Senior Program Manager

Job Overview

We’re looking for a Program Manager who blends organizational change management with employee engagement and internal communications. This role ensures teams not only understand what’s changing and why, but also feel connected, energized, recognized, informed, and motivated.

You’ll partner closely with senior leaders and cross‑functional teams to drive adoption of key initiatives, strengthen executive sponsorship, and build a consistent change framework. At the same time, you’ll create the engagement “glue” that sustains morale, through strong communications, meaningful rituals, and feedback loops that help leaders keep a pulse on the team.

• Senior Program Manager (Contract)
• Location:
  
  San Jose, CA 95110 (Hybrid)
• Duration: 2/16/2026 to 2/15/2027
• Team:
  Gen Studio Mgmt

• We’re looking for a Program Manager who blends organizational change management with employee engagement and internal communications. This role ensures teams not only understand what’s changing and why, but also feel connected, energized, recognized, informed, and motivated.
• You’ll partner closely with senior leaders and cross‑functional teams to drive adoption of key initiatives, strengthen executive sponsorship, and build a consistent change framework. At the same time, you’ll create the engagement “glue” that sustains morale, through strong communications, meaningful rituals, and feedback loops that help leaders keep a pulse on the team.

• Lead change strategy and execution for priority initiatives, including readiness, adoption, reinforcement, and measurement.
• Build and scale a simple, repeatable change framework leaders can use consistently.
• Strengthen executive sponsorship: align leaders on narrative, behaviors, and communication cadence.
• Create practical enablement (toolkits, talking points, FAQs, manager guides) that makes change easier to lead locally.
• Identify risks and resistance early; design mitigations, feedback loops, and reinforcement plans.

• Develop clear, compelling messaging that connects strategy to day‑to‑day work.
• Own communication planning for program rollouts.
• Draft and orchestrate executive communications (updates, all‑hands content, and more).
• Translate complexity into “what this means for me” guidance for employees and people managers.

• Design and run engagement rhythms that improve morale and connection (recognition moments, celebrations, community rituals).
• Create lightweight programs that help the team feel recognized (e.g., team shout‑outs, wins of the week, milestones/birthdays, team traditions).
• Launch and sustain grassroots community initiatives (e.g., interest groups like a Thursday run club) that build belonging.
• Partner with managers to strengthen team health, psychological safety, and connection during periods of change.

• Maintain an ongoing “pulse” of the org: gather sentiment via surveys, listening sessions, office hours, and other feedback channels.
• Analyze engagement and adoption signals: translate insights into recommendations and action plans.
• Share concise, actionable readouts to leaders and stakeholders to inform decisions and improve follow‑through.

• Leaders consistently and visibly sponsor change, and teams trust the message.
• The team understands what’s changing, why it matters, and what’s expected of them.
• High adoption and follow‑through on key initiatives, with reduced confusion and change fatigue.
• Engagement improves: people feel recognized, energized, connected, and informed.
• A consistent change approach is adopted across teams, with reusable assets and strong manager enablement.

• Executive leaders and chiefs of staff / business operations
• People managers across the org
• Internal communications / employee experience / HRBPs
• Program and product leaders driving strategic initiatives.

• 8–12+ years in change management, internal communications, employee engagement, or related roles (or equivalent experience)
• Proven track record leading complex change programs with measurable adoption outcomes.
• Strong executive communications skills (clear writer, strong narrative builder).
• Experience designing engagement rituals/programs that strengthen morale and connection.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity, influencing without authority, and managing multiple work streams.
• “Roll‑up‑your‑sleeves” operator who can build assets and run programs end‑to‑end.

• Program Management certification.
• Prosci/ACMP or similar change management training/certification.
• Experience in fast‑paced, start‑up like, matrixed environments with frequent org evolution.
• Experience with engagement measurement tools (pulse surveys, adoption metrics, comms analytics).

• $40.00 to $49.30 per hour.