About the Role CNN Digital is seeking an experienced Program Manager, Technical to oversee and drive the development, release, and continuous improvement of key products within our best-in-class digital portfolio.
As the technical program/delivery lead for 2-3 scrum teams within CNN's Platforms group, you will collaborate with Product, Design, Engineering, and multiple organizational stakeholders to ensure successful on-time delivery of features and enhancements to CNN's digital products. Your focus will span from planning through execution, ensuring each project aligns with CNN's strategic objectives, adheres to relevant industry standards, and maintains world-class reliability.
This role in particular will focus on driving the roadmap delivery for our Editorial Experience. A successful candidate will:
- Understand system architecture, and comfortable driving integrations across CMS and distribution endpoints with a focus on scalability and automation.
- Work with product to clearly communicate user needs to our teams, while prioritizing work against business needs, and help teams navigate tradeoffs during the successful delivery of the implementation.
- Use your technical skills to help simplify delivery with your development, product, and design partners. Ensure that end-to-end systems have been taken into consideration, and delivery gaps are minimized.
- Strengthen partnerships with end-users as well as cross-functional dependencies.
- Build and interpret dashboards, analytics, and reporting to track progress and inform planning.
Key Responsibilities 1. Program Leadership & Strategy a. Lead end-to-end technical program management for the editorial tooling that multiple products within CNN's digital platforms rely on.
b.Develop program plans that align to product roadmaps, ensuring they map to organization objectives and user needs.
2.. Cross-Team Coordination a. Coordinate with dependent teams, ensuring external partner teams have defined requirements, managing dependencies, and delivering high-quality outcomes on schedule.
b. Promote clear, consistent communication across all project stakeholders.
c.Drive technical conversations with engineering teams around architecture, solution designs, and testing.
3. Planning & Execution a. Create comprehensive program plans, outlining scope, milestones, success metrics, and resource allocation.
b. Track progress, proactively resolve conflicts, and adjust timelines to keep initiatives on track.
c. Identify and manage risks and dependencies to ensure timely delivery.
4. Organizational Workflow & Team Management a. Design and optimize workflows that ensure effective collaboration across Scrum teams, from ideation to release.
b. Organize regular leadership communications (e.g., executive briefings, steering committees) for timely, data-driven decision-making and project updates.
c. Ability to support and manage 2-3 cross-functional scrum teams.
d. Conduct retrospectives and post-incident reviews, capturing lessons learned and integrating them into the next iteration of processes.
5. Stakeholder Management a. Serve as the primary point of contact for leadership, partners, and external vendors and provide regular updates on risks, progress, and strategic pivots.
b. Build strong relationships across different functional groups, influencing outcomes without direct authority, while driving quick decision-making
Qualifications Education & Experience - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Business with equivalent technical experience.
- 5+ years of experience in technology
- 3+ years in a program management or technical project management role building and delivering software projects
- Track record of delivering cross-platform projects in a fast-paced environment.
Technical Expertise - Strong understanding of system architecture, content management systems, media supply chain, and video encoding. Ability to facilitate technical solutioning and architectural meetings.
- Extra points if you can write scripts in Python or JavaScript to query databases or build dashboards.
Project Management Skills - Proficiency in Agile/Scrum methodologies, with additional knowledge of traditional project management frameworks.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, anticipate roadblocks, and orchestrate cross-functional resources effectively.
- Experience with industry standard project management software such as Jira, Confluence, Asana, etc.
Leadership & Communication - Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Ability to adapt communication style and content to suit diverse audiences and objectives, ensuring clarity, alignment, and impact.
- Demonstrated success influencing teams and stakeholders at all levels without direct authority.
Analytical & Problem-Solving - Comfortable leveraging data and analytics to drive decisions, measure results, and iterate on solutions.
- Adept at identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating risks in complex technical environments.
- Bias to action. Takes initiative, removes blockers, and drives progress with urgency and accountability.
Collaboration & Culture - Passion for media, news, and technology, with a commitment to innovation and excellence.
- A team player who embodies CNN Digital's values of integrity, collaboration, and user-centricity.
