Senior Technical Program Manager in Milton Keynes

Technical Programme Management | Software / SDLC | Complex Programmes | Engineering & Architecture | Customer-Facing Delivery

I'm recruiting a Senior Technical Programme Manager for a growing technology-led organisation delivering large-scale, business-critical software programmes.

The role sits right at the intersection of technology, programme delivery and the customer.

You'll lead complex, multi-workstream programmes while working closely with Software Engineering, Product and Architecture teams. You won't need to be hands-on technically, but you will need enough depth to understand how software is designed, developed and deployed, hold credible technical conversations, identify technical risks and challenge technical approaches when needed.

At the same time, this is a Programme Management role. You'll need to keep the customer, wider programme, risk and business impact at the centre of your decision-making rather than getting pulled into solving the technical problem yourself.

The Role:

• Leading complex, cross-functional technology programmes from end to end
• Coordinating multiple projects, technical teams, workstreams and dependencies
• Working closely with Engineering, Product and Architecture teams
• Understanding and challenging technical approaches, risks and trade-offs where appropriate
• Managing programme roadmaps, governance, budgets, risks and executive reporting
• Working directly with senior customers, stakeholders and external delivery partners
• Bringing structure and clarity to complex, changing or ambiguous situations
• Supporting Project Managers and delivery teams across the programme
• Ensuring customer, operational and business impact remain central to programme decisions

Your experience:

You'll need experience leading large-scale, complex technical programmes within a software, SaaS or engineering-led environment.

Alongside that, we're looking for:

• Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle
• Technical knowledge across areas such as software architecture, cloud, APIs, integrations, databases and platforms
• An understanding of modern software development and deployment practices beyond simply Agile ceremonies and sprints
• Experience delivering across multiple technical teams, products or workstreams
• Strong programme governance, risk, dependency and budget management
• Experience working directly with senior customers and stakeholders
• The ability to understand technical issues, ask the right questions and know when specialist technical input is needed
• Strong judgement and the ability to prioritise based on risk, customer impact and wider programme outcomes
• A clear, structured communication style, particularly when dealing with complex or difficult situations
• Confidence operating in environments where there isn't always a clearly defined route forward

A previous software development, engineering or technical leadership background could be valuable, but it isn't essential. What matters is having enough technical depth to work credibly with technical teams without needing to be the person designing or building the solution.

Experience within rail, transport, aviation, defence, government, critical infrastructure or other operationally/safety-critical environments would be particularly relevant.

Experience working with major consultancies, systems integrators, multiple product portfolios or organisational transformation would also be useful.

The opportunity

There's significant technology investment underway, a substantial portfolio of programmes and a global PMO being built and scaled. This is a senior, visible role with the opportunity to work on complex programmes and play a part in how programme delivery develops as the organisation continues to grow and change.

Following an initial conversation with me, there will be two stages with the team. One will include an interactive, real-world programme scenario. There's no presentation or lengthy task to prepare – it's a conversation designed to understand how you think, prioritise, ask questions and work through complexity.

The final stage will give you the opportunity to meet more of the people you'd work closely with and understand the programmes and environment in more detail.

You don't need to meet every desirable requirement to apply. If you have the core technical programme experience and believe your experience could transfer well, I'd be happy to hear from you.

If you need any reasonable adjustments or additional support at any stage of the recruitment process, please let me know. This won't have any impact on your application.

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