Senior Program Manager (Cloud Platform & Application Engineering | Professional Services)
Role Summary
The Senior Program Manager (Cloud Platform & Application Engineering) is a client-facing Professional Services delivery leader responsible for managing large-scale cloud platform and application engineering programs for external enterprise customers. The role operates under SOW-based, customer-funded delivery models and requires strong program governance, delivery discipline, and external stakeholder management. Hands-on technical execution is not required; however, the role demands a solid functional understanding of cloud platforms, application engineering, and modernization practices.
Role Positioning
- Senior Program / Delivery Manager within Professional Services
- No direct people management responsibility
- Accountability for contractual, financial, and delivery outcomes
- Working technical understanding across cloud and application engineering domains
- Mentors delivery teams through influence and best practices
Mandatory Background Requirements
- Professional Services / Consulting / Systems Integration background (mandatory)
- Experience delivering customer-facing cloud platform and application engineering programs
- Experience working with SOW-driven delivery models (fixed price, T&M, milestone-based)
- Pre-sales or SOW readiness exposure preferred
- Strong external customer stakeholder management experience of 2 to 3 Tech stacks to cover (professional services perspective)
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & DevSecOps
- Enterprise Management Stack & Observability
- Container Platforms
- High Performance Computing (HPC)
- Public Cloud Services
- Azure Hybrid Services
- Application Modernization & Migration
- Database Modernization & Migration
- Application Packaging & Operations
Key Responsibilities
- Professional Services Program Delivery
Owns end-to-end program delivery for cloud platform and application engineering engagements. Manages scope, schedule, cost, quality, and risk aligned to SOW commitments and coordinates multiple parallel workstreams.
- Pre-Sales Support & SOW Readiness
Supports pre-sales activities prior to SOW sign-off by reviewing delivery approaches, validating estimates and timelines, identifying dependencies, risks, and assumptions, and ensuring sales-to-delivery continuity.
- Financial & Commercial Governance
Manages program-level financial tracking including budget vs actuals, billing milestones, forecasting accuracy, burn rate management, and scope/change control in accordance with Professional Services governance.
- External Stakeholder & Ecosystem Management
Acts as the primary delivery interface for customer stakeholders and delivery partners. Leads governance forums, status and risk reviews, escalation management, and communicates progress and outcomes in business-focused language.
- Team Coordination & Mentorship
Coordinates internal, partner, and subcontractor delivery teams without direct reporting authority. Mentors project managers and technical leads on planning rigor, execution discipline, and customer engagement best practices.
Education & Experience
- Bachelor's degree (any discipline)
- 15+ years of Professional Services delivery project management experience
- PMP certification (mandatory)
- Agile / Scrum certification preferred
- ITIL Foundation or Cloud fundamentals certifications preferred
Technical Knowledge Expectations
Working-level understanding of IaC and DevSecOps practices, container platforms, public cloud and Azure hybrid architectures, application and database modernization concepts, enterprise observability, and unified communications. Able to assess dependencies, risks, and delivery trade-offs without hands-on implementation responsibility.
