Overview

Nordstrom Technology is moving to an AI Native operating model, rebuilding the processes, tools, and standards engineering teams use to build and ship software without sacrificing quality or stability as speed increases. We need a Senior 2 Technical Program Manager to bring order and rigor to this transformation while it is still taking shape: someone who can turn a direction that is aligned but not yet fully defined into working processes, clear metrics, and day-to-day discipline that both leadership and engineering teams can rely on.

This is a senior, individual-contributor role on the Technology Portfolio and Operations team. You will partner closely with engineering and business leaders as we evolve how engineering teams work. Success looks less like any single deliverable and more like engineering teams operating with rigor and metrics that leadership can trust as new practices take hold.

Who You Are

• •A strategic thinker who understands how your work connects to broader organizational goals and can spot trends and issues that will matter down the road
• •A blend of portfolio thinker and hands-on operator, technically fluent enough to be credible with engineering platform teams covering CI/CD pipelines, deployment gating, observability, and vulnerability and patch management
• •Comfortable operationalizing an aligned direction rather than just planning it: turning it into working processes, runbooks, and team habits
• •A finisher who keeps a program focused on results, ships durable progress, helps others push through setbacks, and creates urgency without creating chaos
• •Comfortable managing complexity and owning work before every detail is settled, moving forward against an aligned direction while open items are still being resolved
• •Direct enough to raise hard issues, push back when necessary, and make an unpopular call when it is the right one
• •A trust-builder who puts the organization's needs first and is consistent in following through on commitments
• •A data-driven decision-maker who acts under uncertainty, knows when to escalate, and can build and defend a measurement approach that multiple teams are held accountable to
• •A communicator and influencer without formal authority who tailors style and content to different audiences, moving comfortably between a steering committee update and a technical working session
• •A team-builder and developer of people who brings together different perspectives, makes sure everyone understands their role in delivering results, and coaches others through candid feedback and stretch opportunities

A Day in the Life

• •Own the day-to-day sequencing of how new processes and practices are rolled out under the modern engineering operating model, translating an aligned direction into concrete plans and checkpoints
• •Make sound judgment calls on open items such as thresholds and process ownership as they get resolved, rather than waiting for total clarity before making progress
• •Adjust plans as the model itself evolves and communicate those changes clearly so teams are not caught off guard
• •Pilot new processes with a small set of teams first, gather feedback, and refine before rolling out more broadly
• •Drive change management for the operating model itself, including communications, training, and adoption tracking, as its own deliverable
• •Partner with leadership to define and stand up key metrics and reporting structures that provide visibility into how the transformation is progressing
• •Translate qualitative goals such as moving faster or reducing risk into concrete, trackable measures that teams can be held to
• •Build the operational cadence including reviews, checkpoints, escalation paths, and reporting rhythms that make the new way of working durable
• •Track engineering delivery metrics such as deployment frequency, lead time for change, change failure rate, and mean time to restore, alongside AI-adoption and process-health indicators
• •Partner with engineering and business leaders to align on priorities and sequence trade-offs, building consensus without formal authority
• •Be a clear, credible voice with senior leadership on status, risk, and decisions, and with individual teams on what is happening in practice
• •Anticipate risks and bottlenecks early and coordinate across teams to manage dependencies that cross organizational boundaries
• •Track and escalate systemic issues before they become bigger problems
• •Weigh security, compliance, and platform constraints against delivery speed and team capacity
• •Map dependencies across the engineering toolchain including source control, CI/CD, ticketing, and observability platforms to spot cross-system ripple effects
• •Mentor other program managers and cross-functional partners supporting the transformation, helping them build planning skills and the judgment to operate effectively through ambiguity

Requirements

• •Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or any suitable combination of education, experience, and training
• •10 or more years of experience in technical program management with a proven track record leading large-scale, high-impact, cross-functional programs
• •Demonstrated experience leading teams through significant process transformation, including periods where the plan itself was still evolving
• •Experience helping engineering teams adopt AI-assisted development tools and practices and turning that adoption into measurable, durable process change
• •A demonstrated bias for execution: a track record of delivering defined phases of work to completion, then moving on to the next priority
• •A strong track record building measurement approaches and operational reporting that hold up under scrutiny and that leadership can act on
• •Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to build agreement and influence outcomes without formal authority
• •Experience mentoring program managers and other cross-functional collaborators and building organizational capability
• •Strong analytical and quantitative skills, comfortable using data to back up decisions and recommendations
• •Familiarity with modern software delivery practices such as CI/CD, release management, and observability sufficient to be credible with engineering partners
• •Experience leading organizational change management for technology or process transformations
• •Experience with both waterfall and agile delivery models
• •Familiarity with portfolio management and collaboration tools
• •Background in retail or technology operations environments (preferred)
• •Experience with large-scale technology modernization or transformation initiatives (preferred)

Compensation

Pay range: 166,000 to 258,000 USD annually. Pay offers are dependent on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This position may be eligible for performance-based incentives and bonuses.

Benefits

• •Medical, Vision, and Dental coverage
• •Retirement and Paid Time Away
• •Life Insurance and Disability
• •Merchandise Discount and EAP Resources
• •401k
• •Holidays and PTO accruals

This is a hybrid role based in Seattle, WA.