Lead Technical Program Manager

Summary

Join the Wikimedia Foundation as a Technical Program Manager (TPgM) to lead critical cross-functional programs, ensuring strategic alignment and impactful outcomes. This role demands a proven ability to build strong cross-functional relationships, align diverse stakeholders, and navigate ambiguity. As a trusted thought partner and hands-on driver, you will enable teams to deliver complex programs efficiently and measurably. The position requires expertise in program leadership, strategic planning, risk management, stakeholder management, and program operations. The successful candidate will also be responsible for training, mentoring, and effective communication. This is a 12-month contract position with remote work and some travel.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in Technical Program Management or a related field, preferably in a product-driven or engineering-led organization
• Strong systems thinking, organizational, and analytical skills
• Proven success managing complex, cross-functional programs with multiple stakeholders
• Expertise in risk management, capacity planning, and strategic alignment
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building abilities
• Comfort with ambiguity and a bias for action
• Experience working with Legal, Communications, and other business-critical functions outside of Product & Technology

Responsibilities

• Drive planning, coordination, and execution of initiatives across teams
• Track, support, and enable teams to deliver meaningful impact; establish clear metrics and/or milestones to measure success
• Facilitate and improve - at a program level - the team practices, workflows, and processes
• Lead capacity planning exercises, identify gaps and make recommendations for resource allocation or escalation as needed
• Partner with Product and Technology leadership and program stakeholders to align priorities with strategic objectives and operational realities
• Proactively identify risks, issues, and cross-functional dependencies (especially with Legal and Communications), and develop management, mitigation or escalation plans
• Resolve conflicts and ensure smooth collaboration across teams
• Build and maintain strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, including the volunteer community where required; communicate effectively, "read the room" and tailor engagement to context
• Act as a strategic thought partner by asking the right questions, sensing partnership needs, and fostering productive dialogues
• Manage program-level operations such as scheduling, coordination, reporting, and meeting facilitation
• Maintain strong documentation and transparent reporting structures, ensuring visibility across all stakeholders
• Evaluate success against metrics and milestones, and ensure clear communication of that in reporting
• Conduct training and coaching for program stakeholders on programmatic tools, processes, and best practices
• Promote understanding and adoption of scalable program management practices across the department
• Mentor and support other TPgMs
• Tell the story of complex work streams clearly and simply, highlighting the why, the how, and the impact
• Serve as an effective nudger—keeping the right level of accountability without micromanagement

Benefits

• The anticipated annual pay range of this position for applicants based within the United States is $ 121,730 to $ 185,517 with multiple individualized factors, including cost of living in the location, being the determinants of the offered pay
• For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire
• We neither ask for nor take into consideration the salary history of applicants