Lead Technical Program Manager - DECO

The mission of the Developer Ecosystem team is to be the platform of choice for global commerce powered by a best-in-class API portfolio and a world-class developer experience. Our team is all about APIs - the “secret sauce” of modern technology companies. We support all of our public APIs while working with external developers, partners, and internal development teams.

Our team sits within the Global Technology organization and reports directly into the Chief Technology Officer. We build some APIs directly, help other teams as they develop APIs, provide governance / oversight of all public interfaces, and deliver technical support directly to external developers. We also build many innovative tools, frameworks, and technologies to support the ecosystem.

We are hiring a highly Technical Program Leader to help own and lead complex, cross-functional projects, ensuring they meet business objectives and are delivered on time and within budget. This person will bridge the gap between business and technology, working with product managers and engineering leads to define requirements, manage risks, solve problems, and drive execution.

Simply put, you will be the “hub” of the team – keeping the team together and focused, facilitating innovative cross-functional problem-solving, and ensuring smooth coordination and successful project outcomes. You’ll be expected to be a technical problem solver — to understand our technologies, challenge assumptions, and push for clarity and momentum across complex, multi-team efforts in a global enterprise. Strong communication skills will be vital to effectively collaborate with diverse audiences ranging from leadership to business to engineering. Your work will directly impact the quality and speed of delivery of eBay’s most important APIs.

We are currently in a revitalization and growth phase as we make progress modernizing eBay’s APIs and seek to greatly improve the developer ecosystem holistically. We are hiring exceptional people who align with eBay’s cultural values and are passionate about delivering APIs to fulfill our mission. If you are looking for a challenge, have relevant experience managing public-facing APIs and / or API heavy product development life cycles before, and like to dig deep into the details to find innovative solutions to complex problems, we’d love for you to join us!

What you will accomplish:

• Lead and deliver complex, cross-functional technical projects, ensuring they meet the needs of the business and the customer.
• Deliver eBay’s highest-priority product initiatives for developers - on time, with quality, and aligned to business goals.
• Drive programs that support the end-to-end developer journey, from initial discovery and onboarding to ongoing support and engagement.
• Partner with diverse teams, including leadership, engineering, business, product, design, and operations, to ensure alignment and turn strategy into clear execution plans.
• Influence, negotiate, unblock, and make key decisions that will lead the teams to hit their targets.
• Design, document, and execute efficient programs across geographically distributed teams and partners. Help other program managers build clear, repeatable practices that improve speed, coordination, and consistency across the product lifecycle.
• Anticipate, assess, and manage program challenges and risks independently.
• Identify dependencies, perform root cause analysis, and recommend mitigation plans as needed. Take direct action to resolve issues before they impact delivery, ensuring smooth execution.
• Define and track team goals / OKRs that measure delivery velocity, execution quality, cross-functional coordination, and developer satisfaction.
• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for programs, such as developer acquisition, API usage, and partner success. Use data to inform program strategy and measure impact.
• Lead critical product and program reviews, and drive the operating rhythm across our team.
• Represent program progress and challenges to senior leadership with clarity, context, and confidence.
• Help foster and grow a vibrant developer community through online forums, events, webinars, and other engagement channels.
• Develop a culture of ownership, urgency, and outcome-driven thinking within our team and across partner groups.

What you will bring:

• 7+ years of program management experience leading large-scale technical programs in complex, global organizations.
• 7+ years of working directly with engineering / software development teams
• 3+ years of software development experience
• Experience managing programs across functions, building processes and coordinating release schedules
• Experience operating in large, matrixed organizations. Able to identify and handle dependencies while aligning priorities across product, engineering, design, operations, legal, finance, and executive teams.
• A clear track record of driving programs involving multiple partners, time zones, business functions, and technical platforms. Success leading delivery across organizations where influence, negotiation, and relationship-building are key to execution.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills, including presentations, specifications, status reports, and management reporting, as well as an ability to summarize, translate detail into insight, and deliver clear narratives to senior leaders.
• A strong ownership mentality with meticulous attention to detail and proactive program execution. Able to hold all program participants accountable, regardless of seniority, and drive independent initiative in ambiguous situations.
• Willingness to be hands-on and do whatever is needed to get things done, including coaching or training others where necessary.
• Ability to operate independently with very little to no guidance, showing initiative even under unfamiliar or ambiguous circumstances.
• A broad technical foundation with the ability to understand engineering, architecture, and systems discussions.
• Strong knowledge of GraphQL / REST APIs, OpenAPI specs, Messaging Systems, RDBMS / NoSQL, Containers, Infrastructure layer, etc. Direct experience in GraphQL, OpenAPI, and Contract-first development preferred.
• Deep understanding of software development principles and experience working with engineering teams is essential. Extensive Agile experience is preferred.
• A data- and outcome-driven approach to decision making; fluent in using delivery metrics, KPIs, and financial targets to track progress and drive accountability.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a technical or business field is required; an advanced degree (MBA, MS) is a plus.
• Formal training in Program Management and PMI Certification is preferred.