Senior Principal, Technical Program Management (Research & Development)

Responsibilities

• Orchestrate the technical strategy and multi-year roadmap for high-impact, cross-organizational technical programs that define the future of Twilio’s platforms. Manage systemic complexity and high-stakes risk while serving as the primary technical point of contact for SVPs and executive leadership on mission-critical programs.
• Architect the end-to-end execution framework, including global sequencing logic, multi-tier governance, architectural integration patterns, and enterprise-grade operational success metrics. Ensure the strategy accounts for technical debt retirement and long-term platform health.
• Orchestrate Cross-Portfolio Alignment: Own the master execution roadmap for complex, interdependent product suites. Identify and resolve structural misalignment between engineering roadmaps, surfacing high-stakes tradeoffs and resource reallocations to executive leadership.
• Partner deeply with lead engineers/architects to evaluate technical approaches, integration patterns, and operational risks; ensure plans reflect real system constraints, failure modes, and readiness requirements.
• Define Systems of Accountability: Establish the organizational "operating system" for high-stakes programs. Define the standards for how cross-functional teams interact, ensuring clear ownership across siloed domains when technical priorities conflict.
• Anticipate Ecosystem-Wide Impacts: Proactively identify "hidden" technical requirements across the platform (e.g., global security / compliance shifts, complex billing migrations, or observability gaps) and ensure they are integrated into the core technical design.
• Scale R&D Excellence: Design and institutionalize durable program frameworks and technical readiness standards that elevate the execution maturity of the entire global R&D organization. Build the playbooks that become the Twilio standard for large-scale engineering delivery.
• Force Multiplier & Mentor: Mentor to Principal TPMs and Engineering Leads. Raise the collective bar for technical risk management, executive storytelling, and high-velocity decision-making.

Qualifications

Required:

• 12+ years of experience leading massive-scale technical programs in a high-growth, distributed systems and software engineering domain.
• Proven ability to influence technical direction and architectural decisions at the VP/SVP level, with a track record of steering programs through complex technical pivots.
• Expert-level mastery in defining execution strategies for programs with hundreds of engineers; identify integration risks and failure modes.
• Exceptional ability to frame highly technical challenges into strategic business narratives, driving consensus among senior executives.
• Deep technical depth in cloud-scale infrastructure, API-first design, and distributed systems. Proven experience influencing Staff/Principal/Distinguished Engineers.
• Demonstrated success in building and scaling operational readiness frameworks using self-service tools to surface status, actions, and KPIs.
• Proven track record of bringing order to chaos in environments with constant flux.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related field or equivalent practical experience.

Desired:

• Master’s in computer science or engineering or a related field.
• 5+ years of technical program management at hyperscaler or Fortune 100 cloud software/infrastructure companies.
• Domain expertise in global-scale communications (Telephony, SMS, CPaaS) or high-throughput distributed platforms.
• Experience leading "company-bet" transformations, such as major cloud migrations or foundational platform re-architectures.

Compensation

Estimated pay ranges (for specific states):

• Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Vermont: $188,240 - $235,000
• Washington D.C., Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, California (outside SF Bay Area): $199,280 - $249,100
• New York, New Jersey, Washington State, San Francisco Bay Area, California: $221,360 - $276,700

Eligible for equity plan.