Senior Technical Program Manager

Client: The client is one of the largest professional certification associations in the global finance industry, with DataArt as its primary technology partner. The engagement spans a large BAU operations team of approximately 80 people across multiple vendors and a portfolio of strategic initiatives, representing a significant multi‑year partnership. Currently, the client is undertaking a major platform modernization program shifting from a legacy monolith toward a modern microservices architecture, heavily leveraging AI-assisted development workflows.

Position Overview: We are looking for a Senior Technical Program Manager to lead the end‑to‑end delivery of this modernization program. The role requires a strategic leader who can manage multiple parallel workstreams, navigate a complex multi‑vendor stakeholder landscape, and manage high‑level C‑suite expectations around AI‑driven efficiency. You will coordinate closely across internal delivery teams, client product owners, CloudOps, and third‑party integration partners.

Technology Stack:

• Cloud/Infra: AWS, Kong API Gateway
• Integrations/ERP: Salesforce, NetSuite, BigCommerce
• Architecture: Microservices, Event‑Driven, Strangler Fig pattern

Responsibilities:

• Establish and run the program governance model, including meeting cadence, escalation paths, RACI, and a decision‑making framework across two parallel delivery tracks.
• Own the program roadmap, milestone tracking, dependency management, and critical path analysis across foundation, domain migration, and integration workstreams.
• Manage SAFe delivery execution, including PI planning, sprint cadence, phase gates, and production cutover processes with formal client sign‑off.
• Provide structured reporting at multiple levels, including weekly operational status for the delivery team, bi‑weekly updates for client engineering leadership, and monthly executive dashboards for the CIO.
• Track and report AI efficiency metrics, including code generation, test generation, and SDLC automation, as key program KPIs expected by the client executive sponsor.
• Facilitate cross‑team coordination between the modernization program, the operations team, and client infrastructure teams, including CloudOps and DevOps, responsible for environment provisioning and legacy decommissioning.
• Navigate dependencies with third‑party integration partners, including Salesforce, NetSuite, BigCommerce, and others, where sandbox access and API contract timelines are outside direct control.
• Manage the commercial cadence of the engagement, including bi‑monthly payment tracking, burn‑rate forecasting, and preparation of the re‑estimation checkpoint that determines the scope and pricing of the second SOW.
• Drive risk management through proactive identification, transparent communication, and data‑driven escalation, ensuring that risks inform decision making rather than only being tracked.
• Coordinate the team ramp‑up plan, including onboarding of new engineers, transition of BAU resources to modernization pods, and knowledge transfer from legacy platform SMEs.

Requirements:

• 7+ years of program and project delivery experience in complex, multi‑track environments with distributed teams.
• Proven experience managing platform modernization or legacy migration programs, including monolith to microservices, cloud migration, strangler fig, or similar patterns.
• Strong understanding of SAFe or equivalent scaled Agile frameworks, including PI planning, sprint execution, and formal phase gate processes.
• Experience managing fixed‑price engagements with non‑milestone based payment schedules, including burn‑rate tracking and forecast at completion analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to manage C‑level stakeholder relationships, tailor communication to different audiences, and build executive confidence through metrics‑driven reporting.
• Experience coordinating multiple delivery pods running in parallel with independent backlogs but shared infrastructure and governance.
• Strong technical awareness, including understanding of microservices, API gateways, CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure with AWS preferred, and data migration concepts sufficient to identify risks and ask the right questions.
• Emotional maturity and high emotional intelligence in managing cross‑functional teams, resolving technical disagreements, and navigating competing priorities between client stakeholders.
• Experience working alongside or managing vendor relationships in multi‑vendor environments.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with AI assisted development tools or SDLC automation, including AI code generation, test generation, or agentic workflows.
• Familiarity with Kong API Gateway, event‑driven architectures, or domain‑driven design.
• Knowledge of compliance and regulatory standards relevant to financial services, including GDPR, data retention, and audit trail requirements.
• Experience in financial services, professional certification, or EdTech organizations.