Director, Technical Program Management

About the role

Samba is a media intelligence company that knows what the world is watching, reading, and thinking about — in real time, at scale, across every screen. Our data, collected with the consent of over a billion people, forms the most complete picture of consumer attention ever built. The biggest brands in the world use this data to make smarter decisions.

We are looking for a Director of Technical Program Management to lead and grow our TPM function at a critical inflection point in the company's expansion. This is a strategic leadership position where you will be a peer to VPs and Sr. Directors across Engineering, Product, Data Science, and Executive Leadership. You will own how we plan, execute, and govern complex programs spanning the full ad tech stack: data collection, identity, audience platforms, measurement solutions, and third-party integrations.

Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of 2–4 TPMs, setting a high bar for program ownership, communication, and technical credibility.
• Define the TPM team's operating model — how programs are staffed, governed, escalated, and reported — and evolve it as the organization scales.
• Act as the senior-most TPM voice in leadership forums, representing program health, risk posture, and execution capacity to the CTO, SVP of Engineering, and cross-functional peers.
• Drive hiring decisions, performance development, and career growth for the TPM team.

Program Strategy & Execution

• Own the end-to-end program execution strategy for the technology organization's most complex, cross-functional initiatives — from annual planning through delivery.
• Define and enforce program governance frameworks: scope, milestones, dependency management, risk registers, and earned value tracking.
• Partner with Engineering, Product, and Data Science leadership to align program roadmaps with business priorities, capacity constraints, and strategic objectives.
• Drive the shift from bespoke, one-off execution to scalable, repeatable program infrastructure — ensuring teams build for hundreds of integrations, not one at a time.
• Personally lead the highest-stakes programs when complexity, risk, or organizational span demands senior TPM ownership.

Cross-functional Influence & Stakeholder Management

• Operate as a credible peer to VPs and Sr. Directors — not just a coordinator, but a strategic partner with a clear point of view on tradeoffs, priorities, and risk.
• Communicate program status, risks, and strategic dependencies to the CTO, SVP of Engineering, and executive leadership with clarity, precision, and appropriate urgency.
• Build and maintain alignment across Engineering, Product, Legal, Data, and Operations on programs that cut across organizational boundaries.
• Surface and resolve cross-functional blockers that cannot be handled at the team level — escalating with a recommended resolution, not just a flag.

Process, Tooling & Governance

• Use AI tools (Claude, Gemini, Cursor, Codex) to accelerate automation of TPM artifacts.
• Establish and continuously improve the standard TPM toolkit: program templates, RAID frameworks, status reporting cadences, and planning rituals.
• Champion Agile and scaled Agile (SAFe) practices across engineering teams, partnering with Engineering Managers to ensure methodology serves delivery.
• Ensure programs reflect regulatory and compliance requirements (GDPR, CCPA, privacy-by-design) as first-class planning inputs, not afterthoughts.
• Stay current on industry trends in ad tech, programmatic advertising, and digital measurement — bringing external perspective into internal planning.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in technical program management, with at least 5+ years in a senior or lead TPM role.
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing a team of TPMs — hiring, coaching, setting standards, and building a high-performance culture.
• Deep domain expertise in ad tech — including programmatic advertising, audience data platforms, measurement and attribution solutions, identity, and/or data product delivery. This is a hard requirement; candidates without ad tech context will not be considered.
• Proven track record operating as a peer to VPs and Sr. Directors — influencing strategic decisions, representing program risk at the executive level, and driving alignment across senior leadership.
• Expertise in Agile, Scrum, and SAFe methodologies with hands-on experience driving adoption across engineering organizations.
• Strong command of program governance: earned value metrics, dependency management, risk mitigation, and structured escalation frameworks.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication — able to adapt from engineering deep-dives to executive briefings without losing precision or credibility.
• Experience managing programs that span regulatory or compliance constraints (GDPR, CCPA, or similar privacy frameworks).
• Background in software engineering, computer science, or a related technical field — prior hands-on engineering experience gives strong credibility with technical teams.
• Experience with cloud-based data platforms, big data technologies, and/or real-time data pipeline infrastructure.
• Familiarity with ACR (Automatic Content Recognition), connected TV data, or OEM-level data collection.
• Experience managing TPM functions during periods of rapid organizational growth, M&A integration, or geographic expansion.
• MBA or advanced technical degree — valued but not required where equivalent experience is clear.

Pay

$225,000 – $275,000 USD a year