A Day In The Life Of A Senior Technical Program Manager At Microsoft
Kartik's role as a Senior Technical Program Manager at Microsoft involves a globally distributed workload, with "early morning meetings" and "late night meetings" to accommodate European and APAC teams, interspersed with local meetings focused on "process improvement" and cross-functional collaboration. The job prioritizes clear communication and effective follow-up to ensure project success and alignment on "North Star goals."
Project Management, Global Collaboration, Cross-functional Teamwork, Time Management, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kartik Atyam
Senior Technical Program Manager
Microsoft
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Engineering - Civil
Architecture, Construction & Design, Technology
Real Estate
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Global collaboration is a significant aspect of the role, involving early morning and late-night meetings with international counterparts.
2. The work involves a mix of project-specific meetings (kickoffs, status updates, risk mitigation) and internal meetings focused on process improvement and cross-functional collaboration.
3. Time management and prioritization are crucial, as the role demands juggling multiple meetings across different time zones and internal initiatives to ensure clear goals and effective follow-up
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a senior technical program manager look like?
Because this is a global role, it unfortunately includes early morning and sometimes late night meetings. I meet with my European counterparts between 6:30 AM and 9:00 AM.
Some of those meetings are project kickoffs, while others are biweekly status, progress, and risk mitigation meetings. After that, I drop off my kids at school and get them ready for the day between eight and nine.
Starting at nine, I begin internal meetings on process improvement, programmatic things, and cross-functional opportunities. I'll spend about half the day on these, mixing in meetings with the Americas.
At the end of the day, usually between four and six, there are meetings for our APAC counterparts. This timing works due to time zone differences.
Some of those meetings, especially with colleagues on the exact opposite side of the world, will be around 9:00 PM, but that's only once or twice a week. The role really focuses on collaboration and ensuring our priorities and North Star goals are clear and understandable. I'm good at following up and understanding the status of each initiative.