Program Manager

Job Summary:

Program Manager

Location: London (hybrid)

Division: Ticketmaster

Contract Terms: Permanent, 40 hours per week

THE TEAM

At Ticketmaster, we're at the start of an amazing new chapter to unify and innovate the ticketing experience for both our fans and clients. As the thrill of live events has returned, we’re charting new courses across our global product portfolio helping billion+ fans and clients all over the world access and manage the magic of live entertainment they love and help them make unforgettable memories.

To better operationalize our global product design teams and to help build a tight-knit Design culture, we're looking for an experienced and confident Program Manager. As our first ever design ops manager, you will collaborate closely with the Design Leadership and our product teams across Marketplace, Sports, and Enterprise orgs worldwide to shape our new future and embark on this exciting journey with us.

THE JOB

As Program Manager, you’ll partner with the Design Leadership and Product, Engineering and PMO peers to foster the people, practices, and processes that drive a healthy design and product development organization.

The scope of Design Operations includes three key areas:

• Project Management: Intake, problem-solving frameworks, prioritization matrix, capacity modeling, project plans, cross functional alignment, dependency management, project management, weekly reporting, stakeholder management, etc. for programs that cut across all the Global Design teams.
• Team & Culture: Onboarding, departmental documents, learning and development, centralized governance model, cross-product communications/process alignment/knowledge shares/collaborations, team-building activities/ceremonies/practices, surveys and team pulse management, centralized recruitment, remote worker culture, etc.
• Design Operations: Project intake process, design software toolkit & knowledge base, global design project management tool and workflows, vendors & tooling evaluation and management, agency SOWs, budget proposals, etc.

Your main objective will be on centralizing these shared responsibilities and establishing appropriate tooling, processes, and measures globally so that designers can get the runway and support they need to focus on designing and researching in their respective areas.

You will continually help us improve how we work together, how we get work done and how our work builds impact — driving both culture and process to raise our design maturity. You will be essential in helping us build and/or evolve programs that engage and develop our teams, enable our teams to deliver best product design and user experiences possible across all verticals.

You'll play a key role amplifying design's value and impact at scale. You’ll help us find new ways for our Global Design group to connect with the wider TM community as well as external design & tech communities in meaningful ways.

This is a new and exciting role within our organization. As such, you will have the opportunity to shape, build and grow this new function and team from ground up. In addition to adding your own footprint to the history of our group, you will also guide, influence, and coach your own team members to achieve their own excellence.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

Design Program Management, Strategic Planning and Alignment

• Work with Design Leadership team to define, prioritize and drive cross-portfolio program planning, impact measurement, budget programming, capacity planning, headcount forecasting, etc.
• Ensure all internal and externally sourced design projects are project managed and on track for success. Liaise with appropriate team leads and PMO teams to ensure proper and consistent communications and processes are in place.
• Evaluate & implement appropriate tooling and processes to provide clear and consistent communication and visibility of all project and team statuses to Design leadership, Product and PMO counterparts (via direct comms or shared tools)
• Work with teams and business partners to capture & provide key result metrics.
• Build and maintain alignment and close working relationships with PMO
• Be responsible for Global Design Weekly Reports (sourcing content, editing and communicating across all stakeholder group)

Culture Building

• Track the employee pulse surveys and conduct on-going “betterment” workshops to identify and invest in high-priority global design org improvements and tailor solutions for each product design team’s configuration and culture.
• Identify remote and local team ceremonies to engage, inspire, and support our designers and make them feel part of a bigger design mission and values.
• Enable HR learning & development programs as well as tailored manager coaching programs for continued personal learning and development in hard and soft skills, for both upward and lateral growth.
• Improve the Design Team's value and impact, by providing hands on tactical support in areas including (but not limited to):
  • Crafting environments and sessions that enable effective communication
  • Design hackathons, tutorials and presentations that inspire creativity, collaboration and communication skills
  • Facilitating design quality through consistent evaluation of industry leading toolsets and processes. Help organize vendor evaluations and costings, liaise with IT/Finance/Legal/Design Team & Leadership to implement integration.

