Staff Program Manager, Technical

Illumina•San Diego, CA

3d•$129,400 - $194,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Illumina is seeking a Staff Program Manager for its High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) portfolio, focusing on the NovaSeq X and NovaSeq 6000 platforms. This role is responsible for driving the execution of on-market platform priorities, sustaining initiatives, product improvements, lifecycle management, and cross-functional governance across Development, Quality, Operations, Regulatory, Commercial, Service, and Supply Chain. The Program Manager will act as a key operational partner to the Product Technical Lead and platform leadership, translating strategic priorities into actionable plans and ensuring the timely delivery of initiatives that enhance customer experience, platform reliability, quality, compliance, operational efficiency, and business performance. The ideal candidate will be an experienced program leader adept at navigating a matrixed environment, possessing strong planning, communication, risk management, and stakeholder management skills to independently lead complex cross-functional initiatives and influence decisions across multiple organizations.

Requirements

Strong program management experience leading complex cross-functional technical initiatives in a highly matrixed environment.
Demonstrated ability to develop and manage integrated schedules, resource plans, budgets, and executive-level status reporting.
Expertise in program governance, risk management, issue resolution, and stakeholder alignment.
Proven ability to drive execution across multiple functions without direct authority.
Strong understanding of product lifecycle management, sustaining engineering, and post-market product support.
Experience managing programs involving hardware, software, consumables, and/or integrated product systems.
Knowledge of FDA-regulated product environments, design controls, risk management, and change management processes.
Ability to evaluate technical, operational, customer, regulatory, and business impacts when making program recommendations.
Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and executive-influence skills.
Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent experience.
Typically requires a current PMP certification.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with next-generation sequencing platforms, molecular biology, genomics, or life science instrumentation preferred.
Experience supporting quality investigations, corrective actions, field actions, post-launch activities, or sustaining programs preferred.
Experience with product development preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead execution of High Throughput platform initiatives spanning product improvements, reliability enhancements, quality actions, lifecycle management activities, and business performance objectives.
Partner with Product Technical Leads, Development, Quality, Operations, Service, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Marketing, and Commercial teams to define and execute platform priorities.
Develop, maintain, and communicate integrated program plans, including scope, schedules, resource requirements, dependencies, risks, budgets, and milestones.
Coordinate execution of On-Market Core Team (OMCT) activities, governance forums, and executive reviews to drive alignment, accountability, and decision-making.
Drive cross-functional planning and prioritization for platform investments, sustaining activities, customer-driven improvements, and operational initiatives.
Identify, manage, and communicate program risks, issues, dependencies, and trade-offs while facilitating escalation and resolution pathways.
Track and report program performance, key milestones, and portfolio health metrics to functional and executive leadership.
Support lifecycle management activities, including product enhancements, obsolescence planning, end-of-support readiness, serviceability improvements, and cost optimization initiatives.
Lead execution planning for design changes, quality improvements, corrective actions, field issues, and post-market initiatives.
Partner with finance and functional leaders on resource planning, capacity management, budget forecasting, and investment prioritization.
Drive continuous improvement of governance, portfolio management, and program management processes to improve organizational effectiveness.
Facilitate communication across stakeholders and ensure alignment between technical execution, customer needs, business objectives, and regulatory requirements.