Senior Manager - Program Management

The role: • As part of the R&D Ops team, the Sr. Manager, Launch Readiness be partnering with Product, Engineering, and GTM teams to ensure a consistent, scalable framework for taking products from readiness through launch. This role will lead a team and report to the Sr. Director, R&D and Ops. • The biggest impact will come from someone who can build a process from the ground up, not just operate within an existing one — someone with a strong understanding of operational readiness and has worked closely with GTM functions such as Marketing, Sales, Technical Resources, Professional Services, and Support. • The ideal candidate can fearlessly jump into ambiguity, quickly assess business needs, identify gaps in process or content, and turn problem statements into prioritized, well-executed plans.  • Prior experience operating in global, cross-functional, collaborative environments — ideally within a product organization — will provide the foundation to succeed in this dynamic, high-impact position, which also carries direct people leadership responsibility. • This is a hybrid role, based in office 3 days per week, with quarterly travel to India (optional). What you’ll do: • Design, build, and own the Launch Readiness process end-to-end — establishing the framework, milestones, and governance that don’t yet exist today, and scaling it into a durable, org-wide operating model. • Lead and develop a team, setting direction and building out the function’s structure and responsibilities. • Work with functional business owners to rapidly assess business needs, define options, and translate requirements into deliverables and timelines. • Develop and manage detailed plans that account for requirements, constraints, dependencies, and resources across cross-functional readiness efforts. • Drive successful execution of deliverables against milestones and objectives while managing scope, schedule, and quality. • Provide structure and process without compromising execution speed. • Work within a matrixed organization across cross-functional teams at Freshworks to execute and deliver against the plan. • Aggregate, organize, and communicate program and project status to internal stakeholders and leadership, up to executive and board level. • Leverage change management best practices to drive adoption of the launch process org-wide, embedding it as the standard operating model across teams. • Leverage AI and automation to scale the process and streamline reporting, reducing manual overhead across cross-functional teams. • Manage risk proactively, partnering with colleagues to ensure the right decisions happen at the right time and plans adjust intelligently as goals and requirements shift. What you’ll need to succeed: • 8-10 years of operations and program/project management experience, with the readiness to build, lead, and develop a team. • Proven experience standing up a new process or program from scratch, plus business change management experience. • Self-starter who thrives on ambiguity and is relentless about clearing obstacles with a resourceful, creative approach to problem-solving. • Proven ability to operate effectively and autonomously with only high-level direction. • Exceptional verbal and written communication skills — able to flex between individual contributors and executives, technical and non-technical audiences. • Sharp attention to detail balanced with the ability to distill large amounts of information into the essentials. • Strong people skills, with a distinctive ability to motivate and align both direct reports and cross-functional partners, including those outside a formal reporting line. • Excellent negotiation, conflict management, and resolution skills; able to diplomatically drive teams to resol