About the role
The Technical Programme Manager is accountable for delivering a portfolio of complex, large‑scale store hardware and infrastructure programmes that underpin critical Tesco business priorities. These programmes span multiple technologies, suppliers and geographies and carry significant technical, operational and commercial risk. You will lead programmes end‑to‑end and shape ambiguous initiatives through to execution and rollout. A core expectation of the role is the active use of data, automation and AI‑driven insights to improve operational efficiency, delivery predictability, risk management and decision‑making at scale.
Responsibilities
- Deliver a portfolio of complex, large‑scale technology and infrastructure programmes aligned to key business outcomes
- Define, own and continuously optimise integrated delivery plans, including technical implementation, rollout sequencing and operational readiness
- Initiate and shape programmes with ambiguous scope, evolving requirements and uncertain delivery models
- Manage dependencies across engineering, platform, product, operations and supplier teams, using AI‑enabled tracking and insights to provide transparency and early risk visibility
- Build a deep technical understanding of infrastructure architecture and the store operations it supports, enabling informed, high‑quality decisions
- Apply strong judgement and influence to manage trade‑offs across cost, risk, quality and speed, supported by data‑driven and AI‑assisted analysis
- Leverage AI and analytics to improve operational efficiency, including predictive risk identification and mitigation, delivery performance tracking and forecasting, incident trend analysis and root‑cause identification, and automation of reporting, governance packs and operational insights
- Establish new or enhance existing delivery methodologies, embedding automation and AI to improve pace, consistency and execution quality
- Lead the management of major incidents, ensuring timely, accurate, insight‑led communication to enable effective decision‑making
- Ensure post‑incident reviews are data‑driven, actions are tracked and learning is systematically embedded into future delivery
- Provide strong leadership that enables delivery through others, fostering ownership, accountability and continuous improvement
- Support long‑term planning and annual budget definition, using data and AI‑supported forecasting to improve investment decisions
- Build trusted relationships with supplier partners and internal/external stakeholders to deliver hardware, software, rollouts and professional services
- Add value to vendor selection and commercial processes, including tendering, SLAs, warranties and outsourcing models
- Lead commercial negotiations and drive hardware, software and professional service contracts to conclusion
- Coach peers across technology roles, promoting modern programme management practices, automation and AI‑driven decision‑making
- Contribute to the growth of the wider technology and programme management communities
Qualifications
- Delivering complex technology and/or infrastructure programmes across multiple teams and geographies
- 3+ years’ experience leading multiple large‑scale technology programmes, ideally in distributed, retail or operational environments
- Strong technical knowledge of infrastructure, deployment architectures and the software development lifecycle
- Deploying both data‑centre and distributed hardware solutions supporting 24/7, business‑critical applications
- Anticipating risk and proactively mitigating issues using structured, data‑driven approaches
- Strong written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate complex topics clearly to senior stakeholders
- Building credibility and influencing senior leadership teams
- Excellent programme, stakeholder and vendor management capability
- Demonstrated resilience during incidents, change and ambiguity while maintaining delivery momentum
- Strong understanding of agile and modern delivery techniques
- Experience applying data, automation or AI to improve delivery efficiency, insight and outcomes
Whats in it for you?
- Annual bonus scheme of up to 20% of base salary
- Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus Bank holidays)
- Private medical insurance
- 26 weeks maternity and adoption leave after 1 year’s service at full pay, followed by 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay; plus 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave
- Free 24/7 virtual GP service, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and your family, free access to a range of experts to support your mental wellbeing
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