Program Manager (Contractor)

Company Overview: Panopto is a dynamic and rapidly growing leader in interactive video solutions, backed by a leading private equity firm. Our team of approximately 200 dedicated professionals is committed to empowering learners through powerful, interactive video technology. With the recent acquisition of Elai.io,  an innovative AI-driven startup specializing in video generation — we’re expanding our capabilities to drive the future of learning with cutting-edge AI and video innovation.

Project Overview:

We're seeking an exceptional Program Manager who will serve as a catalyst for change, driving not only strategic R&D initiatives but fundamentally reshaping how our organization approaches software product development.  This isn't your typical program management role. You'll be the architect of cultural transformation, working with up to 7 distributed development teams to embed agile excellence into the DNA of how we work. Your mission is to remove friction, eliminate unnecessary overhead, and enable teams to move faster by clearing obstacles.  If you're energized by the challenge of shifting mindsets, breaking down silos, and empowering teams to reach their full potential—while delivering world-class products—this role is for you.

• Drive Organizational Evolution: You'll be a change agent who identifies inefficiencies and offers lightweight, easy to implement solutions that fundamentally improve how teams collaborate, decide, and deliver. You'll challenge the status quo, streamline processes, and advocate for better ways of working.
• Cultivate Agile Excellence: Lead the charge in embedding true agile principles across the product development organization. Through coaching, mentoring, and hands-on facilitation, you'll help teams move beyond agile ceremonies to embrace an agile mindset. You'll foster cultures of continuous improvement, psychological safety, and empowered decision-making all while keeping overhead minimal to maximize value delivery.
• End-to-End Program Leadership: Own the full lifecycle of R&D programs from vision to post-launch optimization. Partner with leadership to define success metrics, allocate resources strategically, and ensure alignment across product, engineering, design, and business stakeholders. 
• Master Complex Coordination: Navigate dependencies across multiple teams and functional areas. You'll establish simple coordination mechanisms that enable autonomy while ensuring alignment.  Introduce SaaS industry best practices that maintain the speed and flexibility that SaaS product development demands.
• Drive Measurable Impact: Establish straightforward KPIs, leveraging data and tools readily available, that tell the story of program health and team effectiveness. Implement simple and effective tracking mechanisms that yield data to drive decisions, celebrate progress, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Manage Through Influence: Build trust and credibility with stakeholders at every level - from C-suite to individual contributors. You build strong relationships. You're supportive and demanding in equal measure.

• Not a Project Manager: While project managers execute defined plans, this role focuses on shaping strategy and creating the conditions for multiple projects to succeed.
• Not a Scrum Master: Rather than facilitating team-level Agile ceremonies, this role operates at the program and portfolio level—driving cross-team alignment and ensuring cohesive execution of the broader product roadmap.
• Not a Product Manager: Product managers determine what to build and why; this role ensures the organization is equipped to build it effectively—translating strategic intent into scalable delivery.

• Comprehensive assessment of current state with actionable transformation roadmap
• Quick wins that demonstrate the value of improved processes and practices
• Jira updates that result in streamlined workflows and improved team efficiency
• Fully implemented program-level metrics dashboard that offers meaningful insights
• Cross-team dependency framework that enables parallel execution
• Agile coaching program showing measurable improvements in team velocity and quality
• Resource optimization model enabling confident roadmap commitments
• Cultural shift evident in how teams approach problems and make decisions
• Lean and efficient agile practices that create tangible improvements in delivery predictability

• Deep Experience: at least 5-7 years in program management in a SaaS environment, driving large-scale technical programs in distributed, global environments. You've successfully delivered complex initiatives while simultaneously improving the systems and teams that execute them.
• Proven Change Leadership: Track record of transforming team cultures and working practices. You've helped organizations adopt agile methodologies and can point to specific examples where your coaching and influence measurably improved team performance.
• Technical Fluency: Strong understanding of software development lifecycles, agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, etc.), and modern product development practices. You speak the language of engineers and can credibly discuss technical tradeoffs.
• Process Architecture Expertise: Experience designing and implementing program management frameworks, metrics systems, and coordination mechanisms that scale across multiple teams and time zones.
• Exceptional Communication: Outstanding facilitation, presentation, and conflict resolution skills. You can adapt your message for any audience and have a gift for building consensus in complex, matrixed environments.
• Tools Mastery: Expert proficiency with Jira, Confluence or similar tools. You don't just use these tools—you optimize them to amplify team effectiveness.
• Credentials: Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Information Technology, or related field. PMP, PgMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, or equivalent certifications highly valued.

• Project Start Date: Immediately
• Estimated Project End Date: 12 months after start date with potential to extend
• Estimated Weekly Hours: 40 hours a week
• Location: Remote

Why Partner with Us?

Opportunity to work on impactful projects with a growing company.

Collaborative and supportive team environment.

Flexible work arrangements.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to apply and submit the following:

- Your Resume/CV outlining relevant experience.

- A Cover Letter detailing your interest in this specific project, your relevant skills, and your proposed rate (i.e. annual, monthly, etc.).

- Portfolio/Work Samples: [Link to online portfolio, attach relevant documents, or describe examples of your work].

Availability: Please indicate your earliest start date and estimated weekly availability.

Contract Terms:

This is a contractor/vendor role. You will not be an employee of Panopto. You must be able to invoice us for services rendered and be responsible for your own taxes and benefits. All deliverables must comply with our confidentiality/IP/data handling policies.