Lead IT Program Manager

Klaviyo | Marketing technology

2h 40m ago

On-site

Full Time

United States of America

$132k - $198k USD/yr

Title: Lead IT Program Manager Location: Boston, MA

At Klaviyo, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives each Klaviyo (we call ourselves Klaviyos) brings to our workplace each and every day. We believe everyone deserves a fair shot at success and appreciate the experiences each person brings beyond the traditional job requirements. If you’re a close but not exact match with the description, we hope you’ll still consider applying. Want to learn more about life at Klaviyo? Visit klaviyo.com/careers to see how we empower creators to own their own destiny.

About the team

Klaviyo's Corporate IT team, part of Global Technology Solutions (GTS), provides technology systems, administration, and support to Klaviyos worldwide. Our goal is to give every Klaviyo a strong technology foundation to do great work. We solve problems with technology, embrace automation and AI, and support Klaviyo's continued scalability in a rapidly evolving environment.

Corporate IT brings together IT Support (SearchBar), IT Systems, IT Network, and IT Strategy & Operations. Our team works with modern DevOps practices and is moving toward configuration as code, infrastructure as code, and automating everything it can. The IT Strategy & Operations team develops and refines our work management systems, drives organizational change, coordinates cross-functional programs, and aligns Corporate IT initiatives with the broader GTS vision, working closely with every Corporate IT team, Information Security, and the broader Klaviyo organization.

About the role

As a Lead IT Program Manager, you will be the operational backbone of Corporate IT. You will deliver our largest cross-functional initiatives, own how we plan and prioritize our portfolio, run our OKR process, and make the team run better through consistent Agile practices, continuous process improvement, and strong vendor management. You are AI-first in how you work: you use AI every day to move faster and help the teams around you do the same. You will report to the Director of Corporate IT and partner with IT leaders, Engineering, Security, Finance, Procurement, Legal, and Business Operations.

How you'll have an impact

Lead our largest strategic initiatives

Own end-to-end delivery of key, large-scale, cross-functional programs across IT Support, IT Systems, and IT Network: scope, plan, coordinate supporting teams, track progress, and adjust schedule and resourcing to meet business objectives.
Partner with IT Systems on programs that use DevOps practices such as infrastructure as code and automation, understanding the concepts well enough to plan realistically, spot risks, and represent the work to leadership.
Perform risk analysis, build contingency plans, and proactively raise critical issues so leaders can make timely prioritization and trade-off decisions.
Establish success metrics for each program and report on adoption, delivery, and business impact.
Lead vendor evaluation and selection: gather requirements, run RFI/RFP processes, define scoring criteria, coordinate demos and proofs of concept, and make build-vs-buy recommendations.
Work with Procurement, Accounting, Security and Legal to manage program budgets and contingencies.

Own OKRs and contribute to IT strategy

Partner with the Director of Corporate IT to establish quarterly objectives and key results (OKRs) for Corporate IT, aligned with GTS and company goals.
Run the quarterly OKR cadence: drafting and alignment with team leads, regular check-ins, scoring, and retrospectives.
Track and report progress on OKRs to Corporate IT and GTS leadership, highlighting what is on track, at risk, and needs a decision.
Support strategic planning, including roadmaps, annual and quarterly planning cycles, and leadership and cross-functional communications.

Own and optimize the IT portfolio

Partner with IT leadership to manage and influence the backlog: project selection, intake, prioritization, and a healthy pipeline of future work.
Lead and grow the portfolio structure in Linear so every project traces back to an OKR or strategic opportunity.
Lead capacity planning across Corporate IT and analyze trends across projects, tying work back to goals.

Mature Agile practices and Drive process improvements

Own Agile ways of working across Corporate IT: define and align practices for planning, sprint and Kanban cadences, estimation, backlog refinement, retrospectives, and definition of done.
Coach teams and leads on Agile principles, tailoring practices to each team's type of work (project, operations, and support) rather than imposing one model.
Help drive our migration from Jira to Linear, and configure and evolve workflows, views, and metrics (velocity, cycle time, throughput) so teams and leaders have a consistent, trustworthy view of work.
Lead improvement initiatives from idea to adoption, including documentation, change management, and measuring results.

