Staff Technical Program Manager

Summary

Join Canva's Platforms Org and contribute to the Enterprise Readiness program, focusing on Data Residency. This role involves leading program planning, managing technical dependencies across Platform and Product teams, driving delivery, and reporting on progress. You will build strong relationships with engineering teams, hold them accountable, and promote excellence in delivery. The ideal candidate has extensive TPM experience in tech, particularly in high-growth SaaS companies, and a strong understanding of cloud platforms and Agile methodologies. Canva offers a range of benefits, including equity packages, inclusive parental leave, and a wellbeing allowance.

Requirements

• You have prior experience in engineering or security, with a transition into a Technical Program Management (TPM) role, or equivalent expertise in related fields
• You have a minimum of 7 years of TPM experience in tech, preferably at high growth SaaS companies
• You have proven experience in driving and leading complex Security, Platform, or Cloud Infrastructure programs
• You have experience collaborating with Product Managers and Engineers across Platform and Product teams, facilitating planning, and ensuring effective roadmaps and rollout plans
• You have mastered technical dependency management and are skilled at unblocking teams
• You have experience identifying, monitoring, and resolving risks, issues, and technical dependencies across teams to drive timely decisions and overcome delivery blockers
• You have a strong understanding of Agile software development processes, methodologies, and best practices
• You have strong technical knowledge of Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), networking, and SaaS architecture
• You have exceptional communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build strong relationships, operate independently, influence at all levels, and hold teams accountable
• You are comfortable with ambiguity in a fast-paced environment and the ability to navigate complexity and tackle ambiguous problems
• You have demonstrated ability to lead process improvements and enhance cross-functional collaboration to improve delivery effectiveness

Responsibilities

• Lead the Program planning based on Company-wide processes: partnering with Engineering leads and Product Managers to support Strategic Planning and guiding Delivery Planning including scoping, prioritising, estimating and managing capacity
• Fully understand the technical solution, be able to facilitate technical discussions with Engineering teams and help identify and close gaps
• Manage technical dependencies across both Platform & Product Teams: proactively monitoring requirements for cross-functional work and facilitating dependency discussions
• Drive delivery and unblock teams to deliver outcomes in a timely manner: managing risks and issues, escalating them as needed, and driving timely decision-making
• Track and report on the progress of the program: defining required processes for tracking delivery status and running regular cadences to manage delivery
• Build a strong and trusted relationship with your leadership and Engineering teams: this is crucial for effective leadership, influencing strategic decisions and identifying areas for improvement in delivery
• Hold everyone accountable to their roles and responsibilities ensuring success as a team: this emphasises the TPM's role in ensuring clarity and adherence to responsibilities
• Promote excellence, increase velocity and improve cross-collaboration: being an expert on delivery tools, exploring new methodologies, building dashboards and roadmaps, and upholding delivery standards
• Facilitate continual improvement rituals to build the effectiveness of product development and engineering teams
• Lead efforts to uplift the TPM subspecialty practices across Canva improving our delivery capability in Engineering and creating a sustainable culture of urgency in delivery

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with international product launches or infrastructure scaling
• Understanding of cloud-native security tooling like KMS, HashiCorp Vault
• Experience working with US public sector or FedRAMP-authorized service
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements like GDPR, FedRAMP, and data residency frameworks

Benefits

• Equity packages - we want our success to be yours too
• Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents & carers
• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup & more
• Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge and supports you personally