Staff Program Manager

engine; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonus potential

Hybrid work model

Job summary

engine, an AI-native business travel platform, is hiring a Staff Program Manager to guide complex, multi-team initiatives within a centralized Business Operations function. You will set direction, build new operating models, and drive AI and automation adoption across initiatives to improve workflows and outcomes across the organization.

This role requires strategic thinking, strong stakeholder management, and the ability to establish repeatable methods where playbooks do not yet exist.

Qualifications

• Deep program management experience leading multi-team initiatives to completion.
• Ability to make sound judgments in high-ambiguity environments.
• Strong cross-functional instincts with trusted relationships across teams.
• Builder mindset to improve systems, guidelines, tools and methods.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end execution across complex, multi-team initiatives with sequencing and tradeoff decisions.
• Develop new operating models when playbooks don’t apply and make methods repeatable.
• Think strategically across functions and connect systems and teams beyond the initiative.
• Resolve ambiguity using context and judgment rather than rigid processes.
• Build trusted cross-functional relationships and drive outcomes beyond a single team.
• Coach others with clear communication through difficult stakeholder situations.
• Lead AI and automation adoption across initiatives and redesign workflows.
• Develop tools, guidelines, and methods to improve how program management operates.
• Keep initiative health visible in company-level reporting and planning cycles.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Communication

AI and automation

Decision making in ambiguity

Stakeholder management

Job description

Role overview

An AI-native business travel platform is hiring a Staff Program Manager to lead complex, multi-team initiatives where the playbook often does not yet exist. The role sits within a centralized Business Operations function that deploys program managers where the work is hardest, and is focused on setting direction, building new operating models, and driving AI and automation adoption. It is designed for someone who separates signal from noise, makes tradeoffs with confidence, and raises the bar for how execution works across the org.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end execution across one or more complex, multi-team initiatives, including sequencing, direction-setting, and tradeoff decisions.
• Build and evolve operational approaches when established playbooks do not apply, making new methods repeatable.
• Think strategically across functions, understanding how systems and teams connect beyond the immediate initiative.
• Resolve ambiguous situations using deep context and judgment rather than rigid process.
• Develop trusted cross-functional relationships and steer conversations toward outcomes bigger than any single team.
• Model clear, direct communication and coach others through difficult stakeholder situations.
• Lead AI and automation adoption across initiatives, redesigning workflows and deciding what to automate, retool, or abandon.
• Guide development of tools, guidelines, and methods that improve how the broader program management pool operates.
• Partner with Business Operations leadership to keep initiative health visible in company-level reporting and planning cycles.

Requirements

• Deep program management expertise with a track record of leading complex, multi-team initiatives to completion across different orgs and contexts.
• Sound judgment in high-ambiguity situations, including the ability to decide with incomplete information and adapt when conditions change.
• Strong cross-functional instincts and a track record of trusted relationships that keep business priorities front and center.
• A builder's mindset that improves systems and develops guidelines, tools, and methods that make other people more effective.
• Clear, direct communication with the ability to translate complexity into crisp updates and coach teammates through uncertainty and conflict.
• Comfort identifying leverage for AI in your domain and building toward scalable, repeatable approaches.
• High-growth tech or SaaS experience strongly preferred.

Benefits and work setup

• Base pay range of $140,000-$170,000 USD, plus equity and, depending on the role, potential annual bonus or commission.
• Hybrid-hub model: depending on the role, employees may work from an office or fully remote, with the environment set up to support success.
• Applications accepted through 11/11/26 or until the role is filled.