Enlighten is seeking an experienced and mission-focused Senior Technical Program Manager (TPM) to drive the day-to-day execution and delivery of our next-generation Data Lakehouse platform—a system that empowers Department of War (DoW) cyber operators with unparalleled data access and analytical capabilities at massive scale.

In this role, you are the connective tissue across our Application, Data, and Infrastructure engineering teams, responsible for turning a prioritized roadmap into shipped, deployed, and accredited software on a predictable cadence. You will own the release train end to end—managing cross-team dependencies, schedules, risk, and communication—so that complex, interdependent components come together into a cohesive product our nation's cyber defenders can depend on. You are the single-threaded owner for platform delivery—leading through influence, earning trust across teams you do not directly manage, and freeing engineering and QA leadership to stay focused on architecture, quality, and the platform's future direction.

You will partner closely with Product Owners, engineering leads, QA, and operations, and communicate release contents and delivery timelines directly to government stakeholders. Product vision, roadmap, and prioritization remain with Product Owners and engineering leadership; you own the execution machinery—backlog to build to release—that turns those priorities into shipped, validated software. Work is performed in a hybrid environment with some onsite work 1-2 days a week in Columbia, MD, with occasional travel (up to 10%, CONUS and OCONUS) to represent the platform at customer and industry events.

#LI-DW2 #Executive

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Program Execution: Drive the platform delivery cadence—monthly sprints and quarterly releases—across all engineering teams. Translate the roadmap into milestone-driven delivery plans.
• Roadmap Operationalization: Partner with Product Owners to convert roadmap priorities into sprint-ready backlog items with clear acceptance criteria. Manage intake mechanics and track feature validation.
• Release Management: Orchestrate the end-to-end release process from code-complete to deployment. Coordinate with QA/Release engineering to drive integration testing and go/no-go readiness decisions.
• Cross-Team Dependencies: Map and sequence interdependencies between engineering teams. Actively unblock components to ensure clean integration and minimize schedule slips.
• Risk & Blocker Mitigation: Maintain a risk register for schedule, technical, and security risks. Surface issues early and drive path-to-resolution escalations.
• Financial Monitoring: Track program budget, burn rates, and forecasts. Ensure financial and schedule risks are managed as a single picture.
• Security Authorization: Shepherd artifacts through customer security scanning and authorization (RMF/ATO) to keep accreditation off the critical path.
• Program Communication: Establish reporting mechanisms, release notes, and sync cadences to keep engineering and government stakeholders aligned.
• Technical Deep-Dive: Understand platform architecture (Lakehouse, Kubernetes, IAM) to facilitate technical tradeoff discussions and assess integration risks.
• Stakeholder Representation: Act as the platform's voice to cyber stakeholders via release announcements and live demos. Ensure successful deployment across operating environments.
• Business Development Support: Contribute delivery plans and technical inputs to proposals. Deliver platform demonstrations that resonate with DoW requirements.
• Operational Excellence: Own triage for support and community requests. Partner with Product Owners to turn feedback into prioritized work while improving release processes.
• Metrics & Improvement: Define and track metrics for predictability, cycle time, and defect rates to drive continuous delivery improvements.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Clearance Requirement: Must obtain and maintain a Secret level U.S. Government Security Clearance, but not required on day one; U.S. Citizenship required.
• 6+ years in DoW cyber, agile software development, and/or big data with a B.A. in Business, a technical field, or related; 4 years relevant experience with a Master's in a related field; or High School Diploma or equivalent and 10 years relevant experience.
• 5+ years of experience in a Technical Program Manager, Program Manager, Delivery Lead, or equivalent role responsible for driving software delivery within an Agile development environment.
• Demonstrated success driving complex, multi-team software programs to completion—managing dependencies, schedules, risk, and cross-functional communication.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence rather than authority—setting direction, forcing decisions, and holding teams accountable without direct reporting lines.
• Demonstrated understanding of modern data architectures, including concepts like data lakes, data lakehouses, data warehousing, and big data technologies.
• Proven ability to work effectively with DoW or other Federal Government customers, with an understanding of their operational environment, procurement, and accreditation processes.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with a talent for making complex technical subjects accessible to varied audiences and for driving clarity across teams.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage many moving parts simultaneously.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability and willingness to travel occasionally (up to 10%, CONUS and OCONUS) to represent the platform at customer and industry events.
• Ability to work on site 1-2 days a week in Columbia, MD. Flexibility is essential to adapt to schedule changes as needed.

Preferred Requirements

• Current Clearances: Active Secret or Top Secret clearances are a strong plus.
• DoD 8140 / 8570 compliance certifications may be required in this position as directed by the customer.
• Program/project management or agile certifications.
• Professional experience within or adjacent to the cybersecurity domain (e.g., Security Operations Center (SOC), Cyber Threat Intelligence, Network Defense, Incident Response).
• Familiarity with cloud-native data platforms such as Databricks, Snowflake, or AWS/Azure data services, and with the container/Kubernetes ecosystem, CI/CD pipelines, and GitOps-based deployment.
• Experience shepherding software through DoW security authorization (RMF/ATO) or container hardening and vulnerability-scanning pipelines.
• Experience establishing a TPM function within an engineering organization—standing up program mechanisms where none existed and assuming delivery ownership from engineering leads.
• Experience working alongside Product Owners on backlog refinement, user-story mechanics, and acceptance-criteria validation in an Agile environment.
• Experience in a customer-facing technical role (e.g., Sales Engineer, Solutions Architect) within the GovCon IT space.
• Experience supporting program financial management (budget tracking, burn-rate monitoring, forecasting) and proposal development in a GovCon environment.
• A strong understanding of the data lifecycle within a typical cyber security context.