Senior Director, Technical Programs

Reporting directly to our VP of Technical Programs and Operations, the Senior Director will be responsible for leading the Technical Program Management function to enhance the development and operation of Affirm’s broad set of financial products. The scope of the Technical Program Management function includes defining, building, and executing company and organization wide planning, goal setting, cross-functional program delivery, and results tracking, which serves as a critical component of the Technology organization's operating and delivery cadence.

As the Senior Director of Technical Program Management, you will play a pivotal role in driving large-scale change and transformation across the organization. Your mission will be to directly lead and influence the senior leadership team in strategic planning and drive development of company and organization-wide OKRs. This includes defining how we plan across technology and the broader company, ensuring that planning integrates with all functions across Affirm including Finance, Revenue, and Legal. Continued improvements to these processes are critical to scale the business, optimize resource usage, and provide necessary visibility into our increasingly complex development, release, and execution processes. You will be responsible for leading multiple technical program management teams while driving strategic alignment across Product, Engineering, Information Security, and Analytics senior leadership. You will lead efforts to identify opportunities, design and implement robust change management processes, drive continuous improvement, develop scalable frameworks, and strengthen organization wide communication to enhance efficiency and drive sustainable operability improvements that directly influence the company growth and results.

A critical aspect of this role will be actively developing and growing our key talent as well as evolving the organization as new opportunities arise. You will bring deep expertise in technical program management and building operational maturity to enable us to scale our delivery of great Affirm products. This will involve working with large amounts of data, understanding complex systems, influencing strategic prioritization, and focusing on simplification while tackling complex challenges. 

Our ideal candidate is an analytical, hands-on, steeped in the details, collaborative, business minded, culture-building leader who is able to quickly synthesize technical solutions to complex, multivariate global business opportunities, and who brings key experiences to the role as we build and operate a cohesive suite of honest consumer products that improve financial lives. Exceptional collaboration skills are paramount, as this role requires extensive cross-functional partnership with Product, Engineering, Information Security, and Analytics. A successful candidate must genuinely care about the details and most importantly, about the outcomes. In our fast paced environment, there is always new information to consider and incorporate in our plans. We need an agile and adaptable leader willing to re-evaluate prior decisions as new information becomes available. This is something we do continuously and with an ever increasing frequency at Affirm. Working in a fast paced environment with the quick feedback loop rewards knowing the details and being on top of your area of responsibility, but really what ties it all together is being motivated and using your skills to get things done. 

If you would like to learn more about Affirm’s cultural DNA we recommend our CEO’s reflections on building a meritocracy.

What You’ll Do

• Develop and execute organizational processes that are both scalable and agile, enabling the company to respond quickly to changing market demands while maintaining operational stability.
• Define and continuously improve the planning processes, ensuring alignment with all functions across Affirm including Finance, Revenue, and Legal.
• Drive the adoption of new processes and technologies across the organization, intentionally managing the cultural and people aspects to maximize outcomes.
• Act as a consultant and coach, providing strategic insights and recommendations to department leaders and the extended technology leadership team, identifying areas for process improvements and efficiencies.
• Enhance internal communication strategies to improve visibility into organization and portfolio goals, progress, trade-offs, and strategic decisions.
• Define strategic roadmap, set expectations, and incorporate into company and organization wide Objectives and Key Results.
• Partner closely with Technology Senior Leadership and enable TPM function to drive top priority cross functional programs.
• Optimize for efficiency and enhance visibility into the complex development, release, and execution lifecycle.
• Develop a high-performing team by defining talent needs, building a diverse team and retaining top talent by creating an environment where the team is empowered and trusted to make decisions, encouraged to try new things and supported in working together to solve problems. 

What We Look For

• At least 15 years experience in engineering, product or program management of technically complex products.
• Strong technical background with a deep understanding of software development processes, methodologies and experience contributing to designing technical architecture.
• Demonstrated ability to be able to consistently develop a comprehensive strategy.
• Influenced across an organization of 1000+ technical contributors with proven experience scaling and maturing operations.
• Experienced in influencing executives through excellent communication, interpersonal, and consulting skills.
• Morally aligned with our vision and mission.
• Extremely data-oriented and analytical.
• Strategic and dynamic mindset to drive strategy.
• Results driven and forward thinking with ability to problem-solve complex issues.
• Thrives in a fast-paced and innovative environment.
• Experience in high-growth, technology driven companies, with an interest in financial services preferred.