Staff Technical Program Manager, Cross-Functional Programs

Rover.com•Seattle, WA

2d•$182,290 - $227,863•Hybrid

About The Position

Rover is hiring a Staff Technical Program Manager to lead high-complexity, ambiguous programs that cross product, engineering, data, operations, and business teams. The role is part of Rover’s small and growing Technical Program Management team and focuses on programs whose scope is defined by difficulty rather than by a particular product domain. The TPM may take on programs assigned because of their complexity, ambiguity, and visibility, or identify and make the case for programs Rover needs but has not yet named. The position may manage multiple programs concurrently and influence engineering priorities and OKRs. The TPM shapes undefined problems into executable programs by establishing a clear problem statement, scope and boundaries, decision rights, owners, and success measures. They set and own execution strategy, exercise technical judgment in partnership with engineering, drive decisions and alignment across organizational boundaries, and assess trade-offs, dependencies, risks, timelines, and readiness. They also develop repeatable program practices, mentor other TPMs, contribute to hiring, and help shape the TPM function. The role pushes the use of AI tools beyond routine automation, developing workflows and frameworks and evaluating tools that can improve program and department efficiency. It requires ramping quickly in unfamiliar domains and connecting Seattle and Barcelona teams. This is a hybrid position with an expectation to work from Rover’s Downtown Seattle office on Mondays and Thursdays. Candidates must be based in the Greater Seattle Area or willing to relocate.

Requirements

11+ years of experience driving complex, cross-functional technical programs.
Experience owning several high-complexity, ambiguous programs concurrently and end to end across multiple domains, including unfamiliar domains.
Experience identifying and standing up programs independently, as well as defining scope for programs that lack it.
Ability to work through ambiguity, orient on incomplete or conflicting information, distinguish unknowns from unanswered questions, and break problems into actionable parts.
High agency in driving decisions and aligning stakeholders across organizational boundaries up to senior leadership, including influencing department priorities, strategy, and OKRs.
Ability to manage stakeholders with competing incentives, determine when to make a call versus identify the decision owner, and establish a shared plan.
Sound judgment under uncertainty and ability to explain decisions about timing, escalation, risk, and scope.
Technical acumen to work as a peer to engineering, assess dependencies and trade-offs, discuss technical approaches, identify sequencing risks, and recognize architectural patterns and one-way-door decisions.
Strong program management skills, including creating plans and status processes, running decision-making cadences, using metrics to identify risk and track progress, and evaluating outcomes after launch.
Ability to communicate effectively with technical and nontechnical audiences and work across globally distributed teams.
Experience mentoring TPMs or peers, interviewing and hiring, and building processes adopted by others.
Experience extending the use of AI tools in work, such as automating reporting or risk tracking, building custom workflows, or creating frameworks that help teams move faster.

Nice To Haves

Depth in more than one technical domain, such as platform and infrastructure alongside consumer product, payments, or data.
Experience at a marketplace, consumer technology, or SaaS company.

Responsibilities

Identify cross-organizational programs that lack an owner, build the case for them, and establish them.
Turn ambiguous problems into executable programs by aligning stakeholders on the problem, scope, exclusions, decision owners, and success measures.
Own execution strategy for one or more concurrent programs, creating coherent plans with priorities, owners, and sequencing.
Drive decisions by framing trade-offs, recommending paths, convening the right participants, identifying decision-makers, and securing and maintaining decisions.
Align teams across organizational boundaries, surface conflicting priorities, and establish shared paths forward.
Partner with engineering as a technical peer on architecture implications, dependencies, data integrity, rollout, and cutover planning.
Pressure-test timelines and sequencing and identify risks before they cause delays.
Define and report program health KPIs, surface risks early, and connect program KPIs with engineering OKRs and department strategy.
Drive mitigation of department-level risks rather than only escalating them.
Maintain program artifacts, including charters, plans, dependency maps, risk registers, and decision logs, and communicate appropriately to technical and leadership audiences.
Own launch and delivery readiness and ensure stakeholders have what they need to proceed.
Measure program outcomes beyond go-live to determine whether the program delivered its intended results.
Extend the use of AI tools in program operations by automating routine reporting and tracking, building useful workflows and frameworks, and evaluating and driving adoption of efficiency-enhancing tools.
Ramp up quickly in unfamiliar domains by building relationships, learning relevant systems, and establishing credibility.
Connect Seattle and Barcelona teams and help improve Rover’s TPM practice by mentoring TPMs, contributing to hiring, setting reusable patterns, and applying department-level processes where appropriate.

Benefits

Competitive compensation.
401(k) match.
Long-term incentive plan with a company performance-based cash payout.
Flexible paid time off.
Competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Commuter benefits.
Bring your dog to work and unlimited puppy time.
Pet benefits, including $1,000 toward adopting a first dog or cat.
Stocked fridges, coffee, soda, and treats for humans and dogs, plus monthly catered lunches.
Regular in-person and virtual team activities.