Program Alignment

Elevating Delivery Roles to Build TPM Capability

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Keywords: TPM Enablement, Cross-Team Alignment, Technical Fluency, Risk Identification, Organizational Maturity

 

Situation:
As part of a broader initiative to improve data governance and analytics capabilities, a new cross-functional group was formed by bringing together teams responsible for data management, personalization, behavioral analytics, and insights. These teams relied on one another to deliver integrated products, but collaboration was largely execution-focused. Dependencies and technical risks were often surfaced late in the process, creating inefficiencies and delays. Delivery leads worked across all teams and were well-positioned to surface risks earlier, but lacked the technical fluency to participate meaningfully in system design discussions. Their impact remained limited to process facilitation.

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Opportunity:
This presented an opportunity to strengthen early alignment and risk identification by evolving delivery roles into more technically grounded contributors. Enabling TPM capabilities across the group had the potential to improve cross-team coordination, reduce execution delays, and ultimately build a stronger foundation for technical program leadership.

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Obstacles:
The shift required alignment across engineering, delivery, and business leadership. The change in role expectations also needed to be meaningful to the delivery leads themselves, with a clear path forward that reflected both organizational goals and individual career growth. Without structured support and role clarity, the change risked stalling.

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Activities:
A clear vision and set of goals were defined to expand the role of delivery leads and close the gap in early technical alignment. Supporting data was used to make the case, and buy-in was secured across partner leadership teams. A pilot was launched with one team to test the approach, and expectations were clarified for the broader group. Delivery leads were engaged directly to align the shift with their career aspirations, and targeted coaching was introduced to build technical fluency. Engineering leaders were brought in to support the transition and reinforce new expectations. As the pilot succeeded, the model was scaled across the group.

 

Results & Impact:
Delivery leads became active contributors in system design conversations, improving the organization’s ability to surface risks early and coordinate across technical dependencies. Execution delays were reduced and predictability increased. Several transitioned into Technical Program Manager roles, expanding their impact and strengthening the organization’s TPM foundation. The model became standard across the group and improved how teams aligned and delivered at scale.