Technical Program Manager Lead, Block Platform

Block is one company built from many blocks, all united by the same purpose of economic empowerment. The blocks that form our foundational teams — People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security, Platform Infrastructure Engineering, and more — provide support and guidance at the corporate level. They work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines to develop inclusive People policies, forecast finances, give legal counsel, safeguard systems, nurture new initiatives, and more. Every challenge creates possibilities, and we need different perspectives to see them all. Bring yours to Block.

The Role

Technical Program Management in Block Platform

Block’s Platform Technical Program Management (TPM) function is made up of a small team which drives our most complex, technical, and strategically important programs across our core platform teams: Product Platform Eng, AI and Data, and Developer Experience. The programs we manage are highly diverse, and include critical infrastructure migrations and unification, development of golden paths, and programs that improve operational effectiveness (e.g. cost and reliability).

You will be a key member of the Technical Program Management leadership team and Block’s Engineering Culture, Operations, and Delivery (CODe) organization. You will lead all aspects of the Platform TPM function, being accountable for the team’s engagement and performance. That means ensuring the team has strategic context, is growing in capability, is working on the most impactful things, and is delivering results. In addition, you will be hands-on, leading critical initiatives  yourself and setting an example of excellence within the TPM discipline. Alongside leading the Platform Technical Program Management team, you will work closely with Engineering leadership to ensure that the Engineering organization produces annual plans, quarterly priorities, and key initiatives that drive our product and business objectives forward.  In this role, your scope of influence will extend across the whole of Block’s Product, Data, and Developer platform teams; working effectively with senior leaders from our Product, Engineering, Finance & Strategy and Planning teams.

You Will

• Build and lead a high-performing Technical Program Management organization by attracting, growing and engaging the best possible talent
• Ensure the TPM team is working on the most important things by fostering important relationships with key stakeholders across the organization
• Partner effectively with Engineering, Product, Design and other senior leaders in the context of program prioritization and delivery
• Work closely senior leaders in various Business functions (Business Operations, Finance & Strategy, Comms etc) to ensure Engineering has a smooth and effective planning cadence that solves the right problems
• Help improve operational effectiveness for Platform teams by understanding key planning and delivery pain points and suggesting and implementing opportunities for improvement
• Regularly communicate status of key strategic priorities and programs, including risks and opportunities, to the Product Platform, AI and Data, and Developer Experience Management teams and other executive stakeholders
• Partner with other Technical Program Management leads across Block in order to clarify expectations and ensure a sense of community for our TPMs

You Have

• 12+ years of program management or related experience operating as a Technical Program Manager within Platform & Engineering organizations
• 5+ years of leading high performing TPM teams, ideally in fast-scaling or recently scaled technology companies
• Experience working with on-prem and cloud infrastructure and/or Data/AI/ML
• Impact-oriented decision making skills with an ability to identify how initiatives and effort can move the needle for the organization
• Experience bringing maturity to processes, leading teams, developing relationships, and managing end-to-end for a portfolio of concurrent programs
• A keen understanding and track record of what it takes to run  planning processes in a scaled and distributed context
• Experience managing and releasing complex, high-quality features in partnership with product teams at scale
• Detail oriented and ability to drive initiatives to completion
• Strong analytical thinking and problem solving
• Strong technical program management experience with ability to influence various stakeholders including technical leaders and executive management
• Clear and concise verbal and written communication skills
• Experience hiring and guiding Technical Program Managers of varying skill levels and fostering a culture of collaboration and growth
• Strong understanding of how to enable Engineering effectiveness and delivery
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity and skillfully guide teams through change
• Very high levels of emotional intelligence; empathy, self-awareness, self-management, social/organizational awareness and social skills

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is an equal opportunity employer evaluating all employees and job applicants without regard to identity or any legally protected class. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, and always assess candidates on an individualized basis.

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Block will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and “fair chance” ordinances.