Technical Program Manager, Release Management

PayPal • San Jose, CA

9d • Hybrid

About The Position

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers. We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities. Job Summary: PayPal is launching a new, structured Alpha / Co-Development program designed to transform how we build, validate, and launch merchant-integrated products. We are moving to quarterly Release Trains—coordinated cycles where strategic merchants test multiple upcoming products through a clear, repeatable, and high-quality process and hiring our first release program manager on the Checkout team to build, operationalize, and run the early product release program. This role is highly cross-functional, working with Product, Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Sales, Merchant Success, Legal, and external merchants. You will bring structure, rigor, and visibility to an initiative that materially changes how PayPal ships merchant-facing innovation. If you are excited by program design, operational excellence, and enabling teams to deliver better outcomes faster— with merchants deeply involved in the creation process—this is the role for you.

Requirements

• 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proven track record of managing complex programs within an engineering environment.
• 8–10+ years of program management experience within Fintech, E-commerce, or a complex SaaS environment.
• Technical Proficiency: Strong understanding of the SDLC and technical integration patterns (APIs, SDKs, and web integrations).
• Strategic Leadership: Proven ability to build frameworks and governance structures from the ground up in ambiguous environments.
• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence and align diverse teams (Engineering, Sales, and Legal) without formal authority.
• Analytical Rigor: Proficiency in data analysis and building dashboards to monitor program health and conversion metrics.

Nice To Haves

• Experience managing "Release Trains," Scaled Agile (SAFe), or Program Increment (PI) planning.
• Direct experience working with enterprise-level merchants on co-development initiatives.
• Deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem (Gateways, Acquirers, Wallets).

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage program plans, including timelines, milestones, deliverables, and procurement activities.
• Coordinate activities across multiple projects to ensure alignment with program objectives.
• Monitor program performance and implement corrective actions as needed.
• Communicate program status to stakeholders and executive leadership.
• Manage program budgets and financials.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and resolve conflicts.
• Ensure adherence to engineering standards and best practices.
• Establish and maintain the operating model for quarterly Merchant Release Trains, including planning cadences, entry/exit criteria, and success metrics.
• Define the Co-Development Framework, standardizing integration specifications, solution designs, and merchant engagement workflows.
• Ensure all products entering the cycle possess clear requirements and cross-functional alignment.
• Lead the end-to-end Release Train cycle, managing the journey from merchant recruitment through integration, validation, and retrospective.
• Synchronize efforts across 15–20 product and engineering teams to ensure readiness and proactive dependency management.
• Collaborate with Solutions Engineering to ensure integration specs are technically sound and formally approved by all stakeholders.
• Act as the primary operational point of contact for participating merchants, managing expectations regarding scope, timelines, and deliverables.
• Track merchant implementation milestones and facilitate feedback loops.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for readiness issues or program-level blockers.
• Define and monitor KPIs/OKRs (e.g., build quality, cycle time, and merchant satisfaction) to evaluate program health.
• Provide executive-level visibility through consolidated dashboards and strategic reporting.
• Translate "lessons learned" into actionable improvements for product roadmaps and playbooks.
• Partner with Legal, Risk, and Privacy teams to ensure all testing agreements and data-use policies are strictly followed.
• Uphold rigorous quality gates to ensure excellence at every stage of the release lifecycle.

Benefits

• This role is also eligible for a range of benefits which may include, medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, parental and family leave, 401(k) savings plan, paid time off, and other benefits.
• At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.
• We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees