Program Mgr

JOB SUMMARY

The Program Manager, Product Engineering is accountable for the delivery outcome of a large, complex program within the GTO Product Engineering PMO. This role partners closely with Product Engineering leadership to drive the successful delivery of prioritized initiatives across key platforms, including web, mobile, reservation systems, CRM, data warehouse, and marketing technology. This is an execution-facing leadership role: drive predictable delivery across workstreams, clear the roadblocks others cannot, and push the program across the finish line rather than report on it. Programs are frequently delivered across multiple brands, including Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Reporting to the Director of the Product Engineering PMO, this senior individual contributor leads project managers and workstream leads through influence rather than direct reporting authority and sets the delivery standard the program is held to. The role operates within the frameworks established by the GTO Center of Excellence, including the L-gate lifecycle, capital planning and approval process, and Portfolio Operations Review cadence, and is personally accountable for the accuracy and candor of the program's position as represented to executive audiences.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

•    Lead and manage programs supporting Product Engineering initiatives across multiple technology domains, owning the delivery outcome end to end across constituent projects and workstreams. Accountability is for the result, not the status trail.
•    Partner with Product Engineering leadership on planning, prioritization, and execution of product roadmaps and enhancements, and build and maintain the integrated program plan across workstreams through the GTO L-gate lifecycle.
•    When a workstream slips or a cross-team dependency is blocked, engage the accountable owner directly and secure a firm commitment in conversation, then use writing to document the agreement rather than to request it.
•    Interrogate the status reported by workstreams, engineering teams, and vendors: understand the program's technical footprint, test estimates and buffers, and dig into dependencies, environments, and infrastructure until any blocker can be explained without relying on someone else's summary.
•    Act on risks, scope shifts, and newly discovered dependencies the day they surface rather than deferring to the next governance forum.
•    Close every program forum with a documented action matrix of owner, deliverable, and due date, and follow up ahead of each due date to surface friction early.
•    Own program financials end to end, including business case linkage, capital and operating expense forecasting, actuals, variance analysis, and reforecast with Finance; prepare and defend funding and change requests through the capital approval process, and own benefits realization through stabilization.
•    Manage software vendors and systems integrators at the program level, including statement of work management, deliverable acceptance, change orders, performance management, and escalation.
•    Actively manage program risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies, including portfolio-level dependencies, and escalate with a recommended path.
•    Provide executive-ready reporting with high fidelity and without narrative padding: what is blocked, what is impacted, what corrective action is underway, and what decision is required. Never present a red condition as yellow.
•    Direct and coach project managers and workstream leads within the program, setting and enforcing these delivery standards and reviewing their plans, reporting, forecasts, and follow-up discipline.
•    Own program-level testing strategy, release and cutover planning, hypercare, and transition to support, driving alignment across GTO engineering, architecture, security, data, quality assurance, business analysts, and process owners.
•    Serve business partners, delivery teams, and vendors as an enablement function: anticipate constraints, shield them from unnecessary process noise, keep the program mapped to strategic priorities, and partner with change management on engagement, training, and adoption.
•    Maintain program and project data in the GTO portfolio tools of record, represent the program in portfolio planning and prioritization, and feed reusable assets and lessons learned back to the Center of Excellence.

QUALIFICATIONS

DEGREE TYPE: Bachelor's Degree
FIELD(S) OF STUDY:  Information Technology, Business Administration, Hotel/Hospitality Management, or related field of study, or an equivalent combination of experience and skills.

EXPERIENCE
•    8-10 years of project and program management experience supporting product engineering or technology delivery organizations, including end-to-end ownership of a large, multi-workstream program.
•    Demonstrated experience delivering programs involving web, mobile, reservation systems, CRM, data warehouse, and marketing technology is required.
•    Demonstrated record of driving delivery to completion in a highly matrixed organization where outcomes depend on influence, direct engagement, and disciplined follow-up rather than reporting authority.
•    Technical fluency sufficient to challenge vendor and engineering estimates, understand integration and infrastructure constraints, and explain a blocker to an executive audience.
•    Strong background in waterfall, Agile, and hybrid delivery, with hands-on experience managing systems integrators, software vendors, and managed-service partners on major implementations.
•    Experience in a structured PMO and stage-gate governance environment, owning program financial management including capital and operating expense planning, forecasting, and benefits tracking.
•    Experience partnering with senior leadership on planning, prioritization, and executive communications, including raising delivery risk early with a recommended course of action, and raising the delivery standard of project managers and workstream leads.
•    Multi-brand delivery and travel, hospitality, or cruise industry experience preferred.

COMPETENCIES & SKILLS
•    Ownership mindset: pursues commitments through direct conversation rather than written follow-up alone.
•    Investigative rigor: challenges surface-level status from workstreams and vendors, and asks the difficult question before reporting upward.
•    Bias to action and disciplined follow-up: addresses a risk or scope shift the day it appears, closes every forum with a documented owner and due-date matrix, and checks in before deadlines arrive.
•    Direct, high-fidelity executive communication: leads with the data, states the decision required, and is willing to call a track red when it is red.
•    Service orientation toward business partners, engineering teams, and vendors, with the instinct to anticipate constraints and remove friction.
•    Ability to construct, own, and defend a program financial picture, and to explain variance and reforecast credibly to Finance and senior leadership. Working knowledge of Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet, Clarity, MS Project, and LucidChart.
•    Deep understanding of technology delivery lifecycles, including design, build, integration, data migration, testing, cutover, and stabilization, with strong vendor and systems integrator management capability.
•    Strategic thinking, connecting program execution to business, financial, and guest experience objectives while navigating competing priorities and ambiguity, and comfort setting standards without direct reports.

CERTIFICATIONS & LICENSES
•    Project Management Professional (PMP) or Program Management Professional (PgMP) preferred; SAFe, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), or other Agile certification a plus.
•    Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt, and Prosci or other change management certification (a plus).