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 exists with the consent of over a billion people, organized into the most complete picture of consumer attention ever built. The biggest brands in the world use that picture 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, owning how we plan, execute, and govern complex programs that span 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 (e.g., 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.