Program Manager

Client Our client is one of the largest professional certification associations in the global finance industry, with DataArt as its primary technology partner. The engagement spans a large BAU operations team (approximately 80 people across multiple vendors) and a portfolio of strategic initiatives, representing a significant multi year partnership. Project Overview The client is undertaking a major platform modernization program to a modern microservices architecture. The program follows AI assisted development workflows. Position Overview We are looking for a Program Manager to lead the end to end delivery of this platform modernization program. The role requires someone who can manage multiple parallel work streams, navigate a complex stakeholder landscape including C level executives with high expectations around AI driven efficiency, and coordinate across internal delivery teams, client product owners, cloud operations, and third party integration partners. Responsibilities Establish and run the program governance model including meeting cadence, escalation paths, RACI, and decision making framework across two parallel delivery tracks. Own the program roadmap, milestone tracking, dependency management, and critical path analysis across Foundation, domain migration, and integration workstreams. Manage SAFe delivery execution including PI planning, sprint cadence, phase gates, and production cutover processes with formal client sign off. Provide structured reporting at multiple levels including weekly operational status for the delivery team, bi weekly updates for client engineering leadership, and monthly executive dashboards for the CIO. Track and report AI efficiency metrics including code generation, test generation, and SDLC automation as a key program KPI expected by the client executive sponsor. Facilitate cross team coordination between the modernization program, the operations team, and client infrastructure teams including CloudOps and DevOps responsible for environment provisioning and legacy decommission. Navigate dependencies with third party integration partners including Salesforce, NetSuite, BigCommerce, and others where sandbox access and API contract timelines are outside direct control. Manage the commercial cadence of the engagement including bi monthly payment tracking, burn rate forecasting, and preparation of the re estimation checkpoint that determines the scope and pricing of the second SOW. Drive risk management through proactive identification, transparent communication, and data driven escalation not just maintaining a register, but ensuring risks flow into decisions. Coordinate the team ramp plan including onboarding of new engineers, transition of BAU resources to modernization pods, and knowledge transfer from legacy platform SMEs. Requirements Seven plus years of program and project delivery experience in complex, multi track environments with distributed teams. Proven experience managing platform modernization or legacy migration programs including monolith to microservices, cloud migration, strangler fig, or similar patterns. Strong understanding of SAFe or equivalent scaled agile frameworks including PI planning, sprint execution, and formal phase gate processes. Experience managing fixed price engagements with non milestone gated payment schedules including burn rate tracking and forecast at completion analysis. Demonstrated ability to manage C level stakeholder relationships, tailor communication to different audiences, and build executive confidence through metrics driven reporting. Experience coordinating across multiple delivery pods running in parallel with independent backlogs but shared infrastructure and governance. Strong technical awareness with understanding of microservices, API gateways, CI CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure with AWS preferred, and data migration concepts sufficient to identify risks and ask the right questions. Emotional maturity and high emotional intelligence in managing cross functional teams, resolving technical disagreements, and navigating competing priorities between client stakeholders. Experience working alongside or managing vendor relationships in multi vendor environments. Nice to have Experience with AI assisted development tools or SDLC automation including AI code generation, test generation, or agentic workflows. Familiarity with Kong API Gateway, event driven architectures, or domain driven design. Knowledge of compliance and regulatory standards relevant to financial services including GDPR, data retention, and audit trail requirements. Experience in financial services, professional certification, or EdTech organizations. #J-18808-Ljbffr DataArt Solutions, Inc