Design Operations

• Support Director of Product Design – Core Services and contribute to the success of establishing and developing this new internal services team
• Bring agility to the Global Design organization through centralized tools, systems and services that enhance visibility, speed and quality of product design, research, and solution delivery.
• Help drive governance processes and communication for Design Leadership in ongoing staff meetings, portfolio oversight, process improvements, metrics/budget tracking, etc.
• Rollout new project management tool and workflow management based on needs for entire product design org (Marketplace, Sports, Enterprise).
• Manage and evolve our standards for hiring and recruitment, staff onboarding, employee engagement, performance management, talent management, and succession planning.
• Work closely with the Design Leadership and line managers to keep us on track for our hiring, onboarding, training, performance evaluation, and career development cycles regularly for design team members — ensuring effective, human-centric hiring, onboarding and personal development practices.
• Execute organization, logistics, and execution of team meetings, conferences, gatherings, external events, etc.
• Assist with tracking maturity and identifying opportunities across capabilities, community, culture and craft
• Update appropriate content Design.TM.Com, our departmental portal for internal and external knowledge and collateral sharing, marketing and recruitment.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in design, operations management, or a related field
• Proven years of experience in managing design teams or projects in an agile environment
• A solid understanding of design processes, methods, tools, and best practices
• Acute and evolving awareness of Design Ops practices as well as Product Design organizations across the industry
• Experience working within global/enterprise-scale or matrixed Product Design and Product Development organizations
• Familiarity working in a fast-paced environment, navigating complexity to deliver valuable outcomes
• Familiarity with agile and traditional product and project management methodologies / principles / practices and the know how to deploy them at relevant contexts;
• Experience working on improvement programs and supporting operational processes
• Working with a broad range of business partners
• Experience with tools such as Jira, Confluence, Asana, Monday, Notion, etc.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, negotiation, and problem-solving skills
• A strong sense of organization and structured, system-based thinking
• A passion for building and nurturing a positive and inclusive team culture

YOU (BEHAVIOURAL REQUIREMENTS)

The following attributes determine how the role will be carried out and are required to be a success:

• Strategic - Strong analytical thinking, strategic problem-solving frameworks, and action-oriented game plans.
• Analytical – System and process-oriented mindset to help scale programs widely and effectively
• Entrepreneurial – Comfortable wearing multiple hats, self-starting, multi-tasking, connecting dots, and diving deep.
• Communication - Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills .
• Timely – Clear expectation setting with stakeholders and time management with team that lead to small to big impact in short turnarounds.
• Integrity - Precision and unyielding desire for excellence
• Collaborative – Experienced collaborating in mixed methodology operations horizontally across design, engineering and business environments and vertically across executive sponsors, program stakeholders, and working teams.
• Approachable – Strong advocate and cheerleader of the design community and culture with clear pulse on designer needs and wishes.

LIFE AT TICKETMASTER

We are proud to be a part of Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s largest live entertainment company.

Our vision at Ticketmaster is to connect people around the world to the live events they love. As the world’s largest ticket marketplace and the leading global provider of enterprise tools and services for the live entertainment business, we are uniquely positioned to successfully deliver on that vision. 

We do it all with an intense passion for Live and an inspiring and diverse culture driven by accessible leaders, attentive managers, and enthusiastic teams. If you’re passionate about live entertainment like we are, and you want to work at a company dedicated to helping millions of fans experience it, we want to hear from you.

Our work is guided by our values:

Reliability - We understand that fans and clients rely on us to power their live event experiences, and we rely on each other to make it happen.

Teamwork - We believe individual achievement pales in comparison to the level of success that can be achieved by a team

Integrity - We are committed to the highest moral and ethical standards on behalf of the countless partners and stakeholders we represent

Belonging - We are committed to building a culture in which all people can be their authentic selves, have an equal voice and opportunities to thrive

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

We are passionate and committed to our people and go beyond the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion. You will be working in an inclusive environment and be encouraged to bring your whole self to work. We will do all that we can to help you successfully balance your work and homelife. As a growing business we will encourage you to develop your professional and personal aspirations, enjoy new experiences, and learn from the talented people you will be working with. It's talent that matters to us and we encourage applications from people irrespective of their gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability status or caring responsibilities. #LI-JCK #LI-Hybrid