Technical Program Manager

We are looking for a Technical Program Manager to join our team! Our client is an Azerbaijani telecommunications company, the largest mobile network operator in Azerbaijan. The main products are: Fixed telephony, Mobile telephony, Internet services, Wireless broadband, and Value-added services. The primary goal is to accelerate the client’s Data & AI initiatives via a secure, hybrid cloud foundation while systematically modernizing the IT estate as part of the cloud migration. Key Project Objectives include: - Cloud Foundation & Landing Zone: Deploy target hybrid network architectures, establishing a secure Landing Zone and hybrid Data/AI platforms on AWS. - Security, Compliance & Governance: Operationalize on-prem tokenization (achieving zero raw PII in the cloud), resolve policy blockers to include AWS in the ISMS, and establish a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) to govern Cloud adoption. - AI Chatbot & Voicebot Design & Implementation: Develop and operationalize a flagship Customer Care Chatbot and Voicebot as the first hybrid-setup consumer. Responsibilities: - Drive complex program initiation and execution using Scrum of Scrums or SAFe frameworks, coordinating multiple cross-functional teams. - Oversee AI/ML projects and data migration initiatives within the program portfolio. - Define and manage project scope, requirements, WBS, schedules, estimates, budgets, and forecasts, ensuring timely corrective actions and stakeholder approvals. - Monitor overall program/project progress, risks, dependencies, and changes, implementing mitigation and corrective actions where needed. - Lead project staffing, onboarding, team building, and performance management, ensuring team motivation, engagement, and effective conflict resolution. - Manage project financials, including budgets, forecasts, invoices, working hours, and cost overruns. - Establish and drive project governance, communication, quality, and reporting processes across all relevant stakeholders. - Ensure adherence to company project management standards, configuration management, and quality processes, driving continuous improvement and resolving audit findings. - Lead project knowledge management and ensure proper project/phase closure and handover. - Act as the single point of contact for the program, maintaining effective communication and escalation paths with stakeholders. - Manage project documentation, tools, repositories, and team availability planning, ensuring secure and structured project information. - Contribute to pre-sales and account growth activities, identifying opportunities for expanding client engagement. Requirements: - 5+ years of proven experience in IT project/program management, with hands-on ownership of at least two complex projects/programs from initiation to delivery. - Proven experience in complex program initiation and setup, including establishing project processes from scratch, ideally in a Scrum of Scrums or SAFe environment. - Proven experience delivering AI/ML projects, including data migration initiatives. - Strong experience managing solution-based, fixed-scope, and fixed-price projects, including budgeting, forecasting, cost control, and financial reconciliation. - Proven experience managing cross-cultural, cross-functional, and distributed teams of 20+ people across multiple projects or 30+ within a single project. - Strong knowledge of project management methodologies and SDLC models, including Agile, Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Scrum of Scrums, Waterfall, and V-Model. - Good understanding of pricing, billing, and delivery models, including Fixed Price, T&M, team augmentation, managed teams, and solution-based delivery. - Experience in Engagement / Pre-sales activities, including contributing to client proposals and SOW development, is nice to have. - Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with excellent problem-solving, decision-making, conflict management, critical thinking, and the ability to build and motivate high-performing teams. - Upper-Intermediate+ English with excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills. We offer*: - Flexible working format - remote, office-based or flexible - A competitive salary and good compensation package - Personalized career growth - Professional development tools (mentorship program, tech talks and trainings, centers of excellence, and more) - Active tech communities with regular knowledge sharing - Education reimbursement - Memorable anniversary presents - Corporate events and team buildings - Other location-specific benefits *not applicable for freelancers