Senior Strategic Program Manager

This role is based at our corporate office in McLean, VA

The Senior Strategic Program Manager plays a pivotal role in enabling Hilton's Marketing & Loyalty organization to operationalize high priority strategies into coordinated, measurable business outcomes.

This role leads complex strategic programs that may include new launches, enterprise partnerships, Hilton Honors experiences, global marketing initiatives, and other business-critical priorities.

Reporting to the Director, Global Marketing Strategy, Operations & Program Management, this role operates with broad influence, partnering closely with executive sponsors and leaders across Hilton's Marketing & Loyalty organization and the broader enterprise.

In a highly matrixed global environment spanning functional teams, business units, trading brands, regions, and external partners, this role serves as a senior integrator from program definition through launch, stabilization, and transition.

The Senior Strategic Program Manager brings structure to ambiguity, aligns stakeholders around shared outcomes and decisions, and establishes the governance and execution discipline required to deliver with speed, quality, and accountability.

during a typical day:

• Lead the end-to-end orchestration of complex, high-priority programs across Marketing & Loyalty and the broader enterprise, including new brand launches, strategic partnerships, Hilton Honors experiences, cross-regional initiatives, and other enterprise priorities.
• Translate business strategy and leadership direction into clear program charters, objectives, scope, success measures, integrated roadmaps, and executable workplans.
• Act as a senior integrator across brand, marketing, loyalty, partnerships, regional marketing, commercial, digital, creative, media, analytics, technology, finance and external partners.
• Establish effective program governance, including roles and responsibilities, decision rights, workstream accountabilities, milestone plans, operating cadences, and escalation paths.
• Manage critical paths, cross-workstream dependencies, resources, risks, issues, changes, and trade-offs; surface implications early and drive resolution.
• Lead cross-functional working sessions, leadership reviews, steering committees, and launch-readiness forums that convert discussion into clear decisions, owners, and actions.
• Balance enterprise objectives and standards with brand, regional, market, and partner needs, ensuring coordinated sequencing, localization, adoption, and execution readiness.
• Identify systemic gaps in ways of working and lead improvements to program management processes, operating models, playbooks, tools, and collaboration practices.

How you'll collaborate with others:

• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive sponsors and senior leaders, providing concise, decision-oriented communication on program health, risks, trade-offs, options, and recommendations.
• Build alignment and shared accountability across diverse teams and influence outcomes without direct authority.
• Facilitate high priority and ambiguous conversations with experience to move teams from complexity to clarity.
• Partner with functional, brand, regional, business, and external partner leaders to ensure plans are integrated, commitments are realistic, and operational plans can be adopted and sustained.

Projects you'll take ownership of:

• A varied portfolio of strategic programs spanning key enterprise priorities. Program framing and mobilization, including charters, stakeholder maps, governance models, workstream structures, success measures, and responsibility matrices.
• Integrated program roadmaps and detailed plans, including milestones, dependencies, critical paths, resource assumptions, risk and issue logs, decision logs, and change control.
• Weekly, monthly, and quarterly program updates, executive briefings, steering committee materials, and decision papers tailored to different levels of the organization.
• Cross-functional kickoffs, operating cadences, workstream reviews, leadership forums, and escalation mechanisms that maintain momentum and accountability.
• Launch and implementation readiness, including integrated readiness plans, testing and validation, contingency planning, stakeholder communications, and transition to business owners.
• Post-launch stabilization and program closeout, including outcome measurement, lessons learned, benefit realization, knowledge transfer, and reusable playbooks.
• Adoption of AI-enabled tools and modern program management methodologies to improve planning, synthesis, risk identification, decision support, and operational effectiveness.

What It Takes to Make the Stay

You have these minimum qualifications:

• Seven (7) years of professional experience in strategic program management, business operations, strategy, consulting, marketing, loyalty, or a related discipline.
• Four (4) years of experience leading complex, cross-functional programs from strategy through implementation in a large, global, matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated expertise translating strategy into structured execution and measurable outcomes, with strong command of scope, schedule, governance, risk, issue, decision, and change management.
• Experience synthesizing complex information into concise updates, decision points, trade-offs, and recommendations.
• Exceptional stakeholder leadership and influence across functions, brands, regions, partners, and organizational levels.
• Broad business and marketing acumen, with working knowledge of brand, loyalty and customer experience, partnerships, digital, media, analytics, technology, commercial functions, and regional activation.
• Travel up to 5%.

It would be useful if you have:

• Experience in hospitality, travel, consumer services, loyalty programs, new brand launches, or strategic partnerships.
• Experience in management consulting, enterprise transformation, strategy execution, or a strategic program management office.
• PMP, Agile, Prosci, or comparable program, project, or change management certification.
• Experience understanding business cases, managing investment and resource assumptions, and connecting program delivery to business value.
• Experience leading global programs and navigating regional or market-specific requirements, operating models, and stakeholder dynamics.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling program governance, operating cadences, playbooks, or enterprise ways of working.
• Fluency with modern program management and collaboration tools and the use of data to create transparency, accountability, and insight.
• Experience applying AI tools and methodologies to improve planning, research, synthesis and productivity.

At Hilton, the hospitality we're known for doesn't end with our guests.

We proudly invest in our Team Members' wellbeing, supporting you through all of life's moments.

When you join Hilton, our exceptional care extends to you with unmatched perks and benefits, including:

• Incredible travel perks – Enjoy 110 nights of deeply discounted travel, with room rates as low as $40/night at our world-class hotels through our Go Hilton travel program
• Own a piece of Hilton – Through our employee stock purchase program (ESPP), you can invest in Hilton shares at a 15% discount to help build your financial future
• Paid parental leave – Because family matters. We offer paid leave for eligible Team Members, including partners and adoptive parents
• Personalized caregiving support – Access dedicated caregiving concierge services to help navigate caregiving for yourself and your loved ones
• Crisis concierge – In times of loss, our Crisis Concierge offers a single, compassionate point of contact for both practical support and emotional care
• Mental health resources – Your wellbeing comes first. Eligible Team Members can access free counseling and support through our best-in-class Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous paid time off (PTO) – Recharge, relax, and take time for what matters most
• Health & welfare benefits – From checkups to dental cleanings to new glasses, we offer a variety of health plans that keep you and your family covered
• Financial security for your future – Our retirement plans make it easier to save for what's next

Benefits availability may vary depending on Team Member's location as well as terms and conditions of employment and are subject to the terms and conditions of each specific program/plan.

Hilton offers its eligible team members a comprehensive benefits package to support their mental and physical well-being, so they can Thrive personally and professionally.

The pay range for this role is $100,000 – $145,000 and is determined based on applicable and specialized experience and location.

Subject to plan terms and conditions, you will be eligible to participate in the Hilton Annual Incentive (Bonus) Plan, consistent with other team members at the same level and/or position within the Company.