Principal Technical Program Manager - Developer Experience

Job Description

Principal Technical Program Manager - Developer Experience

Hybrid: This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to the Technical Innovation Center in Warren, MI three times per week, at minimum.

At General Motors, our product teams are redefining mobility. Through a human-centered design process, we create vehicles and experiences that are designed not just to be seen, but to be felt. We’re turning today’s impossible into tomorrow’s standard - from breakthrough hardware and battery systems to intuitive design, intelligent software, and next-generation safety and entertainment features.

Every day, our products move millions of people as we aim to make driving safer, smarter, and more connected, shaping the future of transportation on a global scale.

The Role

As the Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) for Developer Experience, you will be a strategic partner to the Director of Developer Experience, driving the enterprise-wide DevOps transformation at General Motors. This is a technical leadership role responsible for orchestrating the shift in how GM builds, secures, and ships software.

You will drive execution of the operational strategy for our developer platform, steward high-stakes vendor relationships, and support the cultural adoption of modern engineering practices. You will act as a force multiplier for the Developer Experience organization, translating technical vision into executed reality across thousands of engineers.

What You’ll Do

Operationalize Strategy & Execution

• Translate Vision to Roadmap: Partner with Engineering Directors and Architects to decompose high-level strategic goals (e.g., "Move to GitHub Enterprise," "Adopt AI Coding Assistants") into execution-ready program plans with clear milestones and dependencies.

• Drive Delivery Cadence: Establish and manage the operating rhythm of the DevEx organization. You will ensure that critical initiatives are tracking against 2026 targets, identifying blockers early and forcing decisions to keep momentum.

• Manage Complexity: Orchestrate complex, multi-quarter initiatives that touch every engineer at GM, ensuring minimal disruption while maximizing velocity.

Governance & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Broker Identity & Access Solutions: Drive resolution on complex structural challenges such as Enterprise Managed Users (EMU) and external collaborator access. You will facilitate the necessary alignment at the Director, Executive Director, and VP level between Cyber Security, Legal, and Engineering to codify access models that are both secure and frictionless.

• Streamline Policy: Work with compliance partners to shift governance left. You will support the transition from manual "gatekeeping" to automated "Policy as Code," ensuring safety without slowing down the developer loop.

Stewardship of Vendor Partnerships

• Optimize Commercial Value: Steward the strategic relationship with key partners, ensuring GM maximizes the ROI on its developer tool spend.

• Facilitate Emerging Tech Evaluation: Coordinate the evaluation lifecycle for new tools. You will ensure that pilots are structured effectively to yield clear data on productivity and security impact.

Cultural Transformation & Enablement

• Accelerate Adoption: Support the organizational change management required for DevOps success. You will help design and implement engagement models (InnerSource, Community of Practice) that encourage teams to adopt modern standards voluntarily.

• Scale Knowledge: Oversee the strategy for developer documentation and "paved road" templates, ensuring that the "right way" to build software at GM is also the easiest way.

Performance Measurement & Value Realization

• Establish the Metric Framework: Drive the implementation of engineering efficiency standards (DORA metrics) and developer satisfaction signals (SPACE framework).

• Surface Productivity Insights: Gather and synthesize data to answer "How much faster are we?" and present these findings to leadership to justify future investment.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Strategic Program Leadership: 10+ years of experience leading technical programs, with a focus on DevOps, Cloud, or Platform Engineering.

• Education: BS or MS degree in an Engineering-related discipline, or equivalent experience.

• Force Multiplier Mindset: Proven ability to act as a "Chief of Staff