We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together.

One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform.

About the Role:

This role is a senior member of the Office of the Chief of Staff within the Partner and Technology organization. As Senior Manager, Strategic Programs, you will lead the execution of high-priority, cross-functional initiatives that directly support revenue growth, partner success, and operational scale. You will act as the operational engine behind complex, “cannot-fail” programs—bringing structure, discipline, and momentum to work that spans Product, Engineering, Sales, and external partners. This role combines strategic judgment with hands-on execution and plays a critical part in raising the bar for how the organization plans, tracks, and delivers outcomes.

What You Will Do:

• Own high-impact strategic programs: Serve as the primary owner for complex, cross-functional initiatives, ensuring alignment to business objectives, clear success metrics, and on-time delivery.

• Drive execution rigor: Establish and maintain program plans, milestones, dependencies, and risk mitigation strategies; proactively identify issues and resolve blockers before they impact outcomes.

• Align stakeholders at scale: Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Sales, Partner, and external teams to ensure shared understanding, clear accountability, and coordinated execution across workstreams.

• Enable informed decision-making: Define and track program health metrics, synthesize insights, and provide leadership with clear, actionable updates on progress, risks, and tradeoffs.

• Run effective operating rhythms: Lead action-oriented syncs, reviews, and stand-ups that result in decisions, prioritization, and measurable forward progress.

• Strengthen program management capabilities: Contribute to the evolution of PMO standards, playbooks, and tools, helping teams adopt best practices and improve how the organization delivers new products and capabilities.

What You Will Bring:

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in strategic program management, business programs, strategy & operations, or PMO roles within a technology, SaaS, or enterprise software environment.

• Cross-functional leadership: Proven ability to lead complex initiatives across Product, Engineering, Sales, Partner, and Operations teams without direct authority.

• Program management expertise: Strong command of program governance, risk management, dependency planning, and execution methodologies in fast-moving environments.

• Operational and analytical strength: Experience working with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and strong proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets for modeling, analysis, and reporting.

• Clear communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex topics into clear narratives for diverse audiences, including senior leadership.

• Strategic mindset with attention to detail: Ability to distill ambiguity, assess multiple viewpoints, and recommend practical paths forward while maintaining execution discipline.

• Collaboration and influence: Demonstrated ability to build trust, navigate competing priorities, and work diplomatically across global, distributed teams.

• Curiosity and continuous improvement: A strong desire to understand the business deeply and continuously improve processes, tools, and ways of working.

• Technical Proficiency: Expert-level command of project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid) and tools such as Jira, Confluence, and advanced data visualization platforms.

• Education & Certification: A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or a related field (MBA preferred); PMP, PgMP, or equivalent senior-level certifications are highly desirable.

Ready to build what's next? Let’s get in motion.

Come As You Are

Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.