Technical Lead

WestJet Group; Calgary; On-site; CAD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

WestJet Group is seeking a Project/Program Tech Lead to provide technical leadership across complex initiatives. The role coordinates with solution architects, engineering, product, vendors, and business teams to convert program goals into practical plans and hands-on delivery.

You will drive technical planning, manage dependencies and risks, and guide teams through design, build, testing, and hand-offs to operations, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and business priorities.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in technology delivery, including leading technical work on complex projects or programs.
• Experience turning business goals into technical plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, and decisions.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical topics clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Familiar with Agile, hybrid, and waterfall delivery, including sprint planning, release planning, cutover planning, and project governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day technical work on assigned projects and programs, ensuring solution direction, scope, constraints, and outcomes are understood.
• Coordinate delivery across teams and vendors to align with enterprise standards and target-state architecture.
• Break program goals into technical work packages, milestones, and integration points, supporting estimates and roadmap alignment.
• Identify, track, and manage technical dependencies, risks, and decisions across teams; raise issues early with clear options and trade-offs.
• Guide teams through design, build, test, implementation, cutover, stabilization, and hand-off to operations.
• Prepare for and participate in architecture, technical, security, operational, and delivery reviews; document technical decisions.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder communication

Delivery planning

Architecture alignment

Problem solving

Education

Post-secondary degree or diploma in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Business Technology, or related field

Job description

Overview of role:

The Project/Program Tech Lead provides technical leadership on complex projects and programs. They make sure solutions are planned and delivered in line with enterprise standards, business goals, and operational needs. Working across delivery, architecture, engineering, product, vendor, and business teams, they turn program goals into clear technical direction, manage technical dependencies and risks, and guide teams through delivery. The role keeps work aligned, technically sound, and focused on outcomes from start-up through implementation and hand-off to operations.

Key deliverables / responsibilities include:

• Technical Delivery Leadership: Lead the day-to-day technical work on assigned projects and programs, and make sure teams understand the solution direction, scope, constraints, and expected outcomes.
• Solution Alignment: Work with Solution Architects, engineering, security, infrastructure, operations, product, and vendor teams to keep solutions in line with enterprise standards, target-state architecture, operational needs, and business priorities. The Solution Architect sets the solution direction, standards, patterns, and major trade-offs; the Tech Lead turns that direction into practical plans and coordinates delivery across teams.
• Technical Planning: Break program goals into technical work packages, milestones, sequencing, and integration points. Support estimates, sprint or release planning, and roadmap alignment where needed.
• Dependency and Risk Management: Track and manage technical dependencies, assumptions, risks, and decisions across teams. Raise issues early, and offer clear options, recommendations, and trade-offs so decisions can be made on time.
• Execution Support: Guide teams through design, build, test, implementation, cutover, stabilization, and hand-off to operations. Make sure teams are technically ready for key milestones, and lead end-to-end technical triage when work is off plan or issues arise.
• Governance and Decision Support: Prepare for and take part in architecture, technical, security, operational, and delivery reviews. Keep clear records of technical decisions and share them with the teams they affect.
• Stakeholder Communication: Explain technical topics in clear, plain terms for delivery teams, business stakeholders, leadership, and vendors. Give short, regular updates on progress, risks, issues, and recommendations.
• Quality and Operational Readiness: Support solution testing, non-functional requirements, release readiness, support model definition, and hand-off to operations.
• Vendor and Partner Coordination: Work with vendors, partners, and internal teams to line up technical deliverables, clarify who owns what, remove blockers, and keep delivery joined up across the full solution.
• Continuous Improvement: Look for ways to improve delivery practices, technical standards, documentation, reuse, automation, and how teams work together.
• Artifacts: Accountable for the delivery of physical design diagrams and operational playbooks.

Experience and qualifications:

• Post-secondary degree or diploma in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Business Technology, or a related field preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• 8+ years in technology delivery, including leading technical work on complex projects or programs.
• Good working knowledge of software delivery, systems integration, cloud, data, infrastructure, security, and operational support.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority, including internal teams, vendors, and partners.
• Experience turning business goals into technical plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, and decisions.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical topics clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Familiar with Agile, hybrid, and waterfall delivery, including sprint planning, release planning, cutover planning, and project governance.
• Comfortable working through ambiguity, removing technical blockers, making practical recommendations, and getting people aligned.
• Relevant certifications such as PMP, PMI-ACP, Scrum, SAFe, ITIL, cloud, architecture, or vendor/platform certifications are considered an asset.