Senior Technical Program Manager - Confluent

Introduction

At IBM Software, we transform client challenges into solutions. Building the world's leading AI-powered, cloud-native products that shape the future of business and society. Our legacy of innovation creates endless opportunities for IBMers to learn, grow, and make an impact on a global scale. Working in Software means joining a team fueled by curiosity and collaboration. You'll work with diverse technologies, partners, and industries to design, develop, and deliver solutions that power digital transformation. With a culture that values innovation, growth, and continuous learning, IBM Software places you at the heart of IBM's product and technology landscape. Here, you'll have the tools and opportunities to advance your career while creating software that changes the world. With Confluent, data doesn't sit still. We put information in motion, streaming in near real time so organizations can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

Your role and responsibilities

About the Role

As a Senior Technical Program Manager (TPM), you will be a key force-multiplier within Confluent's engineering organization. Your primary responsibility is leading the execution of high-priority, "cannot-fail" programs across our engineering organization. This role requires driving crucial cross-functional alignment across Engineering, Product, Finance, and Security teams to ensure predictable delivery of foundational platform programs.

What You Will Do

• Drive Complex Initiatives: Lead end-to-end delivery of large-scale technical programs such as FedRAMP, compliance readiness, or platform-wide architecture shifts that directly impact Confluent's scalability and operational excellence.

• Technical Liaison: Translate high-level business goals into detailed technical requirements and communicate complex architecture trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders including VP and C-suite audiences.

• Operational Excellence: Establish rigorous program management standards — clear milestones, KPIs, risk-mitigation strategies, and regular status reporting — to ensure predictable, on-time delivery.

• Strategic Alignment: Partner with engineering and product leadership to prioritize roadmaps, resolve cross-team dependencies, and manage resource allocation for business-critical programs.

• Stakeholder Management: Facilitate decision-making across global, distributed teams and manage relationships with key internal and external partners.

Required technical and professional expertise

• Experience: 5+ years in a technical program management role, specifically within cloud-native or high-scale software environments.

• Technical Depth : Strong understanding of distributed systems, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), and SaaS platform engineering.

• Leadership Style : Alignment with Confluent's values: Smart, Humble, and Empathetic; you thrive in fast-paced environments and "Get Stuff Done."

• Proactive Problem-Solving: A results-driven mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity, identify risks early, and drive resolution across complex dependencies.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work across Engineering, Product, Finance, and Security teams to align on goals and deliver outcomes at scale.

• Education : Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Familiarity with Confluent Platform or Apache Kafka.

• Experience building dashboards and reports using JQL, SQL, BigQuery, or Data Studio.

• Background working with or within an SRE, platform engineering, or infrastructure organization.

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.