Principal Program Manager, Rentals Transactions

About the team

Zillow Rentals is a key part of Zillow’s mission to make moving easier for everyone. Our team is building a vertically integrated marketplace that connects renters with property owners and managers, offering digital tools to help market properties, identify tenants, sign leases, and collect payments. As a high-growth, high-priority area for Zillow, Rentals is positioned to deliver significant impact across the company.

About the role

We’re looking for a Principal Program Manager to drive execution and governance across the Rentals transaction ecosystem. This role ensures the Rentals transaction experience scales safely, compliantly, and profitably - accelerating delivery without sacrificing rigor. You’ll be the connective tissue between product teams shipping transactional capabilities and the functions that keep us compliant, auditable, and financially sound. You’ll establish program structures, decision frameworks, and operating rhythms that create clarity, reduce risk, and sustain velocity. This is a high-trust, high-visibility role that requires strong systems thinking, exceptional communication, and the ability to influence senior leaders without direct authority.

In this role you will:  

• Lead cross-functional execution for key transaction initiatives — ensuring clarity of scope, ownership, and sequencing across Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Compliance.

• Build durable operating frameworks that govern how Rentals launches and scales transaction products — covering intake, risk assessment, approvals, and release readiness.

• Run the program rhythm — steering reviews, retrospectives, and milestone tracking that keep leadership aligned and issues visible early.

• Define program success metrics and use data to drive accountability and continuous improvement across multiple workstreams.

• Establish risk mitigation mechanisms (documentation, audit trails, escalation paths) to ensure our transactional systems remain compliant and trusted.

• Coach and enable peers in applying programmatic discipline — scaling execution maturity beyond your immediate scope.

• Act independently and operate in a senior capacity with limited oversight 

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

In California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $153,600.00 - $245,400.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations. In Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont the standard base pay range for this role is $145,900.00 - $233,100.00 annually. The base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.

In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

Who you are

You’re a synthesizer — able to map ambiguity into structure and move complex systems toward outcomes. You thrive at the intersection of product velocity and organizational accountability.

You bring:

• 10+ years leading cross-functional programs in technology or operations, ideally involving payments, compliance, or regulated workflows.

• Deep experience in program management, governance design, and stakeholder alignment across technical and non-technical domains.

• Exceptional communication skills — able to distill complex, multi-party issues into crisp narratives and decisions.

• High judgment in balancing speed and safety; you know when to escalate, and when to empower.

• A bias for systemization: you build playbooks and mechanisms that scale, not one-off heroics.

• Experience in real estate or transactional marketplaces is a plus, but not required.

Get to know us

At Zillow, we’re reimagining how people move—through the real