Senior Strategic Program Manager, Cybersecurity Programs

Thales; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

Thales in Austin, TX is seeking a Lead Strategic Program Manager to own and drive the organization’s highest-impact cross-functional programs within Cybersecurity Products Engineering. You will partner with Engineering, Product, Finance, Security, Sales, Legal, HR, and Talent Acquisition to establish governance, budgets, and scalable operating frameworks.

The role requires 8–12+ years in strategic program management with a strong finance background, ability to operate in ambiguity, and a track

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Accounting, or a related field with a minimum of 8-12+ years of relevant work experience or Master’s degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, or a related field with 6+ years of relevant work experience.
• 10+ years of strategic program management, business/strategic operations, or comparable cross-functional leadership experience in technology, cybersecurity, or software engineering.
• Demonstrated leadership of complex, multi-stakeholder programs from business case through execution, including compliance or regulatory programs or comparable strategic initiatives.
• Strong financial acumen in budget management, forecasting, and investment business cases.
• Proven ability to create executive- and board-level communications and present to senior leadership.
• Experience partnering with Finance, HR/Talent Acquisition, Engineering, and Security leaders to scale operational frameworks.
• Experience supporting organizational or geographic expansion, workforce planning, and location business cases.
• Exceptional ability to operate in ambiguity and align teams without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive CSP’s highest-priority strategic programs, including compliance and certification, organizational expansion, and cross-functional transformation initiatives, from business case through delivery.
• Define program scope, governance, success metrics, roadmaps, commitments, timelines, risks, dependencies, and cross-functional trade-offs.
• Build investment business cases that quantify ARR impact, cost, and risk and secure leadership sponsorship.
• Translate executive priorities into operating cadence, program plans, resourcing decisions, and executive- or board-level materials.
• Present program status, risks, recommendations, and decisions to senior leadership.
• Partner with Finance on budgets, labor allocation, discretionary spend, planning, and forecasting.
• Apply data-driven analysis to workforce strategy, resource allocation, portfolio prioritization, and organizational planning.
• Design scalable frameworks for hiring, talent reviews, planning cycles, and distributed global-team growth.
• Coordinate Engineering, Finance, Legal, Security, Sales, HR, and Talent Acquisition across multi-quarter initiatives.
• Bring structure and clarity to ambiguous problems through governance, cadence, reporting, and decision frameworks.

Skills

Strategic program management

Cross-functional leadership

Budget management

Executive communications

Ambiguity handling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business/Finance/Accounting or related field

Master’s degree in Business/Finance/Accounting or related field

MBA or equivalent advanced degree

Job description

Thales in Austin, TX is seeking a Lead Strategic Program Manager to own and drive the organization’s highest-impact cross-functional programs within Cybersecurity Products Engineering. You will partner with Engineering, Product, Finance, Security, Sales, Legal, HR, and Talent Acquisition to establish governance, budgets, and scalable operating frameworks.

The role requires 8–12+ years in strategic program management with a strong finance background, ability to operate in ambiguity, and a track