Lead Technical Program Manager - Data

Who we are:

Dave is one of the leading US neobanks and a pioneer in financial services, using disruptive technology to provide best in class banking services to millions of members at a fraction of the cost compared to incumbents. The anchor of our banking value proposition, ExtraCash, provides up to $500 of short term, interest free advances to members within minutes of joining. The speed to value, access and pricing of ExtraCash compared to traditional overdraft sets us apart from incumbents and is a key to our strategy to efficiently acquire transacting Dave debit card members.

About the team and role:

Dave is seeking a Lead Technical Program Manager with deep technical expertise and experience delivering complex data projects spanning data engineering, governance, analytics, AI/ML, and data platform initiatives. In this role, you will lead mission-critical programs that modernize our data platform, operationalize AI capabilities, and empower the company with trustworthy insights that fuel credit decisioning, fraud detection, personalization, and product intelligence. You’ll engage across domains including Product, Operations, Marketing, Legal, and Compliance, ensuring alignment between technical execution and business strategy.

As Lead TPM, you’ll orchestrate delivery across multiple engineering squads, navigate complex dependencies, align stakeholders around clear priorities, and bring structure to fast-moving, ambiguous problem spaces. You’ll be the connective tissue between technical teams and business outcomes — ensuring that data, AI, and analytics capabilities ship with quality, predictability, and measurable impact.

What you’ll do:

• Lead strategic programs across the Data, AI, and Analytics domains, delivering high-impact initiatives in platform modernization, machine learning deployment, and data governance.

• Partner with Data Engineering, Data Science, and Analytics leadership to define and sequence the Data roadmap, aligning scope and priorities with company objectives while driving effective prioritization and trade-off decisions across features, tech debt, and platform initiatives in an inherently ambiguous, fast-evolving environment.

• Drive end-to-end delivery across multiple engineering squads, managing complex dependencies across data pipelines, modeling workflows, and analytics infrastructure — ensuring smooth delivery from ingestion to insight.

• Drive the operationalization of AI models into production in partnership with MLOps and engineering teams, balancing innovation with compliance and performance.

• Collaborate with Product and Business teams to ensure data and AI solutions drive measurable outcomes — from credit decisioning to fraud detection to customer engagement.

• Drive delivery across third-party vendors and financial partners, ensuring integrated solutions meet program milestones, quality standards, and business objectives while proactively managing risks to scope and timeline.

• Build strong partnerships across Security, Infrastructure, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and Risk to deliver efficient, resilient, and capital-effective solutions.

• Champion Agile and CI/CD practices, elevating execution quality through repeatable, scalable delivery processes.

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, providing clear, actionable communication on program health, risks, trade-offs, and dependencies.

• Mentor TPMs and cross-functional partners, fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and trust.

What you’ll need:

• BS or MS in Computer Science, Data Science, or related technical field.

• 12+ years of experience, including 7+ years driving large-scale initiatives in data engineering, AI/ML, or analytics.

• Proven experience coordinating teams across engineering, data science, and product to deliver end-to-end data and AI capabilities.

• Strong technical fluency across modern data stacks (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Airflow, DBT, GCP, Databricks) and machine learning platforms.

• Deep understanding of data architecture, MLOps, and analytics pipelines — from ingestion and transformation through model deployment and monitoring.

• Experience overseeing third-party vendors, managing milestones, dependencies, and delivery across complex, multi-stakeholder programs.

• Hands-on experience building dashboards and analyzing complex data sets to drive program decisions, assess performance, and measure ROI.

• Skilled in using A/B testing and experimentation frameworks to evaluate hypotheses, interpret outcomes, and drive data-informed decisions across credit and banking initiatives.

• Track record of leading transformation initiatives, including process redesign, system migrations, or platform consolidation within the financial domain.

• Excellent communication and influence skills, with the ability to translate technical (e.g., model metrics, feature drift, data lineage), regulatory (e.g., data privacy), and operational complexity into clear recommendations for executives and stakeholders.

• Experience with change management, including building alignment and adoption across business, product, and engineering functions.

• Proven ability to influence without authority and motivate cross-functional teams to deliver successfully in fast-paced, dynamic environments.

• Analytical mindset with a bias for clarity, structure, and measurable impact.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience working in Fintech or regulated data environments.

• Familiarity with GCP’s data tooling (e.g. Dataflow, CloudComposer, BigQuery, PubSub) or similar cloud tooling

• Experience with event-driven architectures or real-time data pipelines

• Experience with tools: Launch Darkly, FullStory, Amplitude

• Certifications in Agile, SAFe, or Project Management.

Technologies we use:

• Snowflake

• BigQuery

• Dbt

• Airflow

• Mode, Looker

• GCP (Google Cloud Platform), GCS, Cloud Data Flow

• MySQL

• Spanner

• Python

• Java

• Kubernetes

Don’t let imposter syndrome get in your way of an incredible opportunity. We’re looking for people who can help us achieve our mission and vision, not just check off the boxes. If you’re excited about this role, we encourage you to apply. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Why you’ll love working here:

At Dave, our people are just as important as our product. Our culture is a reflection of our values that guide who we are, how we work, and what we aspire to be. Daves are member centric, helpful, transparent, persistent, and better together. We strive to create an environment where all Daves feel valued, heard, and empowered to do their best work. As a virtual first company, team members can live and work anywhere in the United States, with the exception of Hawaii.

A few of our benefits & perks:

💚 Opportunity to tackle tough challenges, learn and grow from fellow top talent, and help millions of people reach their personal financial goals

💻 Flexible hours and virtual first work culture with a home office stipend

🏥 Premium Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance plans

👶 Generous paid parental and caregiver leave

💰 401(k) savings plan with matching contributions

📈 Financial advisor and financial wellness support

🏖️ Flexible PTO and generous company holidays, including Juneteenth and Winter Break

🎉 All-company in-person events once or twice a year and virtual events throughout to connect with your team members and leadership team

Dave Operating LLC is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is dedicated to cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants and do not discriminate on any basis protected by federal, state, or local law, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.

Compensation Range: $174K - $274K