Sr Engineering Technical Program Manager - Productivity Engineering

Sr Engineering Technical Program Manager - Productivity Engineering

Thumbtack

Remote

$132K/yr

Full-time

Posted 5 days ago


Job description

Job Summary:
Thumbtack is a company that helps millions of people confidently care for their homes through its app, offering personalized guidance and AI tools. They are seeking a Senior Engineering Technical Program Manager to lead program management for the Productivity Engineering team, driving complex cross-team programs and ensuring successful execution of ambitious infrastructure plans.
Responsibilities:
• Own and define end-to-end program management for the 50+ members of the Productivity Engineering team. Your program extends across DevEx, Client Infrastructure, Backend Infrastructure, and Site Reliability Engineering - from roadmap planning through execution and adoption.
• Drive complex cross-team programs such as large-scale platform migrations and tooling adoptions across multi-quarter timelines.
• Define success through developer adoption and productivity impact — run feedback loops using frameworks like DORA, SPACE, and GetDX to keep the roadmap grounded in real needs.
• Manage migrations as a program: develop playbooks, secure partner commitments, phase rollouts, and track progress across multi-quarter efforts.
• Drive AI developer tooling strategy and adoption, including agentic workflow enablement, tool consolidation, and ROI measurement.
• Own the Platform Engineering team's Roadmap and OKR planning cycles, and Business Rhythms to ensure successful execution and OKR attainment.
• Manage stakeholder alignment across engineering leadership, ensuring program visibility, clear prioritization trade-offs, and sustained momentum on strategic bets.
Qualifications:
Required:
• 5+ years in Technical Program Management within platform engineering, developer experience, or infrastructure, including leading multi-team migrations or platform rollouts that span multiple quarters and require broad organizational coordination.
• Strong technical fluency across CI/CD, build systems, code review tooling, microservices, containerization, observability, and cloud-native platforms.
• Fluency in the AI developer tooling landscape, including coding assistants, agentic workflows, cloud dev environments, and the infrastructure that supports them.
• Track record of driving adoption of internal tools and platforms, with an instinct for measuring success through developer satisfaction and usage—not just delivery—and prioritizing accordingly.
• Experience with agile program management, OKR/roadmap planning, and portfolio prioritization across multiple engineering teams.
• Excellent communication skills with a track record of driving alignment in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
Company:
Thumbtack is a home services website connecting users with local service providers. Founded in 2008, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, USA, with a team of 1001-5000 employees. The company is currently Late Stage.



Frequently asked questions

Q: What skills or qualities help someone succeed as a Engineering Program Manager?

A: To succeed as an Engineering Program Manager, key technical skills include proficiency in project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall), experience with project planning and tracking tools (e.g., Jira, Asana), and a strong understanding of software development lifecycles and engineering best practices. Soft skills such as effective communication, leadership, and conflict resolution are also crucial, as well as the ability to build strong relationships with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and engineers. By combining these technical and soft skills, an Engineering Program Manager can effectively lead projects, drive innovation, and deliver results, ultimately supporting their career growth and effectiveness in the role.

Q: What is the career path for a Engineering Program Manager?

A: A typical career progression for an Engineering Program Manager involves starting as a Project Coordinator or Junior Program Manager, where they gain hands-on experience in project planning, execution, and delivery. As they progress to mid-level roles such as Senior Program Manager or Engineering Program Lead, they develop expertise in program management, team leadership, and stakeholder communication, with opportunities to develop skills in areas like Agile methodologies, project finance, and risk management. Ultimately, senior roles like Director of Engineering Programs or VP of Engineering Operations offer leadership positions, where they oversee multiple programs, drive strategic initiatives, and mentor junior professionals, with potential long-term career directions including executive leadership, product management, or entrepreneurship.