Manager - Program Management

Title: Manager - Program ManagementReports 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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