Senior Program Delivery Manager

Applause•Remote,

1d•$160,000 - $200,000•Remote

About The Position

Applause is seeking an experienced delivery leader to oversee a complex portfolio of digital quality services for a strategic enterprise customer. The Senior Program Delivery Manager is the senior connection point between customer stakeholders and Applause’s delivery organization, ensuring testing programs are governed, resourced, measurable, and aligned with agreed business outcomes. The role provides unified oversight across testing workstreams, leads a team of Localization Quality Account Managers (LQAMs), and partners with Testing Services, Account Management, Community Operations, Product, and other internal teams. It is accountable for the quality, consistency, and business value of Applause-delivered services. The role partners closely with the customer’s designated internal program owner. Customer-side decisions—including internal strategy, policy, prioritization, organizational alignment, and program ownership—remain with the customer. The Senior Program Delivery Manager ensures Applause understands those decisions and translates them into an effective service-delivery strategy. This is a remote position with limited travel.

Requirements

Strong service-delivery and program-governance leadership in complex enterprise environments.
Demonstrated ability to lead senior delivery professionals through direct or matrixed management.
Advanced program-management capabilities, including planning, scope management, capacity forecasting, risk mitigation, change management, and executive governance.
Working knowledge of software testing, digital quality practices, and managed testing services.
Familiarity with localization quality programs and globally distributed delivery models.
Ability to translate technical and operational data into business insights.
Excellent executive communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
Strong judgment navigating ambiguous ownership, competing stakeholder needs, or changing priorities.
Ability to build trusted customer relationships while maintaining organizational and commercial boundaries.
Proficiency with spreadsheets, presentation tools, reporting platforms, and remote collaboration systems.
Solutions-oriented approach and commitment to customer, team, and delivery success.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
Eight or more years of experience in enterprise program delivery, implementation, consulting, managed services, or customer engagement leadership.
Five or more years of technical program or service-delivery management experience within a digital product, software, testing, or technology-services environment.
Experience overseeing multiple interdependent workstreams within a large enterprise engagement.
Experience managing or leading distributed, cross-functional teams.
Experience presenting program performance, risks, and business value to senior and executive stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience with digital quality, crowdsourced testing, or testing-as-a-service models.
Experience supporting global products or localization-related testing programs.
Experience designing governance and reporting structures for complex strategic accounts.
Experience leading a program through organizational transition or operating-model change.

Responsibilities

Own governance and delivery health for a large, multifaceted digital quality engagement.
Coordinate oversight across Applause testing services, including localization-related quality initiatives.
Translate customer objectives and testing requirements into service plans, workstreams, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
Establish ownership, operating procedures, escalation paths, and decision-making frameworks.
Manage deliverables, schedules, service levels, testing coverage, and customer expectations.
Anticipate delivery risks, dependencies, capacity constraints, and changes in customer demand; develop and drive mitigation plans.
Maintain boundaries between Applause-delivered services and customer-owned responsibilities, escalating scope ambiguity or conflicting expectations.
Build a resilient operating model using documented processes, distributed ownership, and backup coverage.
Lead and coordinate LQAMs responsible for day-to-day delivery across assigned workstreams.
Set roles, work allocation, performance expectations, communication standards, and escalation responsibilities.
Coach team members on delivery strategy, customer communication, risk management, and executive-level value articulation.
Balance resources and capacity across workstreams and maintain continuity during changes, leave, or shifting priorities.
Promote shared accountability and consistent practices across the broader account team.
Establish and manage operating cadence, including delivery reviews, stakeholder updates, risk reviews, and executive governance.
Ensure reporting is accurate, timely, consistent, and supported by reliable data.
Monitor and communicate service performance through KPIs such as testing coverage, delivery progress, quality trends, utilization, risks, and business outcomes.
Lead preparation for quarterly business reviews and executive-level presentations.
Turn testing and delivery data into recommendations, insights, and decision support for customer and Applause leadership.
Document and follow through on action items, decisions, risks, and dependencies.
Develop trusted customer relationships while clearly representing Applause’s responsibilities, capabilities, and commitments.
Partner with the customer’s internal program lead to align Applause delivery with customer-defined priorities.
Coordinate internal teams around a unified delivery strategy, including Account Management, Testing Services, Community Operations, Product, and Engineering.
Manage dependencies involving external partners or vendors when they affect service delivery.
Provide an escalation point for delivery challenges, cross-functional dependencies, and stakeholder concerns.
Communicate effectively with operational, technical, and executive audiences.
Evaluate engagement health and recommend changes to delivery models, testing strategy, team structure, or resource allocation.
Identify opportunities to increase service value, testing effectiveness, and operational efficiency.
Partner with Account Management on scope management, renewals, and appropriate expansion opportunities.
Capture repeatable practices and contribute them to Applause delivery standards.
Reduce operational complexity and key-person dependency through documentation, standardization, and delegation.