Technical Program Manager

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

6d•Remote

About The Position

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Technical 409 Pay Range: $127,700.00 - $191,500.00 Job Description The Program Manager - Technical leads complex, multi-team technology programs from concept through delivery, ensuring alignment across engineering, architecture, product, security, and business stakeholders. This role drives program strategy manages technical dependencies at scale, and ensures delivery of high quality, secure, resilient solutions that meet business objectives, quality, secure, resilient solutions that meet business objectives. This role blends deep technical understanding with program leadership, Agile methodology expertise, and strong cross functional communication. They anticipate risks, remove impediments, guide teams through ambiguity, and connect long term program roadmaps to organizational goals. This is a role that operates with broad autonomy and influence, serving as a bridge between technical teams and business leaders to ensure technology investments deliver measurable value. They anticipate risks, remove impediments, guide teams through ambiguity, and connect longterm program roadmaps to organizational goals. This is a role that operates with broad autonomy and influence, serving as a bridge between technical teams and business leaders to ensure technology investments deliver measurable value.

Requirements

Strong understanding of software development lifecycle, systems architecture, integrations, cloud concepts, and technical design patterns.
Ability to engage with engineering teams, understand technical tradeoffs, and translate complex concepts for diverse audiences.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiteam technical programs using Agile/SAFe frameworks.
Skilled in planning, dependency management, risk management, and cross team coordination.
Proficient with Jira, Confluence, and other delivery lifecycle and visualization tools.
Strong collaboration and facilitation skills with the ability to lead through influence rather than authority.
Effective at navigating ambiguity, driving alignment, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Excellent verbal and written communication, including the ability to create clear executive summaries.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a data informed approach to decision making.
Hands-on experience using AI tools such as Claude, Kiro, ChatGPT, or similar in a professional context
Demonstrated ability to apply AI to: Improve workflows Automate repetitive tasks Enhance decision-making
Strong curiosity and adaptability in adopting emerging AI technologies
Ability to guide teams in integrating AI into daily practices responsibly and effectively
Bachelor's Degree in Business, Management Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field
Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements.
6+ years of progressive project management experience
Demonstrated experience leading technical projects or programs in an Agile environment.
Experience working closely with engineering teams and understanding technical architecture concepts.
Strong experience with Jira, Confluence, or other Agile lifecycle tools.
Experience influencing without authority in matrixed organizations.
Experience managing large-scale, multi-team technical programs or initiatives.

Nice To Haves

SAFe, PMP, ACP, CSM, or equivalent Agile/PM certifications.
Experience with cloud technologies (Azure, AWS, GCP), APIs, microservices, or enterprise integrations.

Responsibilities

Lead the end-to-end planning and delivery of complex, multiteam technology programs, ensuring clear scope, objectives, and success criteria.
Partner with engineering, architecture, product, and business teams to define program requirements, technical direction, and integrated delivery plans.
Coordinate cross team workstreams, manage dependencies, and drive alignment on technical milestones, sequencing, and key decisions.
Manage dependencies, and drive alignment on technical milestones, sequencing, and key decisions.
Facilitate Agile and SAFe program activities, including PI planning, backlog refinement, dependency management, and program level retrospectives.
Identify and mitigate risks, blockers, and technical challenges early; escalate issues appropriately and drive resolution.
Deliver clear, consistent communication of program status, risks, decisions, and impacts to stakeholders and leadership.
Ensure solutions comply with enterprise security standards, technical design patterns, and operational readiness requirements.
Support change management activities, including training, readiness planning, and adoption support for impacted teams.
Maintain accurate program documentation, including roadmaps, decision logs, requirements, risks, and performance metrics.
Conduct post-implementation validation and help measure program outcomes against expected business value.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.