About the job
The Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM), DESA is a senior, single-threaded owner for Zillow’s most complex, cross-organizational data and AI programs. This role combines strategic partnership, clear communication, and broad organizational influence with deep technical program leadership.
Responsibilities
Serve as a trusted advisor and execution partner to DESA leadership, translating strategy into clear programs, operating mechanisms, and measurable outcomes.
Lead complex, cross-organizational data and AI programs that span analytics, data engineering, data platforms, experimentation, and AI enablement.
Design, implement, and continuously improve lightweight, scalable operating mechanisms that keep teams aligned and moving toward measurable outcomes.
Act as a critical liaison between DESA and partner organizations (for example, Data Platform, Product Engineering, Tech Enablement, and central platform teams) to drive aligned priorities and on-time delivery of shared goals.
Dive into technical details where needed to clarify scope, identify risks and dependencies, and enable high-quality, timely decision-making.
Establish clear milestones, owners, and success metrics for ambiguous, cross-functional initiatives, and drive accountability across teams and leaders.
Communicate program goals, status, and tradeoffs to both senior executives and technical audiences through clear, concise written and verbal updates.
Qualifications
Minimum
You have deep experience in Technical Program Management, Product Management, or data-focused Engineering roles, with significant time spent leading large, complex, cross-organizational programs in a technology company.
You have operated at Principal-level scope, driving programs that cut across multiple senior leaders, organizations, and roadmaps.
You are deeply familiar with at least two of the following domains: data platforms and data engineering (for example, Databricks or modern data stacks), analytics/data science/experimentation, or AI/ML and LLM-enabled products or tooling.
You are a strategic and systems thinker who connects organization strategy to concrete programs and operating mechanisms, and can clearly explain the “why,” “what,” and “how.”
You are a bar-raising program leader who has led ambiguous, cross-functional efforts from zero-to-one and through scale-up, setting clear milestones, owners, and success metrics.
You are an exceptional communicator who can write and present clearly to senior executives and technical audiences, and can appropriately own communications on behalf of senior leaders.
You design lightweight, scalable processes that solve real problems without over-burdening teams, and you iterate based on feedback and outcomes.
You build strong, long-term relationships with leaders and individual contributors across engineering, product, analytics, and platform teams, and people seek you out to bring clarity and unblock decisions.
Preferred
You have deep experience in Technical Program Management, Product Management, or data-focused Engineering roles, with significant time spent leading large, complex, cross-organizational programs in a technology company.
You have operated at Principal-level scope, driving programs that cut across multiple senior leaders, organizations, and roadmaps.
You are deeply familiar with at least two of the following domains: data platforms and data engineering (for example, Databricks or modern data stacks), analytics/data science/experimentation, or AI/ML and LLM-enabled products or tooling.
You are a strategic and systems thinker who connects organization strategy to concrete programs and operating mechanisms, and can clearly explain the “why,” “what,” and “how.”
You are a bar-raising program leader who has led ambiguous, cross-functional efforts from zero-to-one and through scale-up, setting clear milestones, owners, and success metrics.
You are an exceptional communicator who can write and present clearly to senior executives and technical audiences, and can appropriately own communications on behalf of senior leaders.
You design lightweight, scalable processes that solve real problems without over-burdening teams, and you iterate based on feedback and outcomes.
You build strong, long-term relationships with leaders and individual contributors across engineering, product, analytics, and platform teams, and people seek you out to bring clarity and unblock decisions.