Principal Services Program Manager

Why UKG:

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That's what we do.

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you'll get flexibility that's real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters-and so do you.

About the Team:

UKG's Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) practice is a small, elite team that embeds directly with our most strategic enterprise customers to solve high-value problems at the edge of our platform. We are built on the operating model of the best outcome-delivery organizations in enterprise technology: Palantir's Forward Deployed Engineering practice, McKinsey's client delivery model, and the most disciplined embedded engineering teams in the industry. We deploy in pairs, move fast, and deliver things that work in production. The Principal Services Program Manager is the person who makes the whole model trustworthy at the executive level and scalable as we grow.

About the Role:

As a Principal Services Program Manager in FDE, you operate across multiple concurrent engagements, own the executive customer relationship on the most complex accounts, and shape the way the PM practice works as the team scales. You are not executing a playbook - you are writing it. You partner with the FDE Practice Lead on deal structure and pipeline qualification. You are in the room when SOWs are being shaped, not just when they are being delivered. You mentor and develop Lead PMs, maintain outcome discipline across the portfolio, and serve as the escalation owner when something in the customer relationship needs a senior hand. The closest analogs are the McKinsey Senior Engagement Manager and the Palantir Senior Deployment Strategist: someone whose judgment on scope, risk, and customer relationship does not require review, and whose executive presence creates the conditions for expansion that engineering quality alone cannot.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Own the Portfolio

• Oversee the PM function across multiple concurrent FDE engagements simultaneously

• Maintain situational awareness across all active programs: outcome status, scope health, open risks, and customer relationship signals

• Intervene directly in engagements where scope, delivery, or the customer relationship is at risk

• Ensure consistency of outcome framing, change control standards, and customer communication across all engagements

• Manage capacity and assignment decisions for Lead PMs across the portfolio

Lead Executive Customer Relationships

• Own the customer relationship at CXO and Senior VP level for the most strategic FDE accounts

• Lead executive business reviews: translate program-level outcomes and ROI into a narrative that resonates at the executive layer

• Navigate organizational complexity within customer accounts: competing stakeholders, shifting priorities, political dynamics

• Position UKG FDE as a strategic partner through sustained executive presence and outcome discipline - not just a vendor delivering a project

• Serve as the escalation point for any customer relationship issue the Lead PM cannot resolve

Shape Deals and Engagements

• Partner with the FDE Practice Lead and Enterprise Sales on opportunity qualification and SOW structure

• Pressure-test proposed engagements for outcome clarity, scope risk, and customer readiness before commitments are made

• Shape SOW language so that outcome definitions are precise, measurable, and defensible at closeout

• Identify expansion and follow-on opportunities during active engagements and bring them into the pipeline with the right framing

• Advise on pricing structure and scope design for complex or multi-phase deals

Build the PM Practice

• Define and maintain the FDE PM playbook: outcome definition frameworks, change control standards, customer communication templates, phase gate criteria, and closeout protocols

• Mentor and develop Lead PMs; provide direct coaching on scope judgment, executive communication, and escalation handling

• Extract patterns from completed engagements and translate them into reusable practices that make future programs faster and more consistent

• Contribute to the FDE accelerator through engagement model assets: how we structure, run, and close programs more efficiently over time

Basic Qualifications:

• 8+ years experience with customer-facing program management in forward deployed or embedded services model

• Demonstrated experience managing CXO-level customer relationships in high-stakes, complex enterprise environments

• Track record of running multiple simultaneous complex programs without loss of quality or customer confidence

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong commercial instincts: ability to read deal health, scope risk, and expansion opportunity in real time

• Experience shaping engagement structures and SOW language, not just executing against them

• Ability to operate in high-ambiguity environments with limited oversight; your judgment does not require escalation for routine complexity

• Experience building or significantly improving a PM operating model, delivery framework, or practice playbook

Company Overview:

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry - because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.

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Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process:

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email View email address on jobs.institutedata.com .

The pay range for this position is $129,500 to $186,100. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG's benefits and rewards at

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