Senior Manager, Strategic Programs

Confluent

4d

About The Position

This role is a senior member of the Office of the Chief of Staff within the Partner and Technology organization. As Senior Manager, Strategic Programs, you will lead the execution of high-priority, cross-functional initiatives that directly support revenue growth, partner success, and operational scale. You will act as the operational engine behind complex, “cannot-fail” programs—bringing structure, discipline, and momentum to work that spans Product, Engineering, Sales, and external partners. This role combines strategic judgment with hands-on execution and plays a critical part in raising the bar for how the organization plans, tracks, and delivers outcomes.

Requirements

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in strategic program management, business programs, strategy & operations, or PMO roles within a technology, SaaS, or enterprise software environment.
• Cross-functional leadership: Proven ability to lead complex initiatives across Product, Engineering, Sales, Partner, and Operations teams without direct authority.
• Program management expertise: Strong command of program governance, risk management, dependency planning, and execution methodologies in fast-moving environments.
• Operational and analytical strength: Experience working with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and strong proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets for modeling, analysis, and reporting.
• Clear communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex topics into clear narratives for diverse audiences, including senior leadership.
• Strategic mindset with attention to detail: Ability to distill ambiguity, assess multiple viewpoints, and recommend practical paths forward while maintaining execution discipline.
• Collaboration and influence: Demonstrated ability to build trust, navigate competing priorities, and work diplomatically across global, distributed teams.
• Curiosity and continuous improvement: A strong desire to understand the business deeply and continuously improve processes, tools, and ways of working.
• Technical Proficiency: Expert-level command of project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid) and tools such as Jira, Confluence, and advanced data visualization platforms.
• Education & Certification: A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or a related field (MBA preferred); PMP, PgMP, or equivalent senior-level certifications are highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Own high-impact strategic programs: Serve as the primary owner for complex, cross-functional initiatives, ensuring alignment to business objectives, clear success metrics, and on-time delivery.
• Drive execution rigor: Establish and maintain program plans, milestones, dependencies, and risk mitigation strategies; proactively identify issues and resolve blockers before they impact outcomes.
• Align stakeholders at scale: Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Sales, Partner, and external teams to ensure shared understanding, clear accountability, and coordinated execution across workstreams.
• Enable informed decision-making: Define and track program health metrics, synthesize insights, and provide leadership with clear, actionable updates on progress, risks, and tradeoffs.
• Run effective operating rhythms: Lead action-oriented syncs, reviews, and stand-ups that result in decisions, prioritization, and measurable forward progress.
• Strengthen program management capabilities: Contribute to the evolution of PMO standards, playbooks, and tools, helping teams adopt best practices and improve how the organization delivers new products and capabilities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees