About the Role
The Senior Program Manager (SPM) will lead strategic execution across Proofpoint’s Digital Communications Governance (DCG) portfolio - a high-growth business driving innovation in enterprise archiving, capture, and AI-powered compliance solutions. This role sits at the intersection of product, engineering, go-to-market, and operations, ensuring DCG’s most important initiatives are executed predictably, efficiently, and with measurable business impact.
Key Responsibilities
1. Program Leadership & Execution
- Lead end-to-end delivery of DCG strategic programs, including AI and automation initiatives, platform enhancements, and cross-product integrations.
- Partner with Engineering, Product Management, and Business Operations to define milestones, KPIs, and execution rhythms that ensure alignment with business goals.
- Drive program transparency through dashboards, OKRs, and structured cadence reviews.
- Identify and remove delivery barriers, ensuring program velocity and clear accountability across teams.
2. Cross-Functional Alignment
- Orchestrate collaboration between R&D, Product, and GTM teams to ensure synchronized execution across multiple time zones.
- Serve as the connective tissue between Product and Go-To-Market, ensuring release readiness and effective launch coordination for new offerings.
- Facilitate trade-off and prioritization discussions balancing innovation speed, quality, and cost efficiency.
3. Portfolio Governance
- Maintain a unified view of the DCG roadmap
- Support executive decision-making with portfolio-level visibility, risk assessments, and resource optimization insights.
- Lead quarterly business reviews and retrospectives to ensure learnings are systematically integrated into future planning.
4. Strategic Planning
- Translate executive vision into actionable roadmaps that balance near-term deliverables with long-term scalability.
- Partner with Finance and Product leaders to align resource investments with expected business outcomes and operational efficiencies.
- Drive alignment between DCG and adjacent cybersecurity and compliance initiatives to maximize product synergy and customer value.
5. Stakeholder Management
- Act as a trusted advisor to DCG leadership, providing clarity, foresight, and data-backed recommendations on program performance.
- Communicate complex program updates clearly to executive audiences, connecting delivery progress to business impact.
- Build strong partnerships across global engineering and product teams in Canada, Ireland, India, and the U.S.
Qualifications
- 8+ years of program or portfolio management experience in SaaS, cybersecurity, compliance, or data governance.
- Proven track record leading complex, cross-functional initiatives across product, engineering, and go-to-market organizations.
- Strong business and technical acumen, with experience managing AI/ML-driven or platform-scale initiatives.
- Skilled in Agile and hybrid delivery models, balancing execution speed with governance discipline.
- Exceptional stakeholder management, influence, and executive communication skills.
- PMP, PgMP, or SAFe certification preferred.
What Success Looks Like (First 12 Months)
- Execution: Deliver high-impact DCG initiatives on time, on budget, and in alignment with strategic priorities.
- Integration: Establish a cohesive governance model connecting DCG
- Efficiency: Improve delivery velocity and collaboration across onshore/offshore R&D teams.
- Visibility: Stand up an executive-ready DCG program dashboard and health reporting framework.
- Enablement: Strengthen cross-functional readiness for upcoming DCG and AI solution launches.
Why Join
This is a high-impact role at the heart of Proofpoint’s next chapter — transforming digital communications governance through intelligent automation, scalable governance, and next-generation AI. You’ll operate alongside executive leaders driving industry-defining innovation, backed by a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
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