Customer Program Manager

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of strategic customer programs, ensuring alignment on scope, timelines, quality and business objectives.
• Act as the primary point of contact for customers for program execution, progress, risks, dependencies and escalations.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customer stakeholders, senior leadership and key decision-makers.
• Translate customer requirements and business priorities into clear execution plans for internal teams.
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to drive roadmap alignment and successful delivery.
• Lead program planning, governance, milestones, resource planning, dependencies and risk management.
• Proactively identify delivery risks and drive mitigation plans before they impact customers.
• Manage customer escalations with a structured, solution-oriented approach and ensure timely closure.
• Conduct regular customer reviews, program reviews, status meetings and executive updates.
• Drive prioritization and trade-off discussions across scope, timelines, resources, quality and customer expectations.
• Track program health, delivery metrics, customer commitments and overall program performance.
• Coordinate across Engineering, Product, QA, Operations and Business teams to ensure seamless execution.
• Lead and mentor a team of Program Managers/TPMs, driving accountability and execution excellence.
• Establish scalable processes and governance mechanisms to improve delivery predictability and customer experience.
• Identify opportunities for account growth, deeper engagement and expansion in partnership with Sales/Business teams.
• Lead, mentor and develop a team of Program Managers/TPMs.

Required Skills

• 10+ years of experience in Customer Program Management, Technical Program Management, Delivery Management, Engineering Program Management or similar roles.
• Strong experience managing enterprise customers and complex technology programs.
• Proven experience in client-facing roles with senior customer stakeholders.
• Experience leading and mentoring Program Managers/TPMs or cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of software/product development and technology delivery lifecycle.
• Demonstrated expertise in program planning, delivery governance, risk management, resource planning and dependency management.
• Strong executive communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and operate effectively in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment.
• Strong commercial and business understanding with the ability to balance customer needs, business priorities and technical constraints.
• Proven ability to manage escalations and drive resolution across teams without relying solely on formal authority.

Preferred Skills

• Experience working with Automotive OEMs / Tier-1s, AI/ML, Connected Vehicles, SaaS, Cloud, Embedded or other complex technology products.
• Experience managing large enterprise accounts or strategic customers.
• Experience with customer-facing technology/product implementations.
• Exposure to commercial discussions, SOWs, SLAs, change requests and account expansion.
• Experience working with global customers and distributed teams.
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence and Agile/Scrum methodologies.