Senior Principal, Technical Program Management (Research & Development)

Twilio is the world’s leading customer engagement platform empowering developers to build modern communication applications and experiences designed to be trusted, simple and smart. Twilio is looking for a Senior Principal Technical Program Manager to help direct a portfolio of strategic, complex, and multidisciplinary programs that significantly accelerate R&D's business impact. You'll set program strategy and lead program teams to successfully deliver business, operational, and technical improvements across Engineering & Product organizations.

As a trusted strategic advisor, you will play a critical role in driving alignment, setting priorities, and delivering high-impact programs that advance strategic initiatives. The Senior Principal, Technical Program Management is highly visible and requires a strong balance of strategic insight, execution excellence, and cross-functional leadership. You will navigate seamlessly between big-picture planning and hands-on delivery to ensure key initiatives move forward in a dynamic, scaled agile environment. You'll also be expected to adapt your program portfolio proactively in response to evolving business needs and organizational complexity. Your expertise in your domain areas is regarded as expert level and authoritative, both within R&D and across the company.

Experience: 12+ years of experience leading massive-scale technical programs in a high-growth, distributed systems and software engineering domain.

Strategic Technical Leadership: 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.

Systemic Execution Expertise: Expert-level mastery in defining execution strategies for programs with hundreds of engineers; you have a "spidey sense" for identifying integration risks and failure modes before they manifest.

Executive Influence: Exceptional ability to frame highly technical challenges into strategic business narratives, driving consensus among senior executives with competing priorities.

Architectural Fluency: Deep technical depth in cloud-scale infrastructure, API-first design, and distributed systems. Proven experience influencing Staff/Principal/Distinguished Engineers and challenging assumptions when necessary.

Operational Rigor: Demonstrated success in building and scaling operational readiness frameworks using self-service tools to surface status, actions, and KPIs across a multi-thousand-person R&D organization.

Mastery of Ambiguity: A proven track record of bringing order to chaos, creating high-functioning execution structures in environments where specifications, technologies, and market demands are in constant flux.

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related field or equivalent practical experience.

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.

We like to solve problems, take initiative, pitch in when needed, and are always up for trying new things. That's why we seek out colleagues who embody our values — something we call Twilio Magic . Additionally, we empower employees to build positive change in their communities by supporting their volunteering and donation efforts.

So, if you're ready to unleash your full potential, do your best work, and be the best version of yourself, apply now! If this role isn't what you're looking for, please consider other open positions.

Twilio is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Additionally, Twilio participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.