including the ability to diplomatically drive teams to resolution.
High energy, positive attitude, and adaptability to changing business needs.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required.

Nice To Haves

MBA or equivalent strongly preferred.
Experience operating in global, cross-functional, collaborative environments, ideally within a product organization.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and own the end-to-end Launch Readiness process, including its framework, milestones, governance, and scalable organization-wide operating model.
Lead and develop a team, setting direction and defining the function’s structure and responsibilities.
Work with functional business owners to assess business needs, define options, and translate requirements into deliverables and timelines.
Develop and manage detailed plans that account for requirements, constraints, dependencies, and resources across cross-functional readiness efforts.
Drive execution of deliverables against milestones and objectives while managing scope, schedule, and quality.
Provide structure and process without compromising execution speed.
Work across Freshworks’ matrixed organization and cross-functional teams to execute and deliver against plans.
Aggregate, organize, and communicate program and project status to stakeholders and leaders, including executives and board members.
Use change management practices to drive organization-wide adoption of the launch process and establish it as the standard operating model.
Use AI and automation to scale processes, streamline reporting, and reduce manual work across cross-functional teams.
Manage risk proactively, partner with colleagues to support timely decisions, and adjust plans as goals and requirements change.