Remote Technical Program Manager (Independent Contractor) Jobs in Los Angeles, CA

Amazon MGM Studios is seeking a Technical Program Manager III to own and drive the lifecycle of large, complex programs for our Studio in the Cloud (SITC) initiative. SITC is transforming entertainment content creation by moving all major production and post-production workflows from traditional on-premises infrastructure to AWS cloud-based solutions. This initiative encompasses nine core workflows-Dailies, Editorial, VFX, Sound, Conform, Color, Mastering, QC/Delivery, and Remote Production-representing the complete content creation lifecycle from Original Camera Footage (OCF) ingestion through final delivery.
In this role, you will be accountable for the overall strategy and execution of a large program with considerable impact across multiple teams within a VP organization

You may own programs such as: end-to-end VFX workflow transformation spanning multiple vendor integrations, global Editorial collaboration infrastructure enabling real-time creative review across continents, multi-region disaster recovery and business continuity for all SITC workflows, rendering platform scaling to support 100+ concurrent productions, or organizational roadmap ownership including OP1/OP2 contributions. You will operate independently with limited guidance, defining program mission, vision, and tenets while driving teams inside and outside your organization to deliver critical solutions.
As a TPM III, you will work both tactically and strategically, making trade-offs between short-term delivery needs and long-term architectural requirements. You will understand the systems in your program space including their limitations, scaling factors, boundary conditions, and reasons behind architectural decisions

You will influence team technical priorities and business strategy through data-driven contributions, enlisting Senior and Principal Engineers to ensure architectures scale to match business requirements. Your work will drive simplification and efficiency in engineering processes and architectures to unblock innovation and increase speed of delivery across the organization.
This role requires deep technical judgment in complex distributed systems, media processing technologies, and cloud infrastructure at scale, combined with exceptional program management and stakeholder influence skills. You will work across engineering teams (SDE, SysDE, infrastructure), creative tool providers (Avid, Adobe, Colorfront, Blackmagic), post-production vendors (Company 3, Fotokem, Picture Shop), creative stakeholders (directors, editors, colorists, VFX supervisors), and senior leadership (Directors and VPs)

Success requires harmonizing discordant views, building consensus on contentious issues, and delivering solutions that meet organizational goals and program-related metrics for Amazon MGM Studios' production slate spanning 150+ titles annually.
Key job responsibilities
Own and manage the lifecycle of a large, complex program with cross-organizational impact (e.g., end-to-end VFX workflow transformation, global Editorial infrastructure, multi-region disaster recovery, rendering platform scaling, or organizational roadmap ownership)
Define program strategy including mission, vision, tenets, and objectives. Set clear, measurable success criteria. Drive data-driven improvements quantified with metrics (adoption rates, production satisfaction, system performance, cost efficiency)
Work independently with limited guidance to drive teams across your organization to deliver

Influence resource allocation, team priorities, and architectural decisions through data-driven contributions
Understand system limitations, scaling factors, boundary conditions, and architectural decisions in your program domain. Enlist Senior/Principal Engineers to ensure architectures scale to match business requirements
Solve ambiguous problems and proactively identify and mitigate risks before they become roadblocks. Drive mindful discussions leading to crisp decisions on which projects move forward and in what priority order
Make smart trade-offs between time, effort, features, short-term needs, and long-term architectural requirements.

Provide context for business and technology choices with long-term perspective
Drive simplification and efficiency in engineering processes and architectures to unblock innovation and increase speed of delivery. Streamline and eliminate excess process. Influence teams to decouple from dependencies and eliminate architecture problems that stifle innovation
Oversee gaps between teams, processes, and system architectures.

Help organization reduce exposure to classic failure modes (insufficient requirements, ineffective collaboration, long-term impacts of third-party technologies, insufficient testing)
Write effective narratives (Amazon 6-pagers) and present them to Directors and VPs. Communicate complex decisions, tough trade-offs, and potential solutions clearly to senior leadership
Build consensus when confronted with discordant views. Harmonize conflicting perspectives and lead resolution of contentious issues across teams and organizations
Actively recruit, mentor, and develop others in your organization.

Provide Tech promotion assessments for TPMs moving to level 6
Regularly review metrics and proactively seek improved data/mechanisms for visibility. Ensure program stays aligned with organizational objectives
About the team
Amazon MGM Studios creates and produces original films and television series for a global audience. Leveraging technology and our catalogue of original Movies and Series, AMS is uniquely positioned to succeed in providing by taking advantage of Amazon's vast scope including AWS, retail, gaming, and publishing, to create immersive entertainment experiences across multiple platforms.

Our vision is to be the most technology-advanced studio and the entertainment home for talent and customers.
Studios Technology at AMS is at the forefront of the entertainment revolution, where Hollywood meets tech. We own the technology strategy that powers one of the world's largest entertainment studios.

Based in Los Angeles, our team delivers cloud-first solutions and modern applications that drive the entire Studios Production Lifecycle, shaping the future of entertainment delivery from content creation through distribution.
Via tooling, automation, and AI, we support five key stages in the Studios Production Lifecycle: IP & Rights, Content Production, Sales & Distribution, Financial Management, and Studios Operations. We serve thousands of AMS employees and creative and executive partners across development, acquisition, legal, programming strategy, internal and external production, post-production, visual effects, localization, delivery, marketing, sales, licensing, finance, accounting, and operations.