Technical Program Manager III

Job Title: Technical Program Manager III Location: Bellevue, WA (Onsite) Type: Contractor Pay Rate: $87\.50/hr **Job Summary:** DataBricks’ R\&D Operations Organization is seeking a highly motivated and technically skilled Technical Program Manager (TPM III) to lead and oversee large\-scale data annotation programs that power cutting\-edge AI research initiatives. This role bridges program management, data operations, and AI/ML, ensuring annotation efforts are scalable, high\-quality, and aligned with research and product needs. **Key Responsibilities** * Program Ownership Lead large\-scale data annotation initiatives end\-to\-end—from requirements gathering, planning, and execution to delivery and post\-mortem analysis. * Cross\-Functional Collaboration Partner with AI Research leadership, data scientists, ML engineers, and product managers to define data needs, success metrics, and annotation guidelines. * Vendor \& Workforce Management Manage external annotation vendors and internal labeling teams, including contracts, SLAs, quality standards, and throughput planning. * Quality \& Process Design and implement robust quality control pipelines, annotation tools, and feedback loops to ensure high data quality at scale. * Tooling \& Automation Collaborate with engineering teams to optimize annotation infrastructure, workflows, and data pipelines for efficiency. * Data Strategy \& Governance Ensure privacy, security, ethics, and compliance best practices in annotation workflows. * Reporting \& Metrics Define and track key program metrics (cost, quality, speed, volume), and communicate progress to stakeholders and leadership. * Internal Adoption Build onboarding processes, workflows, and change management strategies for internal adoption of AI products. * Data Quality Leadership Establish and standardize processes to monitor, measure, and improve data quality across datasets and annotation teams. * Customer Engagement Collaborate with external customers and research partners on pilots, workshops, and feedback sessions to drive continuous improvement. **Required Qualifications:** * Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, Information Systems) or equivalent experience. * 7\+ years of experience in technical program management, project management, or operations in data\-centric or AI/ML environments. * Strong understanding of ML development workflows, data pipelines, and annotation lifecycle. * Experience managing large\-scale data labeling or data collection initiatives, including vendor management. * Familiarity with big data platforms (e.g., Apache Spark, Databricks, Hadoop) and data warehousing concepts. * Advanced SQL skills and ability to build analytics, dashboards, and reports. * Strong problem\-solving, organizational, and communication skills; ability to influence cross\-functional stakeholders. * Proven record of driving complex technical projects to completion on time and with high quality. * Experience performing root cause analysis on internal and external data and processes. * Self\-motivated and able to work independently and collaboratively. **Preferred Qualifications:** * Knowledge of GPU technology and applications in generative AI/ML. * Familiarity with Apache Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow, or other big data/ML frameworks. **Skills \& Competencies:** * Advanced Project Management * Technical Program Management * Data Labeling and Annotation * Machine Learning Workflows * SQL Querying \& Analytics * Vendor \& Team Management * Data Governance \& Compliance * Reporting \& KPI Tracking * Cross\-Functional Collaboration