Senior R&D Program Manager

Senior R&D Program Manager - Cary, NC Hybrid

We’re a leader in data and AI. Through our software and services, we inspire customers around the world to transform data into intelligence - and questions into answers.

If you're looking for a dynamic, fulfilling career with flexibility and world‑class employee experience, you'll find it here. We're recognized around the world for our inclusive, meaningful culture and innovative technologies by organizations like Fast Company, Forbes, Newsweek and more.

The R&D Foundation Program and Project Management team is looking for a Senior R&D Program Manager to support Product Security efforts in our division. This is a critical role working in partnership with peers and leaders to maintain compliance with SAS product security policies, advance our overall security posture, and maintain alignment with corresponding resources across R&D. Our highly collaborative team enables SAS engineering teams to be at their best, maximize their results, innovate, and continuously improve their ability to execute efficiently.

As a Senior R&D Program Manager you will:

• Lead and coordinate cross‑functional product security programs across the Foundation Division, partnering with Product Security Architects, engineering teams, Project & Program Management, and leadership to drive secure product delivery.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Product Security, and Product Management to define priorities, align roadmaps, and execute security initiatives that reduce risk and support business objectives.
• Drive planning, execution, and delivery of security‑focused projects, balancing scope, schedule, resources, dependencies, and technical requirements across multiple teams.
• Facilitate communication, decision‑making, risk management, and issue resolution among stakeholders, proactively identifying obstacles and driving mitigation strategies.
• Partner with leadership to assess resource needs, manage program capacity, and coordinate efforts across domestic and international teams.
• Establish and maintain program governance, including roadmaps, project plans, project risk registers, remediation tracking, metrics, and executive status reporting.
• Serve as a central point of coordination across Product Security, Engineering, Legal, Compliance, Cloud Operations, and other key stakeholders to ensure alignment and successful execution.
• Leverage program management best practices, operational processes, and continuous improvement initiatives to increase the effectiveness, scalability, and predictability of product security efforts.
• Translate complex technical and security concepts into actionable plans, clear communications, and measurable outcomes for technical and executive audiences.

• Eight years of experience in a technical project management role.
• Bachelors in a quantitative field, preferably in Computer Science or a related discipline.
• Excellent competence in technical project management
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent negotiation and organizational abilities
• Excellent decision‑making ability
• Excellent risk management skills
• An equivalent combination of related education, training and experience may be considered in place of the above qualifications.

• Building Trusting Relationships:
  Building Trusting Relationships.
  
  Using appropriate interpersonal styles to establish effective relationships with customers and internal partners; interacting with others in a way that promotes openness and trust and gives them confidence in one’s intentions.
• Communication:
  Conveying information and ideas clearly and concisely to individuals or groups in an engaging manner that helps them understand and retain the message;…