Project/Program Manager II

Overview: TekWissen is a global workforce management provider headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan that offers strategic talent solutions to our clients world-wide. Our client is a global technology leader that is transforming the way people shop, consume content, and interact with digital services. With a strong presence across e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence, the company is known for its customer-centric approach, innovation-driven culture, and large-scale global impact. It continues to invest in building products and services that improve everyday life while supporting businesses, communities, and economies worldwide. Position: Project/Program Manager II Location: Seattle,WA Duration: 10 Months Job Type: Temporary Assignment Work Type: Onsite Job Description: What the Team Does The DA team delivers network connections (called "spans") between AWS data centers. Each span is a physical + logical link that carries production traffic between two sites. The team delivers approximately 120 spans per month across three work types: new builds (57%), capacity expansions on existing connections (38%), and decommissions (5%). The team operates follow-the-sun across Dublin and Seattle. What the TIPM Does (Day-to-Day) The TIPM owns project coordination across the full span delivery lifecycle - from the moment a project is accepted from the planning team until the span is operational and carrying traffic. They don't configure network devices (that's the engineers), but they ensure every project moves through its milestones without stalling. Full Delivery Lifecycle (TIPM Scope) Phase 1 - Intake & Supplier Readiness Validate incoming projects - confirm that the planning team has provided all required inputs (hardware positions, fiber paths, port reservations) before the engineering team accepts the project Track supplier readiness in parallel - each span depends on 3-5 supplier teams delivering their piece: Hardware team: network device positions ready at both data center sites Optical team: light path provisioned (for 80% of spans that use optical wavelengths) Fiber team: physical fiber connection delivered (for 20% that use dark fiber) Chase and escalate - when suppliers are late or blocked, identify the blocker, escalate to the right owner, and drive resolution. Currently there are no committed SLAs from suppliers - the TIPM must actively manage this ambiguity Phase 2 - Preparation & Handoff to Field Monitor workflow progress - once engineers initiate the automated workflow, track that each step completes. When steps stall (waiting for supplier milestones), identify why and coordinate unblocking Coordinate field team handoff - when the project is ready for physical work (cabling, hardware patching), create the work request for the datacenter field team with all required details (cutsheet, rack locations, cable specifications) Manage the field execution queue - track 20-40 concurrent projects in various stages of physical build. Key milestones to track per project: Hardware intake at site (target: 21 days) Cable installation (target: 7 days) Cabling completion and verification (target: 7-14 days) Hardware pre-staging (target: 14 days) Phase 3 - Physical Build & Troubleshooting Track field team progress - monitor physical work completion across multiple concurrent projects Triage field escalations - when field technicians encounter issues during physical work (wrong rack position, cabling conflicts, hardware not where expected), determine whether it's a coordination issue (TIPM resolves) or a technical issue (route to engineer) Reduce engineer interruptions - a key success metric. Currently, field team issues pull engineers off their main delivery work. The TIPM absorbs this coordination load so engineers can focus on technical execution Phase 4 - Validation & Turn-Up Track validation milestones - after physical work completes, the automated workflow runs link validation, cabling checks, and configuration verification. Monitor that these pass cleanly Coordinate turn-up scheduling - when all validations pass, ensure the span turn-up (going live with production traffic) is scheduled and executed within SLA Close out projects - confirm span is operational, all tickets resolved, project marked complete in tracking systems Cross-Cutting Responsibilities (Daily/Weekly) Priority management - work with the DA manager to understand which projects are highest priority (some are tied to critical capacity deadlines). Ensure high-priority projects get unblocked first Status reporting - provide clear, regular updates on project portfolio health: how many projects are on track, how many are blocked, where the blockers are Pattern detection - identify systemic issues (e.g., "the same supplier is late on 8 projects" or "field team capacity in Region X is a bottleneck") and escalate to the DA manager Process documentation - maintain and improve coordination procedures, handoff checklists, and escalation paths Essential Skills Skill Why It Matters Here Cross-functional project coordination Bridges 5+ teams daily - engineers, field technicians, hardware teams, optical teams, fiber teams, planning teams Datacenter operations familiarity Must understand physical DC work: cabling, rack positions, fiber patching, optical hardware Network deployment lifecycle Needs to understand the end-to-end flow from project acceptance through physical build to operational turn-up Supplier/vendor coordination Manages multiple parallel supplier dependencies per project, each with different teams and timelines Change management Physical work happens within controlled maintenance windows - must manage scheduling and approvals Stakeholder communication Daily status updates across multiple teams with different priorities and timelines Workflow/ticket management Tracks 20-40 concurrent projects across multiple tracking systems simultaneously Incident triage When projects stall or field work fails, must quickly identify root cause and route to correct owner Documentation and reporting Maintains coordination procedures, tracks milestone completion, surfaces portfolio-level metrics Fiber and optical infrastructure (basic) 80% of spans involve optical wavelength paths - needs enough context to coordinate effectively with optical teams What This Role is NOT Not a network engineer - does not configure routers, write automation, or own technical design Not a people manager - coordinates work across teams but does not have direct reports Not a strategic program manager - this is operational delivery coordination, not roadmap or planning work Success Looks Like Projects don't stall because of coordination gaps between teams Engineers are not pulled off technical delivery work to chase supplier status or field team issues (currently a major pain point consuming approximately 20% of engineering capacity) Clear visibility into which projects are blocked, at which phase, and why - at all times Consistent delivery cadence: projects move through each phase within target timelines Systemic issues are surfaced early (not discovered when a deadline is missed) TekWissen® Group is an equal opportunity employer supporting workforce diversity.