Senior Technical Program Manager
About The Position
Avalara is seeking an expert Senior Technical Program Manager to drive strategic execution across large, complex R&D initiatives involving multiple functions, platforms, and global engineering teams. The role leads high-visibility organizational programs, operationalizes engineering governance frameworks, and elevates SDLC maturity across distributed organizations. The position owns three engineering pillars: architecture and technical governance, including architectural review frameworks and technology decision standards; product quality and customer defect reduction, including systematic defect analysis and release quality gates; and incident prevention and continuous improvement, including root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and post-incident learning. The TPM combines technical leadership, executive communication, and data-and-AI practices. The role uses AI tools and rapid automation to build dashboards, streamline operational insights, and translate program data into executive narratives. It is remote-eligible as indicated by the job posting.
Requirements
- 8–12+ years of Technical Program Management experience in fast-paced, product-based cloud/SaaS environments.
- Experience managing multi-team organizational initiatives across global time zones, with strong US/India stakeholder alignment.
- A track record leading root cause analysis, customer-found defect reduction, or site reliability/quality governance programs.
- Deep Jira and Agile/Flow metrics fluency, including JQL, roll-up views, CFD/Kanban workflows, and delivery KPIs.
- Hands-on prototyping or AI-assisted rapid development to build dashboards and data scripts using Python, Streamlit, JavaScript, or low-code frameworks alongside AI assistants.
- Exceptional executive storytelling and the ability to influence VPs and directors through clear, structured communication.
- Strong technical acumen, with a BS/MS in Computer Science or Engineering or equivalent hands-on experience, and the ability to evaluate architectural trade-offs, APIs, and scaling constraints.
- Experience using AI and AI-related technologies and willingness to apply them to business challenges and share learning.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with modern AI coding assistants such as Cursor, Claude Code, or GitLab Copilot for productivity and automated workflow generation.
- Experience leading AI/ML program delivery or developer productivity tooling initiatives.
- Agile or Scaled Agile credentials such as SPC, SAFe Agilist, or PMP, with an emphasis on lightweight flow.
- Experience in fintech, transactional tax compliance, high-scale transaction processing, or distributed enterprise SaaS systems.
Responsibilities
- Lead planning, execution, dependency mapping, and delivery of mission-critical, multi-team initiatives across Product, Architecture, Platform Engineering, Security, and Cloud Operations.
- Identify technical assumptions and inter-service dependencies, assess architectural trade-offs, manage risks, and unblock teams to support predictable delivery.
- Design and optimize Jira ecosystems, including filters, JQL, advanced roadmaps, board configurations, velocity tracking, and cycle-time metrics, to support SDLC hygiene.
- Establish scalable SDLC and PDLC execution mechanisms, KPI governance, milestone adherence, and post-launch stability metrics.
- Prototype and build custom interactive dashboards, scripts, and analytical tools using engineering data from Jira, GitLab, and internal APIs.
- Analyze operational telemetry to identify bottlenecks, predict delivery risks, and measure team health.
- Present complex technical information through executive-ready narratives, QBR updates, and visual presentations for VP and C-level audiences.
- Translate business vision and OKRs into engineering roadmaps and align cross-functional stakeholders on priorities and trade-offs.
- Champion AI developer tools, intelligent agents, and LLM-assisted workflows across program delivery.
- Mentor teams and support adoption of AI-driven delivery practices, agile coaching, and automated reporting.
- Lead architecture and technical governance frameworks and multi-platform alignment.
- Lead customer-defect reduction, release-quality practices, root cause analyses, corrective/preventive action frameworks, and post-incident learning.
Benefits
- Paid time off
- Paid parental leave
- Annual bonuses for many employees, subject to eligibility and applicable plan terms
- Private medical insurance (benefits vary by location)
- Life insurance (benefits vary by location)
- Disability insurance (benefits vary by location)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
