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Principal Technical Program Manager, Alexa

Amazon.com Inc

  • Sunnyvale, CA
  • 5 days ago
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    Skills

    • Amazon Alexaunmatched
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS)unmatched
    • Architectural Designunmatched
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)unmatched
    • Brokerageunmatched
    • Business Strategyunmatched
    • Cloud Computingunmatched
    • Computer Firmwareunmatched
    • Cost Effectiveness Analysisunmatched
    • Cross-Functionalunmatched
    • Distributed Computingunmatched
    • Establish Prioritiesunmatched
    • Functional Programming Languagesunmatched
    • Leadershipunmatched
    • Metricsunmatched
    • Operations Processesunmatched
    • Project/Program Managementunmatched
    • Quality Assuranceunmatched
    • Risk Analysisunmatched
    • Team Playerunmatched
    • Technical Leadershipunmatched
    • Technical Strategyunmatched
    • Technical/Engineering Designunmatched

    Description

    We are looking for a Principal Technical Program Manager to organize, drive, and deliver Amazon-wide programs spanning multiple departments with visibility at the VP+ level. You should be passionate about Alexa+ - Amazon"s most ambitious AI assistant - and energized by driving cross-department, cross-functional programs across distributed systems, LLMs, and critical infrastructure. This role requires perseverance, strong technical acumen, and exceptional collaboration skills to lead complex initiatives at scale across thousands of engineers.

    Key job responsibilities

    You will be responsible for setting up, driving, championing, and successfully delivering large initiatives spanning Alexa, AWS, and AGI - across both device and cloud domains. You will:

    • Work directly with VP and key Alexa executives
    • Drive the program strategy for large-scale, cross-organizational initiatives spanning Alexa, AWS, and AGI
    • Own end-to-end delivery of programs that directly impact Alexa+"s core experience across distributed systems, LLMs, and critical infrastructure
    • Establish program frameworks, governance models, and operating mechanisms that scale across thousands of engineers in multiple organizations
    • Identify and resolve systemic cross-organizational dependencies, driving alignment across VP-level leadership when priorities conflict
    • Define success metrics and accountability mechanisms focused on availability, latency, accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and operational excellence
    • Influence technical architecture decisions to ensure programs are set up for long-term scalability and maintainability
    • Communicate program status, risks, and strategic trade-offs to VP+ leadership; shape narratives for L10+ reviews
    • Build and maintain program roadmaps that connect tactical execution to long-term organizational strategy
    • Partner with engineering, science, and QA leadership to ensure technical solutions meet quality and performance bars at scale

    A day in the life

    You operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, spending your day navigating across organizational boundaries to drive Alexa+"s most critical programs forward. You bring the technical curiosity and learning agility to ramp up on any domain - LLMs, distributed systems, device firmware, cloud infrastructure - deeply enough to arbitrate technical disagreements and unblock teams when they can"t resolve it themselves.

    Strategic Leadership & VP Partnership

    • Start the day syncing with your VP on program priorities, escalations, and strategic trade-offs - you are their trusted partner in navigating cross-org complexity
    • Shape the agenda for L10+ leadership reviews, framing technical programs in terms of customer impact and business outcomes
    • Make judgment calls on where to invest your time: which escalations to own personally, which to delegate, and which to let teams resolve independently

    Cross-Organizational Influence

    • Drive alignment across Directors and VPs in Alexa, AWS, and AGI when organizations have competing priorities or conflicting technical approaches
    • Facilitate high-stakes technical and strategic discussions - not just driving consensus, but making recommendations and influencing decisions
    • Operate as the connective tissue between device, cloud, and AI/ML organizations - translating constraints and priorities across domains

    Technical Depth & Execution

    • Learn technical domains quickly and deeply enough to arbitrate disagreements between engineering teams and unblock stalled decisions
    • Deep-dive into technical designs, architecture reviews, and engineering plans - understanding trade-offs well enough to broker the right path forward
    • Identify systemic risks and dependencies that no single team can see, then drive mitigation strategies across organizations
    • Review program metrics (availability, latency, quality) and take action when trajectories diverge from targets

    Driving Outcomes at Scale

    • Unblock programs that are stuck - whether the issue is technical, organizational, or political
    • Hold teams accountable to commitments while maintaining the relationships that make cross-org collaboration work
    • Continuously refine operating mechanisms - knowing when a process is helping and when it"s become overhead

    Numbers & Facts

    LocationSunnyvale, CA
    IndustryRetail
    Company Size10,000 employees or more
    Year Founded1994
    Websitehttp://Amazon.com/militaryroles

    About Company

    At Amazon, we don’t wait for the next big idea to present itself. We envision the shape of impossible things and then we boldly make them reality. So far, this mindset has helped us achieve some incredible things. Let’s build new systems, challenge the status quo, and design the world we want to live in. We believe the work you do here will be the best work of your life.

    Wherever you are in your career exploration, Amazon likely has an opportunity for you. Our research scientists and engineers shape the future of natural language understanding with Alexa. Fulfillment center associates around the globe send customer orders from our warehouses to doorsteps. Product managers set feature requirements, strategy, and marketing messages for brand new customer experiences. And as we grow, we’ll add jobs that haven’t been invented yet.

    It’s Always Day 1
    At Amazon, it’s always “Day 1.” Now, what does this mean and why does it matter? It means that our approach remains the same as it was on Amazon’s very first day – to make smart, fast decisions, stay nimble, invent, and stay focused on delighting our customers. In our 2016 shareholder letter, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared his thoughts on how to keep up a Day 1 company mindset. “Staying in Day 1 requires you to experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight,” he wrote. “A customer-obsessed culture best creates the conditions where all of that can happen.” You can read the full letter here

    Our Leadership Principles
    Our Leadership Principles help us keep a Day 1 mentality. They aren’t just a pretty inspirational wall hanging. Amazonians use them, every day, whether they’re discussing ideas for new projects, deciding on the best solution for a customer’s problem, or interviewing candidates. To read through our Leadership Principles from Customer Obsession to Bias for Action, visit https://www.amazon.jobs/principles

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