Program Manager, Data Platforms & Emerging Technology

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass. The Program Manager, Data Platforms & Emerging Technology is responsible for driving the planning, coordination, and execution of strategic initiatives across VERSANT’s Data Platform and Innovation & Emerging Technology organizations. This role serves as a key operational partner to engineering, data, product, and business leaders, ensuring the successful delivery of programs spanning data platforms, AI/ML solutions, analytics capabilities, and emerging technology adoption. This individual will help translate strategy into execution by establishing program governance, managing cross-functional dependencies, tracking delivery progress, and ensuring alignment between technical teams and business stakeholders. The Program Manager will play a critical role in enabling scalable data platform and AI capabilities while fostering collaboration across Engineering, Product, Editorial, Corporate Functions, and Operations. Responsibilities Program Leadership & Execution Lead end-to-end delivery of strategic initiatives across Data Platforms, AI/ML, analytics, and emerging technology programs. Develop and maintain integrated program plans, milestones, timelines, and dependency tracking across multiple teams. Coordinate execution across engineering, product, data, editorial, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment and predictable delivery. Facilitate program governance, including roadmap reviews, status reporting, risk management, and executive communications. Identify, manage, and mitigate cross-functional risks and dependencies that may impact program success. Partner with Data Platform, ML Engineering, and Innovation leaders to track progress against strategic objectives and key results. Support prioritization and intake processes for new data, analytics, AI, and automation initiatives. Maintain visibility into project health, resource allocation, delivery metrics, and business outcomes. Coordinate readiness activities for major platform launches, AI deployments, and technology rollouts. Stakeholder Engagement Partner with business leaders to understand objectives, communicate program status, and drive adoption of new capabilities. Facilitate collaboration between technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating complex initiatives into clear business impacts. Support organizational readiness activities, including communications, training coordination, and adoption tracking for new technologies. Drive transparency through regular updates, executive dashboards, and program reviews. Process Improvement & Operational Excellence Establish and continuously improve program management standards, reporting frameworks, documentation practices, and delivery processes. Implement mechanisms to track program performance, outcomes, and value realization. Support governance processes related to AI, data management, vendor partnerships, and technology adoption. Contribute to the development of repeatable operating models that enable scale across Data and Emerging Technology teams. Basic Requirements 5+ years of experience in program management, technical program management, project management, or related roles. Experience delivering complex technology initiatives involving data platforms, analytics, AI/ML, cloud technologies, or enterprise software. Strong expertise in program planning, roadmap execution, dependency management, and risk mitigation. Experience working cross-functionally with engineering, product, data, and business stakeholders. Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives in fast-paced environments. Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills. Experience using project and portfolio management tools such as Jira, Confluence, Asana, or similar platforms. Preferred Qualifications Experience supporting data platform, analytics, machine learning, or AI-focused initiatives. Familiarity with cloud platforms, data engineering concepts, or modern software development practices. Experience in media, entertainment, digital publishing, or consumer technology environments. Experience supporting technology enablement, innovation, or emerging technology adoption programs. PMP, PgMP, Scrum Master, SAFe, or similar certification preferred. Experience working with executive stakeholders and presenting program updates to senior leadership As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected] . VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc. VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.