Senior Staff Program Manager

About the Role

Fivetran is building data pipelines to power the modern data stack for thousands of companies.

We’re looking for a Senior Staff Program Manager for our Central Engineering Operations team to help us reach our goals and help our Engineering team be the best that it can be! The mission for the Senior Staff Program Manager, Engineering Operations, is to maintain and accelerate the highest level of execution excellence of Fivetran engineering and R&D. Our Engineering organization is grouped into a number of functional global groups that are utilizing various processes, systems, tools, and KPIs in order to jointly deliver best-in-class data pipelines and drive innovation. The role focuses on increasing engineering and R&D efficiency and effectiveness in delivering our strategic objectives by streamlining engineering processes and leading major initiatives such as process and efficiency improvement projects and programs. As the majority of the processes belong to the software development industry, the role assumes you have broad experience in software development, leading multiple programs, and shipping software from start to finish. You have worked closely with cross-functional teams with design, research, product, and engineering. Preferably, you work at a tech company and are heavily involved in engineering operations, understanding how engineering and R&D processes work under the hood and how to take them to the next level, leveraging data-driven approaches. We want you to bring your passion for problem-solving, experience in the tech world, and the drive to help us get to the next level, and have some fun along the way.

This is a full-time position based out of our Oakland, CA office. Our hybrid work model offers a blend of remote flexibility and in-person collaboration, including two days in the office each week to connect and build as a team.

What You’ll Do

• Ensure the operations and strategy execution work seamlessly and effectively as well as streamline engineering processes so they are simple, value-oriented and scalable.

• Oversee the operations of several software engineering global groups with a particular focus on increasing the efficiency, stability and effectiveness in the delivery of their strategic objectives. 

• Act as a strategic partner for the global group leaders in regards to long-term vision, planning (quarterly and annual), and execution as well in establishing and tracking engineering OKRs and KPIs. All this with consistent alignment with engineering-wide policies and practices.

• Lead and manage enterprise-wide process enhancements aiming to set up or improve engineering and cross-departmental processes and be responsible for the transition into operational state (all in coordination with key stakeholders) resulting in documented, repeatable, and measurable processes. This includes end-to-end work from problem definition and data analysis to proposing solutions, aligning with R&D leadership, and driving the execution and adoption of the changes.

• Provide technical leadership and guidance to the team of operations managers to manage engineering initiatives, solve problems, optimize and automate routine operations to increase value added time of the team and of engineering.

• Work closely with senior engineers and leadership teams to ensure strict adherence to operational processes. Conduct audits and check-ins, identifying areas for improvement and ensuring continuous process refinement.

• Provide leadership, strategic direction and also directly contribute to the improvement and support of our internal knowledge management process and information structure in collaboration with PMO, technical enablement team and technical writers.

• Manage company-wide initiatives. Coordinate and oversee the preparation, planning, and delivery of engineering updates, events, and company-wide initiatives, ensuring alignment with corporate goals.

• Drive operational excellence across R&D: spearhead and champion global operational strategies, focusing on optimizing engineering processes to be more efficient, scalable, and aligned with the company’s long-term vision.

 Skills We’re Looking For

• 8+ years of experience in technical/operations management in the technology/software development industry with technical expertise that enables you to automate operational workflows, define automation requirements, and perform data analysis using query languages and AI.

• Ability to work directly with senior leadership on strategic programs, including leading company-wide or R&D initiatives from start to finish.

• Proven experience in optimizing operations on a global scale, creating actionable plans, and managing execution to enhance operational effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability across multiple engineering teams and departments, and adhering to various compliance requirements.

• You are able to facilitate discussions with engineering subject matter experts around areas like System Design, Data Architecture, Infrastructure Management (including cost management), Quality etc. in the context of engineering operations. 

• Comfortable at navigating ambiguity, working independently, and problem-solving within fast-paced and constantly changing environments.

• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills with the ability to interact and collaborate with technical and non-technical groups at all levels.

• A data-driven and action-oriented mindset with excellent planning, analytical, problem-solving, project/program management, organizational, and leadership skills.

(Optional) Bonus Skills

• Experience driving projects end-to-end, and shipping complex, large-scale software projects with global teams utilizing different SDLCs.

• Familiarity with project management tools such as Jira and analytics platforms like Looker or Sigma.

• Experience working at cloud platforms and SaaS companies in the past is a plus.

• Familiarity with the following technologies is a plus: Cloud service providers (AWS, GCP, Azure), ETL or ELT, modern data stack.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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