Senior Technical Programme Manager (Data Platform) in Welwyn Garden City

Overview

The Tesco Data and Analytics offering is based on our huge pool of business data collated by our Data Engineering colleagues and hosted on TAP (our Hadoop and Teradata platforms, with Azure based group data sharing, and associated Middleware platforms). Thousands of colleagues from across our Stores and Head Offices are able to access our data to derive meaning, make decisions and model new ideas to help them deliver more value for our customers. As part of the D&A Platform team, the STPM position is pivotal in shaping the direction and driving delivery of changes that move our underlying technology forwards in the coming years. The successful candidate must show they can deliver projects and be part of technical steering and service function in Data Platforms. Our project delivery relies on great working relationships with several internal Platform teams, multiple Data Engineering/Analytics and Data Science teams as well as our Product and Business teams. This is a large and complex environment providing plenty of interest and challenge from both a people and technology perspective. We are embarked upon a transformation that takes TAP from a packaged Hadoop solution to one that relies far more on Open Source/loosely coupled software linked to new hardware and object storage. We are focused on projects that deliver change and provide stable service on multiple instances linked to different business requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Shape programmes with ambiguous scope and uncertain delivery approach in an environment of continuous change as we adopt ever more Open Source solutions.
• Drive delivery of complex programmes with multiple technical and business risks ensuring colleagues and stakeholders from across Tesco are kept up-to-date and deliver their contribution.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills able to get the most from people and complex situations.
• Understand priorities, trade-offs and resulting impacts; making these visible to Engineering/Programme stakeholders for the right decision to be made quickly and move projects forward.
• Manage dependencies, track delivery timelines and lead virtual technology teams across multiple projects/geographies to deliver programme goals.
• Actively seek out varied and opposing opinions to ensure a balanced understanding of complex issues and find best way forward.
• Build positive relationships with suppliers & external stakeholders to maximise their delivery for Tesco and the value they bring to your programme outcome.
• Be challenging and influence the Engineering, Programme and Product teams to strive for improvements that speed up delivery and improve quality without detriment to service offered.
• Facilitate and support the development of individuals working with them directly and via their management structures.
• Deliver through a team of LTPM’s/TPMs and help develop their skills and careers.
• Optimise and improve standard programme delivery methodology used for delivering programme goals (Hybrid of agile and waterfall iteratives).
• Able to be aware and evaluate trends and new concepts in programme delivery and tooling to support this.
• Able to understand technology concepts and grasp new ones quickly to appreciate interlinks and implications on delivery (both positive and detrimental).
• Be able to understand a collection of technical architectures to be able to foresee the impact on dependencies timelines and eventual service delivery.

Technical Focus Areas

• Big Data Platforms, Open Source CNCF landscape and On-premise/Cloud infrastructures.
• Collaborate with the Engineering teams to define annual budgetary requirements.
• Manage contracts for delivery and maintenance, including renewals and search for new vendors through RFP/RFI processes, working with Procurement/Legal.
• Manage finances @ £m/yr, following robust finance discipline at Tesco for both annual budgeting and in-year forecast/tracking.

Qualifications

• You must have a 15yrs+ proven record of accomplished delivery in large scale technology, across multiple teams/geographies.
• Demonstrable experience of working in large scale infrastructure and platform environments.
• Demonstrable experience of building credible relationships and influencing senior management & leadership teams is essential.
• Project Management certification showing hybrid delivery is a must.

Vision and Culture

Our vision at Tesco is to become every customer's favourite way to shop, whether they are at home or out on the move. Our core purpose is ‘Serving our customers, communities and planet a little better every day’. Serving means more than a transactional relationship with our customers. It means acting as a responsible and sustainable business for all stakeholders, for the communities we are part of and for the planet. We are proud to have an inclusive culture at Tesco where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. At Tesco, we not only celebrate diversity, but recognise the value and opportunity it brings. We’re committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued, and make sure that all colleagues are given the same opportunities. We’re proud to have been accredited Disability Confident Leader and we’re committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. For further information on the accessibility support we can offer, please click here. We’re a big business and we can offer a range of diverse full-time & part-time working patterns across our many business areas, which means that we can find something that works for you. We work in a more blended pattern – combining office and remote working. Our offices will continue to be where we connect, collaborate and innovate. If you are applying internally, please speak to the Hiring Manager about how this can work for you – Everyone is welcome at Tesco.