Program Director

The Professional Services team delivers a wide range of projects for both clients and business partners. The Program Director leads the work product of a group of Engagement Managers and Technical Staff assigned to their client program(s): provides the first line of support surrounding setting performance expectations for assigned programs, giving related feedback & corrective guidance, participating in training for new team members, and providing ongoing mentorship. Contributes to thought leadership, strategy, and new initiatives, both externally with clients as prescribed and internally within the department. Champions and enforces our established departmental processes across the customer engagements they are responsible for, directly or by association with the team they lead. Manages several individual but related projects to the required standard of quality within the specified constraints of time and cost for the customer. Responsible for adhering to company security policies and procedures and any other relevant policies and standards as directed.

The ability to manage customer expectations and establish long-term partnerships by delivering complex large enterprise-wide programs effectively, on time, on budget, and according to agreed-upon scope, is critical to the Program Director role.  

 

Work Location: Remote in the United States of America. Candidates within 40 miles of an office will work hybrid from home and in the office two days a week.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the discovery and implementation of enterprise-grade systems that carry a significant impact on the client's business within our professional services umbrella, including cloud-native development service and enterprise cloud migration service. 

• Lead work product expectations for a team of engagement managers and technical staff on the assigned program(s), setting performance expectations, providing first-line support, and ongoing mentorship. 

•  Work with cross-functional teams to understand the business and its objectives, lead through planning, and design technical solutions to solve the business’s problems in a fast-paced and collaborative environment. Your influential skills will be crucial to drive the program's success. 

• Confirm program scopes, create program plan, and direct multiple streams to achieve the client's goals, attention to detail on regular and timely delivery of value; organize and lead program status and working meetings using progress reports and appropriate PowerPoint decks; manage risks and issues with mitigation paths; overall ensuring delivery planning for assigned projects align with client needs. 

• Monitor the program from initiation through delivery. Organize interdependencies and activities to guarantee completion of the project on schedule and within budget constraints. Oversee and monitor the work of program staff, providing technical support and direction. 

• collaborate closely with our partners in program and product management to understand our customers and build the right solutions and products that make their needs and businesses complete. 

Skills

• Excellent oral and written communication skills with a track record of interacting with both business and technical staff at all levels including executive level. 

• Possess exceptional problem-solving skills, strong business judgment, and notable experience collaborating in hybrid teams. You are a self-starter technical leader with a shown ability to execute both strategically and tactically, and someone who is excited to take on new projects.

• Excellent interpersonal skills including mentoring, coaching, collaborating, and team building. You should be customer-focused with a passion for the cloud, partnering closely with peers, developers, and customers to create solutions, while simultaneously ensuring alignment amongst stakeholders.

• Solid analytical, planning, and interpersonal skills with the ability to handle complex demands. 

• Strong knowledge and understanding of business needs with the ability to establish/maintain a high level of customer trust and confidence. 

• Strong experience of SDLC with expert knowledge of both Agile and traditional project management principles and practices.

• Strong ability to evaluate program performance metrics, as well as diagnose and resolve issues. 

• Experience with technical design discussions and the ability to summarize complex topics and options.

• Ability to effectively represent engineering perspectives to partner organizations, product teams, and executive leadership.

• Engage individuals and teams located across multiple geographies and or cultures.  

• Lean into ambiguity or conflicting priorities to succeed in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability to toggle between lead and team member, providing direction and mentoring to others where needed.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or related discipline, or equivalent professional experience. 

• At least 12 years of experience managing large complex programs through a full lifecycle in the technology industry in a professional services or consultancy environment. 

• At least 5 years of hands-on Agile experience, acting as Scrum Master. 

• Extensive knowledge of program management disciplines, methodologies, best practices, and tools. 

• Strong communication skills; experience presenting to executives. 

• Familiarity with cloud technologies, software development, networking infrastructure, data, and/or security. 

• Technical background (software development/engineering, database/system design, IaaS) 

• Self-starter with a results-oriented, proactive management approach. 

• Ability to learn on the job quickly and desire to develop expertise in AWS, Azure and/or GCP. 

• Ability to work in a fast-paced consulting environment and collaborate effectively as a team member 

• Certifications preferred (SAFe, PMP, CSM, AWS Cloud Practitioner, AWS Solutions Architect Associated) 

The following information is required by pay transparency legislation in the following states: CA, CO, HI, NY, and WA. This information applies only to individuals working in these states.

The anticipated starting pay range for Colorado is: $143,700 - $210,760

The anticipated starting pay range for the states of Hawaii and New York (not including NYC) is: $153,000 - $224,400

The anticipated starting pay range for California, New York City, and Washington is: $167,400 - $245,520

Unless already included in the posted pay range and based on eligibility, the role may include variable compensation in the form of bonus, commissions, or other discretionary payments. These discretionary payments are based on company and/or individual performance and may change at any time. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. Information on benefits offered is here.

Work Location: Remote in the United States of America

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'Remote postings are limited to candidates residing within the country specified in the posting location'

About Rackspace Technology

We are the multicloud solutions experts. We combine our expertise with the world’s leading technologies — across applications, data and security — to deliver end-to-end solutions. We have a proven record of advising customers based on their business challenges, designing solutions that scale, building and managing those solutions, and optimizing returns into the future. Named a best place to work, year after year according to Fortune, Forbes and Glassdoor, we attract and develop world-class talent. Join us on our mission to embrace technology, empower customers and deliver the future.

 

 

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Though we’re all different, Rackers thrive through our connection to a central goal: to be a valued member of a winning team on an inspiring mission. We bring our whole selves to work every day. And we embrace the notion that unique perspectives fuel innovation and enable us to best serve our customers and communities around the globe. We welcome you to apply today and want you to know that we are committed to offering equal employment opportunity without regard to age, color, disability, gender reassignment or identity or expression, genetic information, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, military or veteran status, nationality, ethnic or national origin, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any legally protected characteristic. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.