About the Company

BMI is a mission-driven organization at the forefront of music rights and creator advocacy. Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, BMI is a global leader in music rights management. Currently representing the public performance rights in over 25 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million artists. BMI negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are publicly performed.

About the Role

POSITION SUMMARY: The Lead Program Manager (Lead PgM) oversees a portfolio of complex, high‑impact technology programs and provides people leadership for a team of Program Managers and Senior Program Managers within the Technology Program Management Office (PgMO). This role is accountable for portfolio‑level execution, ensuring programs are aligned to enterprise priorities, sequenced effectively, and delivered with consistency, quality, and transparency.

 

Operating at a portfolio scale, the Lead PgM governs delivery across multiple interdependent initiatives, managing cross‑program risks, dependencies, capacity, and tradeoffs to support predictable outcomes. The role partners closely with senior Technology leadership and cross‑functional stakeholders to align priorities, enable informed decision making, and resolve conflicts that span teams or programs.

 

As a people leader, the Lead Program Manager is responsible for developing program management talent through coaching, performance management, and workforce planning. The role sets standards for execution excellence by scaling PgMO governance frameworks, tools, and operating practices, and by reinforcing consistent application across the portfolio.

 

In addition to overseeing delivery, the Lead PgM plays a critical role in advancing PgMO maturity by identifying systemic improvement opportunities, strengthening execution discipline, and enabling the organization to scale program delivery effectively as complexity and scope increase.

 

FUNCTIONS OF THE JOB

 

Essential Functions: which may be representative but not all inclusive of those commonly associated with this position.

 

Primary Responsibilities

• Oversees a portfolio of complex, high‑impact technology programs, ensuring alignment to enterprise priorities and consistent delivery outcomes across multiple interdependent initiatives.
• Governs portfolio‑level risks, dependencies, capacity, and sequencing, balancing tradeoffs across programs to support predictable, high‑quality delivery at scale.
• Aligns senior Technology leadership and cross‑functional stakeholders around portfolio priorities, delivery commitments, and outcome‑based decision making.
• Owns execution of PgMO governance at the portfolio level, including prioritization, escalation, and decision‑making frameworks, ensuring consistent application across programs.
• Evaluates portfolio health and delivery patterns to identify systemic risks, capacity constraints, and improvement opportunities, driving corrective actions and continuous improvement.
• Provides people leadership for a team of Program Managers and Senior Program Managers, including coaching, performance management, talent planning, and workforce development in accordance with PgMO and HR guidelines.
• Develops program management capability by setting expectations for execution excellence, reinforcing best practices, and scaling PgMO standards, tools, and operating models across the portfolio.
• Acts as the primary escalation point for cross‑program delivery issues, resource conflicts, and strategic tradeoffs that exceed individual program or team boundaries.
• Partners with the Executive Director, PgMO and senior Technology leaders to evolve PgMO practices, enabling the organization to scale program delivery effectively as scope, complexity, and demand increase.

 

General Responsibilities

• Maintains and promotes teamwork within the department.
• Regular in-office attendance.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Travel required (~10%).
• Supports our BMI Core Values and cultivates a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

 

Supervisory Responsibilities: Directly supervises multiple Program Managers, including Senior Program Managers. Responsible for people leadership, performance management, coaching, and team development in accordance with PgMO and HR guidelines.

 

Physical/Visual Activities or Demands: Physical/visual activities or demands that are commonly associated with the performance functions of this job. 

 

• Sitting, standing, stooping, kneeling, talking, hearing, walking.
• Ability to talk, see, hear, concentrate, think, learn and reason.
• Concentrated mental and visual attention with normal hand-eye coordination.
• Clarity of vision at 20 inches, corrected or uncorrected.
• Ability to use a keyboard and do manual tasks for prolonged periods throughout the workday.
• Generally negligible physical effort, but occasional moving of 1 to 10 lb. items.
• Extended hours beyond 40 as needed.
• Limited travel may be required (~10%).

 

Environmental/Atmospheric Conditions: Environmental and atmospheric conditions commonly associated with the functions of this job.

 

Normal office conditions.

 

POSITION QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

 

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in business, technology, or a related field preferred; or equivalent combination of education and significant relevant professional experience.

 

Experience:

• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience leading complex, cross‑functional technology programs or initiatives, with demonstrated progression from program execution to portfolio‑level oversight, preferably within technology, media, or similarly matrixed organizational environments.
• Significant experience overseeing multiple interdependent programs concurrently, including responsibility for portfolio‑level prioritization, capacity planning, sequencing, and risk management.
• Demonstrated experience leading, developing, and managing teams of program management professionals, including Senior Program Managers, with accountability for talent planning, performance management, and workforce development.
• Experience operating at the enterprise or portfolio level, partnering with senior leaders to align strategy, funding, and delivery commitments across multiple initiatives and teams.

 

Skills and Abilities: which may be representative but not all inclusive of those commonly associated with this position.

• Advanced ability to oversee and govern a portfolio of complex, high‑impact technology programs, balancing priorities, dependencies, capacity, and tradeoffs across multiple interdependent initiatives.
• Proven ability to align senior leaders and cross‑functional stakeholders around portfolio‑level priorities, delivery commitments, and outcome‑based decision making.
• Strong people leadership capabilities, including coaching Senior Program Managers and Program Managers, developing talent pipelines, and scaling program management capability across an organization.
• Demonstrated ability to identify systemic risks, delivery patterns, and capability gaps across a portfolio and drive corrective actions and continuous improvement at scale.
• Exceptional executive communication skills, with the ability to synthesize portfolio‑level data into clear, decision‑ready insights, recommendations, and tradeoff scenarios for senior leadership.
• Strong judgment and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to balance speed, quality, risk, and long‑term organizational health when making portfolio‑level recommendations.
• Deep understanding of program and portfolio governance, including prioritization, escalation, and decision frameworks, with the ability to ensure consistent application across teams.
• Ability to scale standards, tools, and operating practices across a growing PgMO, enabling predictable, high‑quality delivery as complexity and demand increase.
• High level of proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, with the ability to produce portfolio‑level analyses, dashboards, and executive materials.

 

Machines, Tools, Equipment and Work Aids:  which may be representative but not all inclusive of those commonly associated with this position.

 

Personal computer and associated software. Normal office equipment.

 

License(s)/Certifications Required: None.

 

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying the position.  Employees may be required to follow other job-related instructions and perform other job-related duties as requested, subject to all applicable state and federal laws.

 

“Commonly associated” is not intended to mean always or only. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.