Principal Technical Program Manager, Public Sector

About the role

We are seeking a highly skilled Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) to lead large, complex, cross-functional engineering programs supporting Public Sector. This is a senior individual-contributor role requiring strong technical depth, strategic program leadership, and the ability to communicate clearly at the VP/SVP/EVP level.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of large, complex, multi-team engineering programs, ensuring program structure, delivery rhythms, and engineering outcomes are clear and predictable.
• Define and track performance metrics tied to engineering execution, program health, and SLAs with business and product stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain engineering-aligned roadmaps, integrated timelines, dependency maps, budgets, and risk mitigation plans.
• Build and lead program governance for executives, synthesizing engineering progress, risks, and technical trade-offs into clear, decision-oriented updates.
• Implement best practices in engineering program governance, dependency management, cross-team risk visibility, SDLC alignment, and change management.
• Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, and delivery predictability across engineering teams and partner groups.
• Partner with finance, engineering, and product to monitor capital/opex, capacity utilization, and resource allocation across internal teams and vendors.
• Report on program status including engineering risks, dependencies, integration concerns, and mitigation paths to senior leadership and key stakeholders.
• Cook up engineering planning cycles (roadmap planning, PI planning, quarterly commitments) and ensure backlogs are prioritized, estimated, and aligned with program objectives.
• Contribute to strategic planning and partner across Product, Engineering, Architecture, and Operations to ensure engineering readiness for launches and major releases.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or equivalent experience; advanced degree is a plus.
• 12–15+ years of experience leading large-scale technical or engineering programs within complex, matrixed technology organizations.
• Strong technical fluency in architecture, system design, APIs/services, data flows, and SDLC/DevOps.
• Prominent ability to communicate clearly and influence at the VP/SVP/EVP level—translating complex engineering issues, risks, and trade-offs into concise recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience managing engineering dependencies, sequencing across multiple teams, and driving outcomes across software and/or network domains.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Operations, and Finance.
• High urgency, accountability, and operational rigor; sets high standards for clarity, delivery predictability, and tooling hygiene.
• PMP/PMI, Agile/SAFe, or Lean Six Sigma certifications are a plus.
• Public Sector & Federal Compliance Experience Preferred.
• Experience leading or supporting large-scale Public Sector programs serving Federal, DoW, or other regulated government customers.
• Working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and their impact on technology delivery, cybersecurity, and contractual obligations.
• Familiarity with federal cybersecurity and compliance frameworks, including FedRAMP, CMMC, FISMA, and applicable NIST publications (e.g., NIST SP 800-53 and NIST SP 800-171).
• Understanding of Federal Contract Information (FCI), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and associated security, privacy, and data handling requirements.
• Ability to translate regulatory, contractual, and cybersecurity requirements into executable program plans, risk management strategies, and executive-level communications.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or equivalent experience; advanced degree is a plus.
• 12–15+ years of experience leading large-scale technical or engineering programs within complex, matrixed technology organizations.
• Strong technical fluency in architecture, system design, APIs/services, data flows, and SDLC/DevOps.
• Prominent ability to communicate clearly and influence at the VP/SVP/EVP level—translating complex engineering issues, risks, and trade-offs into concise recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience managing engineering dependencies, sequencing across multiple teams, and driving outcomes across software and/or network domains.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Operations, and Finance.
• High urgency, accountability, and operational rigor; sets high standards for clarity, delivery predictability, and tooling hygiene.
• PMP/PMI, Agile/SAFe, or Lean Six Sigma certifications are a plus.
• Public Sector & Federal Compliance Experience Preferred.
• Experience leading or supporting large-scale Public Sector programs serving Federal, DoW, or other regulated government customers.
• Working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and their impact on technology delivery, cybersecurity, and contractual obligations.
• Familiarity with federal cybersecurity and compliance frameworks, including FedRAMP, CMMC, FISMA, and applicable NIST publications (e.g., NIST SP 800-53 and NIST SP 800-171).
• Understanding of Federal Contract Information (FCI), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and associated security, privacy, and data handling requirements.
• Ability to translate regulatory, contractual, and cybersecurity requirements into executable program plans, risk management strategies, and executive-level communications.

Skills

• Strong technical fluency in architecture, system design, APIs/services, data flows, and SDLC/DevOps.
• Prominent ability to communicate clearly and influence at the VP/SVP/EVP level—translating complex engineering issues, risks, and trade-offs into concise recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience managing engineering dependencies, sequencing across multiple teams, and driving outcomes across software and/or network domains.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Operations, and Finance.
• High urgency, accountability, and operational rigor; sets high standards for clarity, delivery predictability, and tooling hygiene.
• PMP/PMI, Agile/SAFe, or Lean Six Sigma certifications are a plus.
• Public Sector & Federal Compliance Experience Preferred.
• Experience leading or supporting large-scale Public Sector programs serving Federal, DoW, or other regulated government customers.
• Working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and their impact on technology delivery, cybersecurity, and contractual obligations.
• Familiarity with federal cybersecurity and compliance frameworks, including FedRAMP, CMMC, FISMA, and applicable NIST publications (e.g., NIST SP 800-53 and NIST SP 800-171).
• Understanding of Federal Contract Information (FCI), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and associated security, privacy, and data handling requirements.
• Ability to translate regulatory, contractual, and cybersecurity requirements into executable program plans, risk management strategies, and executive-level communications.

Benefits

Lumen offers a comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. We're able to answer any additional questions you may have about our bonus structure (short-term incentives, long-term incentives and/or sales compensation) as you move through the selection process. Learn more about Lumen's:BenefitsBonus Structure