Senior Program Manager - Confluent Business Technology

Introduction

At IBM Software, we transform client challenges into solutions. Building the world’s leading AI-powered, cloud-native products that shape the future of business and society. Our legacy of innovation creates endless opportunities for IBMers to learn, grow, and make an impact on a global scale. Working in Software means joining a team fueled by curiosity and collaboration. You’ll work with diverse technologies, partners, and industries to design, develop, and deliver solutions that power digital transformation. With a culture that values innovation, growth, and continuous learning, IBM Software places you at the heart of IBM’s product and technology landscape. Here, you’ll have the tools and opportunities to advance your career while creating software that changes the world. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. We put information in motion, streaming in near real time so organizations can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

Your role and responsibilities

About the Role

Confluent is looking for a Senior Technical Program Manager to help lead complex, cross-functional initiatives across the Business Technology / CIO organization. This role sits at the intersection of Product, Engineering, and enterprise systems, turning strategic priorities into executable plans and measurable outcomes.

The Senior TPM will play a critical role in driving enterprise programs that support new product introductions, Quote-to-Cash capabilities, and major IT integration efforts. Because Business Technology owns core downstream systems that enable Product and Engineering launches, this person will help ensure programs are planned well, dependencies are surfaced early, and delivery stays predictable across a broad set of stakeholders.

This is a high-impact, hands-on role for someone who is comfortable navigating ambiguity, aligning technical and business teams, and driving execution across multiple workstreams. The ideal candidate combines strong program leadership, technical fluency, operational discipline, and stakeholder management skills to help teams deliver scalable and reliable outcomes.

What You’ll Do

• Lead large, complex, cross-functional programs from planning through execution and delivery.

• Partner with Business Technology, Product, Engineering, and operational teams to define scope, clarify business value, and translate goals into structured roadmaps.

• Drive programs supporting new product introductions (NPI), especially where Quote-to-Cash systems and enterprise platforms are critical downstream dependencies.

• Coordinate initiatives involving enterprise applications and IT systems integrations, including support for integration efforts tied to IBM and other strategic business changes.

• Build and maintain integrated program plans, timelines, milestones, and communication rhythms across multiple teams and functions.

• Identify risks, dependencies, blockers, and trade-offs early, and drive clear decision-making to keep programs on track.

• Create visibility for stakeholders and leadership through consistent status updates, execution dashboards, and clear reporting on progress, issues, and outcomes.

• Partner with teams to improve delivery predictability, execution rigor, and operational readiness across programs.

• Help establish scalable program management practices, governance mechanisms, and cross-functional planning processes within the Business Technology organization.

• Develop a strong understanding of Confluent’s business processes, enterprise systems landscape, and technical constraints in order to influence priorities and execution strategy.

Required technical and professional expertise

• 7+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, Program Management, or related roles within software, SaaS, or enterprise systems environments.

• Proven track record delivering large-scale, cross-functional programs, managing multiple stakeholders, risks, dependencies, and parallel initiatives.

• Strong expertise in Agile program management tools and practices, including Jira for workflow management, tracking deliverables, and reporting progress.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence outcomes and build alignment across technical, operational, and executive audiences in a matrixed organization.

• Highly collaborative and execution-focused, with strong attention to detail, experience working with globally distributed teams, and a bias for action in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.

Preferred technical and professional experience

Experience within Enterprise/Business Technology environments, including CIO or internal platform organizations, with familiarity across systems such as Salesforce, ERP, billing, and IT engineering platforms.

Strong understanding of end-to-end enterprise processes and delivery, including Quote-to-Cash, product launch support, and close partnership with Product and Engineering for planning and execution.

Data-driven program management expertise, including dashboarding/reporting (e.g., SQL, JQL, BigQuery), solid grounding in program management frameworks, and exposure to large-scale initiatives such as M&A or IT integrations (certifications a plus).

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.