Manager - Program Management
American Eagle Outfitters · Pittsburgh
Title: Manager - Program Management
Reports To: Director - Program & Project Management
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
- American Eagle is a youth culture brand grounded in denim. Our purpose extends beyond making the best jeans–we embrace self expression,
- culture, optimism and connection. Through the brand platform Live Your Life, we empower our community to be who they want to be all
- while wearing the clothes that make them most confident.
- Get to Know the Role:
- We are seeking a versatile and strategic Manager - Program Management to oversee program execution, strategic resource allocation,
- capacity planning, and product/project portfolio alignment across our core technology domains. Combining strategic governance and
- operational alignment, this role sits at the intersection of business strategy, technical product roadmaps, and execution capacity. You will
- serve as the primary leadership link between executive sponsors, Product Managers, Project Managers, and engineering teams—translating
- executive strategy into actionable priorities, managing shared resource capacity across domains, and establishing foundational governance
- framework to ensure seamless global operations.
What You’ll Do:
Program Leadership & Strategic Alignment
- Drive Cross-Domain Execution: Act as the operational right hand to the Director, translating enterprise business strategy into prioritized, multi-quarter roadmaps across Enterprise Services (Platform, Networking, Operations) and IT Security (GRC, SecOps, ITDR).
- Govern Complex Interdependencies: Proactively map critical paths and resolve cross-functional blockers across engineering teams, corporate stakeholders, logistics/supply chain, and retail environments.
- Lead Executive Stakeholder Alignment: Deliver transparent portfolio health scorecards, milestone tracking, and executive dashboards that align technical investments with business outcomes.
- Establish Enterprise Risk & Cutover Governance: Define proactive risk mitigation strategies and cross-domain change-management guardrails to protect 24/7 retail and distribution center operations during major implementations.
Resource Management & Capacity Planning
- Establish Shared Resource Capacity Models: Design data-driven allocation frameworks to balance engineering and PM capacity against competing multi-domain initiatives.
- Eliminate Operational Noise & Protect Velocity: Quantify planned vs. unplanned demand to shield delivery teams from unscheduled
disruptions, balancing operational firefighting against strategic roadmaps.
- Direct People Leadership (6 Direct Reports): Supervise, mentor, and conduct performance reviews for a hybrid team of 6 direct reports (4 Enterprise Services PMs/Product Managers, 2 IT Security PMs), cultivating career pathways and execution accountability.
- Optimize Vendor & Partner Staffing: Partner with procurement to forecast contractor needs, negotiate statements of work (SOWs), enforce vendor SLAs, and manage staff augmentation models.
Product & Project Governance (PMO Foundation)
- Build Formal Work Intake Guardrails: Stand up an end-to-end intake and triage framework (leveraging Atlassian Cloud) to evaluate incoming demand, establish prioritization criteria, and enforce healthy operational boundaries.
- Drive Capex/Opex Planning & Forecasting: Partner with Corporate Finance to build annual multi-domain budgets, track capital vs. operational expenditures, and execute monthly variance and re-forecasting reviews.
- Standardize Delivery Methodologies: Establish standardized project/product management practices, lifecycle gates, and PRD/brief templates across Hybrid, Agile, and Waterfall workflows.
- Optimize Tooling & Performance Metrics: Configure and champion enterprise usage of Jira, Jira Product Discovery, Confluence, and Miro to measure velocity, resource utilization, and delivery predictability.
What You Bring:
Experience & Leadership
- 10+ years of progressive technology leadership leading enterprise infrastructure, systems integration, or IT security programs.
- 4–5+ years of direct people-management experience, with proven authority managing and developing technical Project and Product
Managers (not solely matrixed project leadership).
● Demonstrated track record standing up or maturing a PMO/governance practice, specifically creating work intake gates and triage
systems from scratch.
Domain & Financial Acumen
● Hands-on fluency in Enterprise IT Infrastructure (networking, cloud, data centers, platforms) and/or IT Security (GRC, SOC 2/PCI-DSS,
security operations, disaster recovery).
● Proven financial governance experience, including building annual Capex/Opex budgets, financial forecasting, and variance tracking
alongside Corporate Finance.
● Experience in high-availability environments such as retail store technology, supply chain distribution centers, or 24/7 mission-critical
operations.
Tooling & Certifications
● Advanced Atlassian Cloud proficiency (Jira, Jira Product Discovery, Confluence) with hands-on experience designing intake workflows,
automations, and portfolio roadmaps.
● PMP, PgMP, CSM, or PMI-ACP certification are strongly preferred.
Perks: Why You’ll Love it Here
- Generous Associate Discount: Treat yourself to the best our brands offer!
- Summer Fridays (For Pittsburgh, NYC and Remote Corporate Associates): More time for the sun and the weekend between
Memorial Day and Labor Day.
- Casual Dress Code: Come as you are (and stay comfy).
- Hybrid Schedule: Enjoy a blend of home-office focus and in-office collaboration.
- In-Person Connection: While we love our digital tools, we love our people even more! To keep our culture thriving, in-person
presence is required at one of our Pittsburgh or NYC headquarters, distribution centers or field locations for interviews, orientation
and periodic quarterly meetups.
● In-Office Events: Exciting company-wide events you won’t want to miss!
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PAY/BENEFITS INFORMATION:
- Actual starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to relevant experience and location.
- Subject to eligibility requirements, associates may receive health care benefits (including medical, vision, and dental); wellness benefits; 401(k) retirement benefits; life and disability insurance; employee stock purchase program; paid time off; paid sick leave; and parental leave and benefits.
- Paid Time Off, paid sick leave, and holiday pay vary by job level and type, job location, employment classification (part-time or full-time / exempt or non-exempt), and years of service. For additional information, please click HERE.
- AEO may also provide discretionary bonuses and other incentives at its discretion.
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