Lead Technical Program Manager (Contract)

Location: Remote with some travel expected 1 - 3 times a year

Contract Duration: 12 months 

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Technical Program Manager (TPgM) to drive critical cross-functional programs, ensure strategic alignment of the work, and guide teams toward impactful outcomes. In this role, you’ll be both a trusted thought partner and a hands-on execution-oriented driver, enabling teams to deliver complex programs with clarity, efficiency, and measurable results. We are looking for someone with a proven ability to build strong cross-functional relationships and align diverse stakeholders around shared strategic objectives. The role requires skills in navigating ambiguity with a flexible and adaptive approach. 

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership & Delivery

• Drive planning, coordination, and execution of initiatives across teams.
• Track, support, and enable teams to deliver meaningful impact; establish clear metrics and/or milestones to measure success. 
• Facilitate and improve - at a program level - the team practices, workflows, and processes.

Strategic Planning & Capacity Management

• Lead capacity planning exercises, identify gaps and make recommendations for resource allocation or escalation as needed.
• Partner with Product and Technology leadership and program stakeholders to align priorities with strategic objectives and operational realities.

Risk, Issue & Dependency Management

• Proactively identify risks, issues, and cross-functional dependencies (especially with Legal and Communications), and develop management, mitigation or escalation plans.
• Resolve conflicts and ensure smooth collaboration across teams.

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, including the volunteer community where required; communicate effectively, "read the room" and tailor engagement to context.
• Act as a strategic thought partner by asking the right questions, sensing partnership needs, and fostering productive dialogues.

Program Operations & Reporting

• Manage program-level operations such as scheduling, coordination, reporting, and meeting facilitation.
• Maintain strong documentation and transparent reporting structures, ensuring visibility across all stakeholders.
• Evaluate success against metrics and milestones, and ensure clear communication of that in reporting. 

Enablement & Training

• Conduct training and coaching for program stakeholders on programmatic tools, processes, and best practices.
• Promote understanding and adoption of scalable program management practices across the department.
• Mentor and support other TPgMs. 

Narrative & Communication

• Tell the story of complex work streams clearly and simply, highlighting the why, the how, and the impact.
• Serve as an effective nudger—keeping the right level of accountability without micromanagement.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Technical Program Management or a related field, preferably in a product-driven or engineering-led organization.
• Strong systems thinking, organizational, and analytical skills. 
• Proven success managing complex, cross-functional programs with multiple stakeholders.
• Expertise in risk management, capacity planning, and strategic alignment.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building abilities.
• Comfort with ambiguity and a bias for action.
• Experience working with Legal, Communications, and other business-critical functions outside of Product & Technology.

The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge, and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocate for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive. 

The Wikimedia Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that relies on donations. We receive donations from millions of individuals around the world, with an average donation of about $15. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts. The Wikimedia Foundation is a United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Wikimedia Foundation values having a diverse workforce and continuously strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable workplace. We encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate against any person based upon their race, traits historically associated with race, religion, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy or related medical conditions, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristics.

The Wikimedia Foundation is a remote-first organization with staff members including contractors based 40+ countries*. Salaries at the Wikimedia Foundation are set in a way that is competitive, equitable, and consistent with our values and culture. The anticipated annual pay range of this position for applicants based within the United States is $121,730 to $185,517 with multiple individualized factors, including cost of living in the location, being the determinants of the offered pay. For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire. We neither ask for nor take into consideration the salary history of applicants. The compensation for a successful applicant will be based on their skills, experience and location. 

*Please note that we are currently able to hire in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay.  Our non-US employees are hired through a local third party Employer of Record (EOR). 

We periodically review this list to streamline to ensure alignment with our hiring requirements. 

All applicants can reach out to their recruiter to understand more about the specific pay range for their location during the interview process.

If you are a qualified applicant requiring assistance or an accommodation to complete any step of the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at recruiting@wikimedia.org or +1 (415) 839-6885.

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