Principal Technical Program Manager

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students.

We're on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school. To help them Start smart. Learn big.

Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique. They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We're changing. Because students need a better way.

We're looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students-and for each other.

This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It's where you're empowered to bring your authentic self to work.

Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you-from physical and mental to financial and professional. You'll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more.

We're obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking "why not?" when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills.

Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

Would you like to work in an exciting fast-paced start-up place with the backing of a household name company like Sallie Mae to help millions of people meet their educational needs every day? Together, we're connected by the same drive-to be a champion for all students and help them make smart decisions with confidence. Do more than join something-change something…for students, for future generations, and for the future of education.

Our new venture, SallieSM, is looking for people like you to be the founding members who will define the future of education services for students and their families in the US. As the first education solutions company, we're creating products and experiences that help students when they need it most. We're connecting students to free money for school, providing tools and resources to plan for college, sharing inside advice on campus life, and so much more. Visit https://www.sallie.com/about to learn more about us.

KEY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

We are looking for a strong technical program owner who has experience running complex technology and business initiatives supporting the mission of the organization. It is a highly visible and impactful role that connects the dots between the product, business development, engineering, and partner teams both inside and outside. A successful candidate will have extensive experience dealing with ambiguity, evangelizing the initiatives, making trade-off decisions, influencing decision makers, and scaling solutions with invent-and-simplify approaches. They should also have deep technical understanding in the software development lifecycle, system integration, system architecture, quality assurance, and engineering best practices. They own the overall program health, project planning based on requirements, progress tracking, task prioritization, escalations, and reporting. As a principal-level TPM, they are expected to set the bar for program excellence, anticipate risks, and mentor junior program managers. They will own the most complex, high-impact initiatives across the organization. Knowledge on machine learning, modeling, and AdTech preferred!

You must be able to thrive and succeed in an entrepreneurial, cross-functional, and fast-moving environment. This role offers an exciting opportunity to work with a diverse set of team members, stakeholders and senior leaders across the company to create and drive towards the strategic vision at Sallie.

Technology Leadership:

• Lead technical discussions with both internal and external technology partners

• Design scalable integration architectures, APIs, automation workflows, and security protocols

• Translate complex technical concepts into clear plans and communication for executive and non-technical audiences

Program Management & Delivery:

• Own and drive execution of large, multi-year, multi-team technical programs with significant business impact

• Define program vision, scope, success metrics, dependencies, and delivery outcomes

• Develop project plans, milestones, and roadmaps balancing Scope, Time, and Cost

• Detect scope creep and proactively mitigate risks from requirements

Cross-Team Collaboration:

• Work with the product managers and engineers to translate business and product requirements into technical specifications

• Serve as the single point of accountability across engineering, product, design, operations, security, and external partners

• Influence without authority to align stakeholders around priorities and execution plans; facilitate executive reviews, decision forums, and milestone checkpoints

• Partner with stakeholders and risk partners vendor on technology selection, contracts and dependencies

Team Leadership and Mentorship:

• Become to the go-to-person for technology related requests and questions throughout the company

• Establish and improve program management best practices, tooling, and governance

• Mentor and grow junior engineers and technical managers

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• 8+ years of program or product management in technology experience

• Bachelor's degree

• 8+ years of working directly with engineering teams

• 8+ years of experience in managing technical projects across multiple teams

• Experience with project risk mitigation and prevention

• Experience with leading organizational roadmap, resource allocation, and assigning priorities

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience performing statistical analysis of data

• Experience with technology product development lifecycle

• Excellent communicator in writing and speaking

Feeling your best helps you do your best:

Our benefits take care of the whole you-so you can build your work around your life (not the other way around!).

• Competitive base salaries

• Bonus incentives

• Generous PTO, Floating Holidays and 12 Federal Holidays observed

• Support for financial-well-being and retirement 401k with employer match

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance and more

• Employer paid short-term/long-term disability and basic life insurance

• Flexible hybrid working arrangements.

• Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs

• Free access to on-site staffed fitness centers (in Delaware) and gym subsidy (for locations outside Delaware)

• Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services and Wellness program with financial incentives

• Tuition Reimbursement and Family Scholarship Programs

• Career development and training opportunities

Not the right fit? Let us know you're interested in a future opportunity by clicking Introduce Yourself in the top-right corner of the page or create an account to set up email alerts as new job postings become available that meet your interest!

Sallie Mae is proud to be an equal opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, gender identity, disability, Veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Click here to view the U.S. Pay Transparency Policy, here for federal job applicant notices, and here to view the California Employee Privacy Notice.

Reasonable accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please call (855) 756-2007 and choose option 9. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.