Program Manager

Position Overview

Hyatt is seeking a Senior Enterprise Technology Program Manager to lead large-scale, enterprise-wide technology initiatives spanning multiple IT and business organizations. This role is responsible for the full lifecycle management of highly complex technology programs, ensuring successful planning, governance, execution, financial oversight, executive communication, and cross-functional collaboration.

This is a senior enterprise leadership role, not a Scrum Master, Project Coordinator, or Technical Lead position.

Role Focus

• 70% Leadership
• 20% Program & Project Management
• 10% Technical Understanding

Mandatory Requirements

Required Experience

• AI experience is mandatory.
• Hospitality industry experience is mandatory.
• Must be local to Chicago.
• Experience leading enterprise-scale technology programs.
• Functional leadership experience within large enterprise environments.

Required Tools

• Jira
• Confluence
• Smartsheets

Key Responsibilities

Executive Program Leadership

Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of highly complex enterprise technology programs involving multiple IT and business organizations.

Program ownership includes managing several interconnected projects under a single enterprise initiative.

Example Program

Global Hotel Reservation Modernization

Projects may include:

• PMS Integration
• CRS Upgrade
• Mobile Check-In
• Loyalty Integration
• Data Warehouse
• Revenue Management
• Payment Modernization

The Program Manager owns the complete program—not individual projects.

Executive Communication

Serve as the primary liaison between technology teams and executive leadership.

Regularly communicate with:

• CIO
• CTO
• CFO
• VP Engineering
• Business Presidents

Responsibilities include:

• Executive presentations
• Steering Committee updates
• Executive summaries
• Written communications
• Strategic recommendations
• Status reporting

This role requires leading executive conversations—not simply attending meetings.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Coordinate multiple enterprise teams simultaneously, including:

• Engineering
• Architecture
• Security
• Infrastructure
• Business
• Finance
• Operations
• Vendors
• Consultants
• QA
• Support
• Legal
• Compliance

Drive alignment across business and technology organizations while ensuring program success.

Enterprise Roadmap Management

Develop and maintain enterprise-level roadmaps across multiple related initiatives.

Roadmaps should include:

• Multiple concurrent projects
• Cross-functional dependencies
• Milestones
• Resource allocation
• Budget planning
• Executive reporting
• Risk tracking

Example

Enterprise Roadmap – Q1

• Project A
• Project B
• Project C

Supporting Elements:

• Dependencies
• Risks
• Milestones
• Resource Allocation
• Budget
• Executive Reporting

Dependency Management

Manage enterprise-wide dependencies across projects and workstreams.

Continuously evaluate impacts such as:

• Schedule changes
• Testing delays
• Production readiness
• Vendor timelines
• Funding impacts
• Resource availability

Risk Management

Proactively identify and mitigate risks before they impact program delivery.

Responsibilities include:

• Risk identification
• Risk assessment
• Mitigation planning
• Escalation management
• Contingency planning

Expectation: identify issues well before they become business-critical.

Financial Ownership

Manage the financial health of enterprise programs.

Responsibilities include:

• Project financial management
• Budget planning
• Budget recommendations
• Financial forecasting
• Resource planning
• Staffing acquisition

Experience managing:

• Multi-million-dollar budgets
• Vendor contracts
• Consultant spend
• Headcount planning
• Burn rate forecasting

Resource Planning

Plan and optimize resources across multiple enterprise workstreams.

Typical resources include:

• Engineers
• Analysts
• Architects
• Vendor resources
• Contractors
• Business SMEs

Balance workloads while maximizing productivity and minimizing resource burnout.

Executive Reporting & Governance

Develop executive-level governance artifacts, including:

• Executive dashboards
• Status reports
• Roadmaps
• Budget reports
• Risk reports
• Executive summaries
• Weekly Steering Committee decks
• PowerPoint presentations

Provide leadership with accurate visibility into program health and progress.

Technical Knowledge

Candidates should possess sufficient technical understanding to effectively partner with engineering teams.

Areas of familiarity include:

• Infrastructure
• Cloud
• Enterprise Applications
• ERP
• Integrations
• Security
• APIs
• Data Platforms
• Vendor Systems

Hands-on development is not required. The expectation is to understand technology well enough to ask informed questions and support technical decision-making.

Leadership Competencies

Political Savvy

Ability to navigate:

• Difficult executive stakeholders
• Competing priorities
• Conflicting departmental objectives

while maintaining alignment and driving successful outcomes.

Conflict Resolution

Experience resolving conflicts involving:

• Engineering vs. QA
• Business vs. IT
• Vendors vs. Infrastructure

Maintain collaboration and keep enterprise programs moving forward.

Influence Without Authority

Demonstrated ability to influence:

• Engineering
• Architecture
• Security
• Business Leadership

Strong collaboration, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills are essential.

Preferred Tools & Software

• Microsoft Project
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• SharePoint
• Smartsheet
• Jira
• Confluence
• Microsoft Visio
• Microsoft Teams

Preferred Industry Background

Hospitality

• Marriott
• Hilton
• Hyatt
• IHG

Consulting

• Accenture
• Deloitte
• PwC
• KPMG
• IBM Consulting
• Cognizant
• Infosys
• Capgemini

Enterprise Technology

• Oracle
• SAP
• Microsoft

Corporate Environment

• Fortune 500 Internal PMO Organizations

Ideal Candidate Profile

A successful candidate will have:

• 10–15+ years leading enterprise IT programs.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects within large enterprise programs.
• Regular interaction with CIOs, CTOs, VPs, and Executive Steering Committees.
• Ownership of multi-million-dollar budgets and vendor relationships.
• Strong expertise in risk management, dependency management, and resource planning.
• Experience developing executive dashboards and governance frameworks.
• Expertise using Microsoft Project for enterprise program management.
• Experience leading enterprise technology transformation initiatives, including:
• Cloud Migrations
• ERP Implementations
• CRM Implementations
• HRIS Implementations
• PMS Deployments
• CRS Deployments
• Cybersecurity Programs
• Digital Modernization Initiatives

What Hyatt Is Looking For

Hyatt is seeking a leader who can:

• Lead multiple interconnected enterprise technology initiatives simultaneously.
• Coordinate large cross-functional teams across IT and business organizations.
• Build and execute enterprise program roadmaps.
• Manage enterprise budgets, risks, dependencies, and resources.
• Deliver executive-level governance and reporting.
• Influence stakeholders across the organization.
• Successfully deliver complex enterprise technology programs on time and within budget.

Technical Considerations

Deep technical expertise is beneficial for credibility but is not the primary hiring criterion.

The following are not key evaluation areas:

• Python
• Java
• AWS
• Azure
• AI
• Machine Learning
• Coding
• Data Science

The expectation is to possess sufficient technical knowledge to effectively manage engineering organizations—not to build technical solutions.

Position Summary

This is a Senior Enterprise Technology Program Manager position focused on enterprise leadership, governance, planning, execution, and stakeholder management. The successful candidate will orchestrate complex, multi-workstream technology programs, align business and IT organizations, manage budgets and dependencies, communicate effectively with executive leadership, and drive successful enterprise technology transformation initiatives across Hyatt.