Lead with AI

Use AI daily to run programs: drafting plans and status reports, synthesizing meetings and decisions, analyzing portfolio and OKR data, and surfacing risks earlier.
Build AI-assisted and automated workflows for program operations, such as automated status reporting, backlog hygiene, intake triage, and OKR tracking, to remove manual work.
Champion AI adoption across Corporate IT processes: identify high-value use cases, pilot them with teams, and share playbooks for what works.
Model responsible use of AI, including privacy, security, and human-in-the-loop review.

What we're looking for

6+ years of experience in program or project management, operational leadership, or strategic consulting, ideally in IT, infrastructure, or technical environments.
Proven, hands-on experience implementing and coaching Agile practices (Scrum, Kanban) across multiple teams, with the judgment to adapt them pragmatically to different kinds of work.
Experience establishing, running, and reporting on OKRs or a similar goal-setting framework with senior leaders.
Track record of leading process improvement: diagnosing inefficiencies, redesigning workflows, and driving adoption.
Experience scoping, planning, and delivering large, multi-team technical programs, including programs with budgets over $1M and close work with finance and procurement.
Working understanding of DevOps and CI/CD concepts (such as infrastructure as code and automated deployments) and how they shape planning and delivery. Hands-on experience is not required.
Experience leading vendor evaluations and RFP processes, through contract and performance management.
AI-native way of working: you use AI tools (LLM assistants, AI search, agents) every day and can show concrete examples of how they changed how you plan, communicate, and deliver.
Experience building AI-assisted workflows or automations (for example, prompts, agents, or low-code automation) to remove manual work for yourself and your teams.
Excellent communicator who balances persuasiveness with active listening, and can tailor messaging from engineers to executives.
Comfortable with ambiguity: you can lead cross-functional work with loosely defined plans and objectives, shift priorities, and bring others along.
Strong hands-on experience with a modern Agile work management tool (Linear, Jira, or similar). Linear experience is a plus.

Nice to have

PMP, Agile (PMI-ACP, CSM, SAFe), or Lean/process improvement certification.
Experience with enterprise SaaS ecosystems (Okta, Slack, Workday, Jamf), network programs, or security and compliance programs.
Familiarity with low-code automation or workflow tools.
Experience mentoring or informally leading other project managers.

Massachusetts Applicants:
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Our salary range reflects the cost of labor across various U.S. geographic markets. The range displayed below reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all our US locations. The base salary offered for this position is determined by several factors, including the applicant’s job-related skills, relevant experience, education or training, and work location.

In addition to base salary, our total compensation package may include participation in the company’s annual cash bonus plan, variable compensation (OTE) for sales and customer success roles, equity, sign-on payments, and a comprehensive range of health, welfare, and wellbeing benefits based on eligibility.

Your recruiter can provide more details about the specific salary/OTE range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Base Pay Range For US Locations:

$132,000—$198,000 USD

This role may require up to 10% travel for purposes such as new hire onboarding, client or partner work if applicable, team meetings, and industry events. Travel is coordinated in advance.

Get to Know Klaviyo

We’re Klaviyo (pronounced clay-vee-oh). We empower creators to own their destiny by making first-party data accessible and actionable like never before. We see limitless potential for the technology we’re developing to nurture personalized experiences in ecommerce and beyond. To reach our goals, we need our own crew of remarkable creators—ambitious and collaborative teammates who stay focused on our north star: delighting our customers. If you’re ready to do the best work of your career, where you’ll be welcomed as your whole self from day one and supported with generous benefits, we hope you’ll join us.

AI fluency at Klaviyo includes responsible use of AI (including privacy, security, bias awareness, and human-in-the-loop). We provide accommodations as needed.

By participating in Klaviyo’s interview process, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and will adhere to our Guidelines for using AI in the Klaviyo interview Process. For more information about how we process your personal data, see our Job Applicant Privacy Notice.

Klaviyo is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, color, religion or religious creed, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran or active military status, marital status, criminal record, genetics, retaliation, sexual harassment or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

By clicking "Submit Application" you consent to Klaviyo processing your Personal Data in accordance with our Job Applicant Privacy Notice. If you do not wish for Klaviyo to process your Personal Data, please do not submit an application. You can find our Job Applicant Privacy Notice here and here (FR).

Required Skills

jira

Required Languages

🇬🇧 English