Senior Technical Program Manager

Insight Global; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 117,096 - 135,004; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k retirement account access with employer matching

Paid sick leave and/or other paid time off

Job summary

A leading staffing firm is looking for a Technical Program Manager to oversee data annotation programs supporting AI initiatives. This hybrid position requires strong program management skills and a solid understanding of AI/ML workflows. Responsibilities include driving data annotation projects, collaborating with teams, and managing vendor relationships. The ideal candidate will have 7+ years in a technical program management role and excellent communication skills. Compensation ranges from $85 to $98 hourly, with comprehensive benefits starting on day one.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in technical program management or project management.
• Strong understanding of ML development workflows and data pipelines.
• Experience managing large-scale data labeling or collection efforts.

Responsibilities

• Drive large-scale data annotation programs from scoping to delivery.
• Collaborate with AI Research and product managers on data needs.
• Manage external vendors and internal labeling teams effectively.

Skills

Technical program management

AI/ML understanding

Project management

Communication skills

Data governance

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical field

Tools

Apache Spark

SQL

Databricks

Job description

Overview

Our client is seeking a highly motivated and technically skilled Technical Program Manager (TPM) to lead and oversee data annotation programs that power our cutting-edge AI research initiatives. This role sits at the intersection of program management, data operations, and AI/ML, and will play a pivotal part in ensuring that our data annotation efforts are scalable, high-quality, and aligned with the needs of our research and product teams.

Location & Term

This is a hybrid position (3 days a week) in San Francisco, CA, Mountain View, CA, or Seattle, WA. It is a one year contract with the possibility of extensions or conversion.

Responsibilities

• Program Ownership: Drive large-scale data annotation programs end-to-end, from scoping requirements to delivery and post-mortem analysis.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with AI Research leadership, AI researchers, data scientists, ML engineers, and product managers to define data needs, success metrics, and annotation guidelines.
• Vendor & Workforce Management: Manage external annotation vendors and internal labeling teams, including contract negotiation, SLAs, quality standards, and throughput planning.
• Quality & Process: Design and implement robust quality control pipelines, annotation tools, and feedback loops to ensure data quality at scale.
• Tooling & Automation: Collaborate with engineering to improve annotation infrastructure, workflows, and data pipelines for efficiency and scalability.
• Data Strategy & Governance: Contribute to data governance best practices, including privacy, security, ethics, and compliance in annotation workflows.
• Reporting & Metrics: Define and track key program metrics (cost, quality, speed, volume), and regularly communicate progress to stakeholders and leadership.
• Internal Adoption: Coordinate internal adoption of agentic AI products by building onboarding processes, workflows, and change management strategies.
• Data Quality Leadership: Establish and standardize processes for measuring, monitoring, and improving data quality across datasets and annotation teams.
• Customer Engagement: Collaborate with external customers and research partners on evaluation workshops, pilots, and feedback sessions to drive continuous improvement.

Must Have Skills & Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical field (e.g. Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, Information Systems) or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience in technical program management, project management, or operations in data-centric or AI/ML environments.
• Strong understanding of ML development workflows, data pipelines, and annotation lifecycle.
• Experience managing large-scale data labeling or data collection efforts, including working with third-party vendors.
• Familiarity with big data platforms (e.g. Apache Spark, Databricks, Hadoop) and data warehousing concepts.
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Proven track record of driving cross-functional teams to deliver complex technical projects on time and with high quality.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and analytical skills, with the ability to document standard operating procedures and processes
• Advanced working SQL knowledge, ability to build and maintain analytics to track, forecast, and visualize consumption through ad-hoc SQL, reports, and dashboards
• Experience performing root cause analysis on internal and external data and processes to answer specific business questions and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Self-motivated and able to work independently, as well as in a team environment.
• Preferred good working knowledge of GPU technology and its applications in generative AI and machine learning.
• Familiarity with big data technologies such as Apache Spark, Delta Lake, and MLflow is a plus.

Compensation

Compensation: $85 to $98 hourly, depending on experience

Exact compensation may vary based on several factors, including skills, experience, and education. Benefit packages for this role will start on the 1st day of employment and include medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as HSA, FSA, and DCFSA account options, and 401k retirement account access with employer matching. Employees in this role are also entitled to paid sick leave and/or other paid time off as provided by applicable law.