Working towards becoming a TPM.

Question

Hi,I'm a software engineer for a fortune 500 company, and I'm wanting to aim for a Technical Program Manager as my next opportunity.&nbsp;In terms of background I initially worked QA then up the ranks from Jr dev to senior eventually becoming a lead software engineer. I've had experience managing teams (10-11 devs plus QA contractors), interfacing with other departments, managing offshore development teams, reporting to directors and I've had PM and BA responsibilities throughout a number of the positions. (Total of 10 years in technical positions in different industries but primarily medical)How else could I prepare myself for the position, and are there any certifications that be worth obtaining for the position? Are there any resources you can recommend that I study in preparation?Are there any other roles that you feel might be a better position to aim for than TPM?Thanks in advance for any information/advice you can provide.

uind328hhvb · Accepted Answer

Believe it or not, I went through this to just refresh some skills as I begin interviewing soon and thought it was pretty good for the foundation and refresher: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/become-a-technical-program-manager

PMCoach · Answer

Hq buddy, you have already been working in a TPM capacity based on what you have shared, dont take the titles as hard and fast, the mgmt roles are all about delivery from the client's perspective and all about stakeholder and politics mgmt from your perspective. Effectively managing your team of 10+ people would allow you take on bigger initiatives, so being organized and being on top of planning, i.e. deep dive into your key milestones, and derive the key meetings you need to ensure milestone deliveries - and then setup those meetings in the calender with all participants invited. In summary, apart from the technical/software/domain knowledge skills, key skills would be Stakeholder mgmt, Communications, Politicis mgmt and conflict/difficult team members/stakeholders mgmt. All the Best!

jeswefnuo · Answer

A TPM differs slightly from a product manager (PM) in that TPMs work more closely with the development team so your experience as a lead swe is huge here imo. Curious why TPM and not EM tbh.

Hq · Answer

It seems like Engineering manager (EM) is more focused on resources and blockers for projects. The TPM seems to care more about the product or product line and doesn't have much control as to the priority of the project or what resources they get. I would want to make sure what was delivered met expectation and I would probably want to still dabble in some sort of coding.

Working towards becoming a TPM.

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Technical Program Manager

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