Manager II, Technical Program Management - Ads & Core Infrastructure

Why Pinterest, Why Now

Pinterest is making a serious bet on performance advertising and delivering on that bet requires ads infrastructure operating at a fundamentally different scale than where it is today. The Platforms TPM team partners with engineering leadership across Ads Infrastructure, Core Foundations, Quality Engineering, and Client Platforms to turn platform strategy into clear, executable programs that ship.

This role exists because Pinterest's Ads & Core Infrastructure portfolio: Shopping index scale-out, next-gen indexing pipelines, catalog unification, and API modernization needs a TPM Leader who has done this before. Someone who can walk in, size up a complex portfolio, build the execution system it needs, and drive delivery with the kind of discipline that makes engineering leaders trust you with their hardest problems. If you've built your career in ads infrastructure or platform-scale data systems and you're ready to own the operating model rather than inherit one, this is that role.

What you’ll do:

• Own end-to-end TPM execution for Pinterest's Ads & Core Infrastructure portfolio: the primary focus of this role including Shopping index scale-out (300M → 1B+ items), next-generation indexing pipelines, catalog and ingestion unification, API modernization, and core infrastructure reliability programs.
• Build the execution operating model for this portfolio from the ground up: milestones, RAID discipline, decision forums, escalation paths, and accountability structures that give engineering teams the clarity to move faster.
• Partner with engineering leaders across Ads Infrastructure and Core Foundations to define program outcomes, sequence workstreams, manage cross-team dependencies, and drive delivery against multi-quarter goals.
• Manage and develop a small team of TPMs across Ads & Core Infra, Quality Engineering, and Client Foundations: setting direction, coaching on execution craft, and creating leverage while staying hands-on with the highest-complexity programs yourself.
• Provide senior leadership coverage and strategic judgment for Quality Engineering and Client Foundations programs, where experienced TPMs are already executing day-to-day.
• Build and run integrated operating cadences across the portfolio: roadmap planning, milestone reviews, dependency tracking, status reporting, and escalation paths to Platforms and EPD leadership.
• Use GenAI as the default operating model for program execution: AI-assisted program artifacts, status synthesis, risk and dependency tracking, and stakeholder communications and prototype lightweight dashboards or workflow tools using AI coding assistants to reduce toil across the portfolio.
• Surface risks, tradeoffs, and escalation paths proactively to senior engineering and EPD leadership: before they become incidents.
• Apply Pinterest's AI governance and safety-by-design standards: handle sensitive data appropriately, validate AI-generated outputs, and ensure AI-assisted workflows meet applicable policy and compliance expectations.

What we’re looking for:

• Ads infrastructure experience, for real. You've worked inside an ads platform, indexing, serving, pipeline architecture, catalog systems, or API infrastructure at a company operating at scale. You know what scaling a product index to 1B+ items actually requires. You can have a technical conversation with a principal engineer about tradeoffs without needing a translator.
• You've built execution systems where they didn't exist. You've come into a portfolio or team where the operating model was missing or broken, diagnosed it quickly, and built the structure that let teams move with confidence. You know how to establish the minimum viable execution system and iterate, you don't wait for perfect information to start.
• Technical depth with cross-domain range. Your core is ads infrastructure or platform-scale data systems, but you ramp quickly into adjacent technical domains such as  APIs, client platforms, reliability infrastructure and become credible there. Strong engineers trust your judgment even outside your primary background.
• Senior stakeholder management. You communicate at VP level without preparation time. You frame tradeoffs, drive alignment, and surface risks in the same conversation. You're proactive, not reactive, and engineering leaders seek you out rather than tolerate you.
• Execution discipline others can feel. When you're running a program, people know it. Milestones are real. Risks surface before they become incidents. You create a forcing function that makes teams better at delivery just by being in the room.
• People leadership without losing hands-on credibility. You've managed TPMs and made them better set direction, coached on craft, created leverage without losing the ability to be the most rigorous person in the room on your highest-stakes programs.
• AI-first operating instincts. You default to AI-assisted drafts, prompts, and lightweight tooling to accelerate your own work and reduce team toil. You apply strong judgment to validate outputs and know when AI use needs additional controls.
• Experience translating strategy into executable multi-quarter roadmaps with clear milestones, dependencies, and measurable outcomes across multi-team portfolios.
• Bachelors in a technical discipline, or equivalent experience (10+ years in a technical, program or analytical role)
• 5+ years experience in a technology people management role (engineering manager, product manager, program manager or technical consulting engagement manager)

Relocation Statement:

•  This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.
  
  

In-Office Requirement Statement:

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times every 6-months and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.

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