Strategic Program Manager

IBM; Armonk (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Finance & Operations seeks a Strategic Program Manager to steward critical investments and drive transformational change across programs. You will lead cross-functional teams, partner with Product Management, and ensure governance, planning, and delivery meet strategic goals.

You will shape program strategy, standardize processes, manage risks and dependencies, and communicate with executives. The role requires ten+ years of PM experience, strong budgeting, and ability to influence in a

Qualifications

• Ten+ years in project/program management with large-scale initiatives.
• Strong governance, budgeting, and resource planning experience.
• Excellent facilitation, presentation, and executive communication.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams in a matrix organization.

Responsibilities

• Provide program leadership and governance across multiple initiatives.
• Define strategy, standards, and processes for delivery.
• Identify efficiencies and drive long-term success.
• Coordinate stakeholders and manage risks and interdependencies.
• Support product managers with decision-making and escalation.
• Develop KPIs and report outcomes to executives.

Skills

Program management

Governance

Stakeholder management

Agile delivery

Executive communication

Budgeting

Risk management

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree

PM Certification (PMP) a plus

Tools

SFDC (Salesforce)

MS Project

Job description

At IBM Finance & Operations, we are the backbone of IBM’s transformation driving efficiency, transparency, and smart decision-making across the business. Our teams provide the insight and discipline that guide strategy, ensure financial strength, and enable IBM to invest in innovation and growth. Working in Finance & Operations means combining analytical skills with collaboration and curiosity. You’ll partner with colleagues across functions and geographies, using data, technology, and process excellence to create solutions that improve performance and deliver measurable impact. IBM offers continuous learning, career development, and a culture that values diverse perspectives. Join us and be part of a global team that keeps IBM moving forward, while building your own future in a dynamic and evolving environment.

Your Role And Responsibilities

A Strategic Program Manager (LPM) stewards critical strategic investments and transformational change by providing leadership and direction to programs. You’ll partner with other organizations within Red Hat to facilitate project delivery and motivate teams to achieve program goals. You’ll be responsible for planning, governance, and overseeing the successful output of a program. This role involves coordinating program delivery across multiple areas to drive high-quality outcomes for the business. Programs, by nature, have a start and end date. Strategic Program Managers will move to the work as business needs dictate.

Primary Job Responsibilities

• Provide overall program leadership, guidance, and manage all aspects of a given program, including requirements gathering, business case creation, and implementation in partnership with Product Management.
• Develop and implement program management strategy, standards, and processes to ensure projects and programs are delivered effectively and efficiently.
• Identify opportunities to streamline the program and introduce efficiencies / new initiatives related to the scope in order to focus on long term successes and drive Red Hat’s vision.
• Adapt methods, structures, and processes to the needs of the program with a focus on continuous improvement.
• Provide steady leadership in the face of change and aggressive deadlines with the support of Product Management, who ultimately provides prioritization guidance.
• Proactively support and coach teams, helping them manage expectations of delivery and requirements, yielding consistent results.
• Proactively identify and manage business facing, program-level risks and interdependencies, with a focus on business partners and organizations outside of IT.
• Implement and manage governance processes for the program that ensure high-quality delivery on schedule, including meeting cadences, status reporting, budget management, milestone achievements, risk management, issue tracking & prioritization, blockers threatening timeline or quality, and escalation management.
• Manage different levels of stakeholder communication across the organization in order to facilitate project / program success and promote collaboration and coordination.
• Build a level of trust and collaboration between the product team and business in order to ensure they are working towards a common goal, including, but not limited to Release Train Engineers, Product Owners, Product Managers, and Business Readiness teams, etc.
• Support the design of KPIs and measurement methods to capture program success criteria. Collect, calculate, track and report program KPIs and outcomes to various stakeholders including C-level.
• Assist Product Managers with decision-making facilitation and escalation management – ensuring the right people, with the right content, structured in the right way to get decisions made on time.
• Propose solutions and action plans for goals not met or at risk.
• Develop, optimize, and continuously evaluate and adapt the resourcing strategies to ensure optimum support for projects and for the day-to-day operational activities.

Preferred Education

Bachelor's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• More than ten years of project management experience, including large-scale complex technical projects, large portfolios OR equivalent experience.
• Thorough understanding of project/program management techniques, methods, and tools.
• Implementation and management of effective program governance frameworks (templates, processes, etc.).
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills, both virtually and in-person.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and proven ability to work effectively with all organizational levels in a dynamic matrix organization.
• Ability to message for executive audiences at SVP and C-suite level, including distilling complex concepts into consumable content to support decision making.
• Proven problem-solving, consultative, influencing, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to innovate under new and/or changing conditions.
• Must have demonstrated leadership ability, business acumen, organizational skills, and industry knowledge.
• Strong knowledge of budgeting, resource allocation, and process design procedures.
• Capacity to effectively understand SFDC and Agile delivery models.
• High attention to detail with cross-organization coordination skills to keep respective people responsible for tasks.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Bachelor’s in computer science, information technology, management, or related field.
• Project management certification or program management certification (PMP) are a plus.