Technical Program Manager II

Northwestern Mutual Group; Franklin (WI); On-site; USD 89,000 - 134,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual in Wisconsin is seeking a Senior Program Manager to own the delivery of complex cross-functional technical solutions across PDDM platforms. You will combine program leadership with hands-on system work to ensure reliability, monitoring, automation, and modernization of production systems.

In this role you will coordinate vendors and enterprise partners, manage scope, schedule, and risk, and drive continuous improvement while maintaining clear technical documentation and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent education and experience.
• 3 years of professional experience, including 1–3 years in technology project management.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives using waterfall, agile, lean, or scrum.

Responsibilities

• Own PDDM production platforms and interfaces while leading medium-size programs.
• Define program structure and a unified delivery plan integrating changes and dependencies.
• Manage scope, schedule, cost, quality, and day‑to‑day execution.
• Diagnose and coordinate resolution of network, file transfer, and workflow issues.
• Lead root cause analysis with vendors and enterprise partners.
• Establish monitoring, alerting, and production reporting; automate processes.
• Plan testing, upgrades, migrations, and modernization; coordinate stakeholders.

Skills

Accountability

Adaptive Communication

Analytical Thinking

Cross Functional Partnering & Planning

Customer Centricity

Program Management

Software & Technical Product Knowledge

Technical Problem Solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent education and experience

Tools

PRISMA

Quadient

CAPTIVA

Job description

Summary:

Plans, coordinates, and actively manage delivery of complex, cross-functional technical solutions spanning multiple products and production platforms. Owns the end-to-end delivery plan and technical health of PDDM platforms used for Inbound and Outbound communications. The role combines program leadership with hands‑on system work to ensure reliable operations, effective monitoring, automation, issue resolution, modernization, and successful implementation of changes.

What You'll Do:

Own PDDM production platforms and interfaces while leading medium-size, moderately complex programs. Define program structure and a unified delivery plan that integrates platform changes, operational requirements, dependencies, and objectives. Manage scope, schedule, cost, quality, day‑to‑day execution, issue resolution, and closure within approved parameters. Diagnoses and coordinate resolution of network, file transfer, and workflow issues related to PRISMA, OPEX (CertainScan), Captiva, and NM proprietary applications used in operations. Lead root cause analysis and preventive action with vendors and enterprise partners. Establish monitoring, alerting, and production reporting; automate repetitive processes to improve reliability, visibility, efficiency, and control. Support integrations across composition, print, finishing, and delivery platforms while identifying and managing cross‑team interdependencies. Maintain technical documentation, dependency maps, operating procedures, and recovery procedures. Plan and execute testing, upgrades, migrations, and modernization; coordinate stakeholders, clarify priorities and measures, mitigate risks, and remove impediments. Work directly in the systems while improving and governing the platforms for which the role is responsible.

What You'll Bring to the Role:

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent education and experience. At (3) years of professional experience, including one to three years of project management experience in technology and/or business functions. Experience managing large‑scale, cross‑functional initiatives using waterfall, agile, lean, or scrum, with knowledge of project management tools and the software development life cycle. Experience supporting production systems and troubleshooting integrated platforms, network, file transfer, and workflow issues; familiarity with PRISMA, Quadient, and CAPTIVA is preferred. Understanding how software and production platforms are developed, tested, implemented, monitored, upgraded, and recovered. Ability to partner with engineers, product managers, business leaders, operations teams, enterprise partners, and vendors. Strong analytical, problem‑solving, documentation, and root cause analysis skills, plus the curiosity and hands‑on approach needed to become a go‑to platform expert. Ability to lead work with notable risk and complexity and develop strategies for execution, modernization, and continuous improvement.

Skills You Have

• Accountability (NM): Demonstrates ownership of objectives, priorities, commitments, execution, and results, including taking responsibility for challenges and mistakes.
• Adaptive Communication (NM): Communicates complex information clearly and adapts messaging for technical, nontechnical, and leadership audiences.
• Analytical Thinking (NM): Uses data, business knowledge, and multiple perspectives to identify underlying issues, solve problems, and improve processes.
• Cross Functional Partnering & Planning (NM): Coordinates planning, communication, and collaboration across technical teams, business partners, vendors, and other functions to achieve shared goals.
• Customer Centricity (NM): Applies a customer‑first mindset to design and improve solutions, systems, processes, and services that support meaningful business and customer outcomes.
• Program Management (NM): Coordinates multiple workstreams and manages scope, schedules, resources, risks, and dependencies to achieve program objectives and successful delivery.
• Software & Technical Product Knowledge (NM): Understands and communicates the technical, operational, and business capabilities, limitations, and features of software platforms and technical products.
• Technical Problem Solving (NM): Defines and analyzes complex technical problems, identifies roadblocks, evaluates potential solutions, and aligns partners on an effective path forward.

Compensation Range:

Pay Range - Start: $89,360.00

Pay Range - End: $134,040.00

Geographic Specific Pay Structure: Structure 110: $98,320.00 USD - $147,480.00 USD

Structure 115: $102,800.00 USD - $154,200.00 USD

We believe in fairness and transparency. It’s why we share the salary range for most of our roles. However, final salaries are based on a number of factors, including the skills and experience of the candidate; the current market; location of the candidate; and other factors uncovered in the hiring process.

If you’re living in California, New York City or other eligible location, geographic specific pay structures, compensation and benefits could be applicable,

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds.

We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.

At Northwestern Mutual, we believe relationships are built on trust.

That our lives and our work matter.

These beliefs launched our company over 160 years ago. Today, they’re just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.

What started in Milwaukee, WI has grown into 7,000+ home office professionals split across 3 campuses: New York City, Franklin and downtown Milwaukee (HQ) - each one bringing with it its own unique talent and culture.

In a company with such a long and storied history, this may be the most exciting and important time to be a part of Northwestern Mutual as we are growing our digital and tech capabilities and are always on the lookout for bright, tech‑savvy candidates.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds.

We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.