Senior Program Leader

The Sage Group; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

The Sage Group’s client is seeking a Senior Program Leader to drive AI transformation within the client’s Legal department. This is a high-autonomy role for operators who can independently structure problems, align senior stakeholders, and deliver measurable business outcomes from strategy to execution.

Responsibilities include owning end-to-end enterprise programs, leading cross-functional workstreams across Legal, Engineering, IS&T, Finance, AIS, Privacy, and Procurement, and establishing

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years of relevant professional experience leading complex programs.
• Proven ability to independently own large programs from inception to outcomes.
• Exceptional operator mindset—organized with strategic vision.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to brief senior leaders clearly.
• Proven ability to influence without authority across matrix organizations.
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapidly changing priorities.
• Experience in large-scale technology organizations, consulting, transformation, or operations.
• AI/technology transformation experience is strongly preferred but not required.
• Track record of measurable impact and delivering business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Own complex, enterprise-level transformation programs end-to-end.
• Lead with minimal supervision and drive programs forward without detailed direction.
• Drive cross-functional execution across Legal, Engineering, IS&T, Finance, AIS, Privacy, and Procurement.
• Lead multiple interconnected workstreams including AI infrastructure and governance.
• Establish the operating model for major initiatives with governance and reporting.
• Partner with senior executives to frame decisions and align priorities.
• Bring rigor to ambiguous problems and mobilize teams and resources.
• Own outcomes with measurable impact, including cost savings and efficiency improvements.

Skills

Executive leadership

Strategic problem-solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Independent ownership

Influence without authority

Ambiguity tolerance

Tech transformation

AI fluency

Results-driven

Job description

The Sage Group’s client is seeking a Senior Program Leader to support AI transformation within the client’s Legal department. These are high-autonomy roles for individuals who can take ownership of complex, ambiguous initiatives and drive them from strategy through execution.

This is not a project coordinator or administrative PM role. We are looking for seasoned operators who can independently structure problems, align senior stakeholders, establish operating mechanisms, manage complex dependencies, and deliver measurable business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Own complex, enterprise-level transformation programs end-to-end, translating strategic priorities into executable roadmaps, milestones, workstreams, dependencies, and measurable outcomes.
• Lead with minimal supervision — independently determine what needs to happen, create structure where none exists, identify and resolve blockers, and drive programs forward without requiring detailed direction.
• Drive cross-functional execution across Legal, Engineering, IS&T, Finance, AIS, Privacy, Procurement, and other partner organizations, often without direct authority over participating teams.
• Lead multiple interconnected workstreams, including AI/technical infrastructure, legal technology and workflow transformation, cost savings and efficiency initiatives, policy and governance, and organizational change.
• Establish the operating model for major initiatives, including governance, decision rights, executive reporting, program cadence, risk/issue management, and accountability mechanisms.
• Partner with senior executives and functional leaders to frame decisions, resolve competing priorities, communicate tradeoffs, and maintain organizational alignment.
• Bring rigor to ambiguous problems — quickly assess the current state, identify gaps and dependencies, develop a path forward, and mobilize the appropriate teams and resources.
• Own outcomes, not just activities — establish success metrics and relentlessly track toward tangible impact, including cost savings, efficiency, adoption, risk reduction, quality improvements, and increased organizational capacity.

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years of relevant professional experience, with a significant portion spent leading complex programs, transformations, or strategic initiatives in sophisticated organizations.
• Demonstrated history of independently owning large, complex programs from inception through execution and measurable results.
• Exceptional operator mindset — highly organized and detail-oriented, but equally capable of seeing the strategic picture and determining what matters most.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to communicate clearly and concisely with senior leaders, including synthesizing complex issues into decisions and recommendations.
• Proven ability to influence without authority and drive accountability across teams with different priorities, incentives, and organizational structures.
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapidly changing priorities; able to create clarity and momentum without waiting for a fully defined mandate.
• Strong business and analytical judgment, with the ability to evaluate tradeoffs, prioritize resources, identify risks, and make sound recommendations.
• Experience in large-scale technology organizations, consulting, transformation, operations, or comparable environments where programs span multiple functions and organizational boundaries.
• AI / technology transformation experience is strongly preferred, but deep technical expertise is not required. Candidates should be sufficiently technology-fluent to work credibly with technical teams and translate between technical, business, and legal stakeholders.
• Track record of measurable impact — candidates should be able to articulate specific examples of programs they personally drove, the challenges they encountered, and the business outcomes they delivered.