At Blackhawk Network, we’re shaping the future of global branded payments through cutting-edge digital technologies that connect brands and people across the globe. Our fintech solutions — from digital payments and prepaid products to scalable infrastructure and security — drive innovation, customer loyalty, and business growth.

At Blackhawk Network, we are accelerating the use of AI to improve how work gets done across the company while continuing to deliver innovative branded payment solutions at global scale.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Program Manager - AI to drive cross-functional AI programs that help business and technology teams automate work, improve operating efficiency, and deliver measurable outcomes.

This role will sit at the intersection of business teams, AI architecture, AI engineering, data, operations, legal, compliance, and security to identify high-value opportunities, define execution plans, and drive delivery from concept through deployment.

This is first and foremost a program management role. The ideal candidate brings strong program management discipline, excellent cross-functional leadership, and enough technical and AI fluency to work effectively with business and technical partners on initiatives that automate workflows, improve decision-making, and increase productivity through AI and workflow automation capabilities.

AI Program Intake and Prioritization

• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to evaluate requests, define scope, and sequence work against capacity and business value.
• Translate business needs into clear program charters, milestones, and delivery plans for AI-enabled automation initiatives.
• Build and maintain the AI program roadmap for assigned domains, including dependencies, delivery timelines, key decisions, and status across concurrent initiatives.
• Help teams make tradeoffs based on outcome impact, adoption, delivery risk, and business value.

Program Governance and Execution

• Lead end-to-end program execution for AI initiatives from planning through launch, ensuring disciplined operating cadences and predictable delivery.
• Proactively manage risks, issues, cross-team dependencies, escalations, and tradeoffs across engineering, data, architecture, and business teams.
• Create visibility through regular syncs, decision forums, dependency tracking, and crisp status communications tailored to technical, business, and leadership audiences.
• Ensure launch readiness by coordinating testing, rollout planning, operational handoffs, documentation, and post-deployment follow-up for AI solutions.
• Partner closely with AI architects and technical teams to assess feasibility, identify gaps and risks, and turn automation opportunities into executable programs.
• Support pilot execution and rollout of AI capabilities, helping teams move from experimentation to repeatable operational use cases.
• Define and track program KPIs such as throughput, productivity gains, cycle time reduction, quality improvements, adoption, and business value realization.
• Create lightweight templates, checklists, and working practices that improve repeatability and help peer teams execute more effectively.
• Partner with analytics and operations teams to monitor results, identify improvement opportunities, and drive continuous optimization after launch.

• 5+ years of experience in technical program management, program management, or related roles, including leading cross-functional technology programs in complex organizations.
• Experience independently managing medium-complexity programs across multiple teams within a product or business domain.
• Strong program management fundamentals, including roadmap management, planning, dependency management, risk management, issue resolution, executive reporting, and milestone-based delivery.
• Experience partnering across engineering, product, business, operations, legal, compliance, and analytics teams to deliver complex initiatives.
• Hands-on familiarity with GenAI tools such as Glean, Claude, Copilot, or similar enterprise AI platforms, along with workflow automation technologies.
• Solid technical fluency, with the ability to participate in technical design and tradeoff discussions, evaluate feasibility and risks, and work effectively with highly technical partners.
• Strong business acumen, with the ability to define outcome metrics, connect programs to measurable business value, and surface when scope is growing without sufficient impact.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills, with the ability to influence and lead without direct authority.
• Experience with JIRA, Confluence, dashboards, and collaboration tools used to manage technical programs and communicate progress.
• Bachelor’s degree in technology, Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or equivalent practical experience.
• PMP or related certification is a plus.

Preferred Traits

• Outcome-oriented and pragmatic, with the ability to balance execution detail with business impact.
• Strong communicator who can translate between engineering detail and business priorities for different audiences.
• Collaborative servant leader who removes obstacles, enables team autonomy, and builds trust through helpfulness and credibility.
• Curious, adaptable, and action-oriented in applying AI to real business problems and measurable outcomes.

We seek candidates who not only demonstrate curiosity and adaptability in emerging technologies but have also successfully implemented and utilized AI tools to enhance their work, improve processes, or deliver measurable results.  Our teams embrace continuous learning and the thoughtful integration of AI to create meaningful impact – for our employees and the future of work.

Salary Range for California Residents Only: $121,070.00 to $163,457.00

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, Blackhawk Network offers benefits including 401k with employer match, medical, dental, vision, 12 paid holidays throughout the year 2025, sick pay accrual according to state law, parental leave, life insurance, disability insurance, accident and illness insurance, health and dependent care flexible spending accounts, wellness benefits, and flexible time off for all full-time employees.