IT Merger and Acquisition Program Manager

Job Title: IT Merger and Acquisition Program Manager

Palo Alto CA (4 Days Onsite) 
Job Type: Long Term Contract

 
About the Role:

This role owns the end-to-end IT M&A lifecycle for software products—from due diligence and deal shaping through integration planning, execution, go-live, and post-merger optimization—working closely with Product, Engineering, Corporate Development, and the broader CIO organization.

About the Role

The IT M&A Program Manager – Software Products will:

● Serve as the primary IT owner for software-focused M&A and divestiture initiatives.

● Lead rigorous technology due diligence on targets’ software stacks, development practices, and operations.

● Define and drive execution of integration strategies across applications, platforms, data, and ways of working.

● Build and maintain a repeatable IT M&A playbook/runbook purpose-built for software products.

● Partner with senior leaders to ensure technology decisions maximize deal value while managing risk.

 

You will operate at the intersection of software engineering, cloud platforms, data, security, and program management—translating business strategy and deal objectives into pragmatic, well-governed technical programs.

What You’ll Do

Software & Technology Due Diligence

● Lead in-depth IT due diligence for software company and product targets, assessing:

○ Application and platform architecture, tech stack, and deployment model (on‑prem, SaaS, cloud-native).

○ SDLC, DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, testing, and release management.

○ Data models, data flows, integrations, and data quality.

○ Security posture, identity and access controls, and compliance with relevant standards.

○ Technical debt, scalability constraints, and resiliency.

○ Use of third-party components, OSS libraries, and key vendor dependencies.

● Identify technical risks, integration complexity, synergies, and implications for End client’s product and IT roadmaps.

● Summarize findings into clear, decision-ready recommendations for Corporate Development, Product, and IT leadership.

 

Integration Strategy & Roadmap

● Define an end-to-end IT integration strategy for software product deals, aligned with overall deal thesis, value drivers, and End client’s product and platform strategy.

● Develop detailed integration roadmaps and plans covering:

 

○ Codebase and repository strategy (e.g., consolidation, coexistence, or federation).

○ Platform and environment consolidation (build, test, staging, production, observability).

○ Data migration and harmonization across customer, subscription, telemetry, and operational data.

○ API, service, and workflow integrations with End client platforms and enterprise systems.

○ Cloud environment alignment (e.g., AWS/Azure/Google Cloud Platform tenancy, landing zones, security baselines).

○ Identity, access, and security alignment (SSO, RBAC, secrets management, logging).

 

● Define clear milestones, dependencies, success criteria, and change-management plans for internal teams and customers.

 

Execution & Delivery

● Lead cross-functional execution of IT and technical integration plans across IT, Product, Engineering, Security, Enterprise Apps, and external partners.

● Coordinate technical workstreams such as: ○ Migration of code repositories, build and release pipelines, and developer tools.

○ Integration or migration of production environments, infrastructure, and services.

○ Data migration, reconciliation, and validation while maintaining integrity, privacy, and regulatory compliance.

○ Integration of customer-facing workflows (support, billing, entitlements, telemetry, operations).

● Run disciplined program governance—status, RAID management, decision logs, and steering forums—with clear, transparent communication to stakeholders.

● Ensure operational readiness for go-live, including runbooks, playbooks, monitoring, and incident response alignment.

IT M&A Runbook & Process Improvement

● Create, maintain, and continuously refine a specialized IT M&A runbook for software product deals, including:

○ Standard checklists, templates, and due diligence questionnaires.

○ Reference architectures and integration patterns.

○ Standard timelines, stage gates, and decision criteria.

○ Lessons learned and best practices from prior transactions.

● Drive continuous improvement of IT M&A processes, tools, and metrics to improve speed, quality, and repeatability of integrations.

Risk, Budget, & Stakeholder Management

● Proactively identify, quantify, and mitigate technology and integration risks across architecture, security, data, and operations.

● Manage IT integration budgets, resource plans, vendor SOWs, and overall financial tracking for M&A programs.

● Act as a key liaison between IT, Product Management, Engineering, Corporate Development, Finance, Legal, and other business stakeholders.

● Communicate complex technical topics and tradeoffs in clear, concise language for executive and non-technical audiences.

Team Leadership

● Provide matrixed leadership to cross-functional integration teams (IT, engineers, architects, QA, operations, vendors).

● Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and collaboration across geographies and time zones.

Experience You’ll Need

● Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field; or equivalent practical experience.

● 8+ years of experience in technical program management or IT program management within software product or platform environments.

● Significant hands-on experience leading IT or technology workstreams for M&A and/or large-scale integrations involving software companies or products.

● Deep technical understanding of: ○ Modern software architectures (microservices, APIs, event-driven, SaaS).

○ Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform) and infrastructure-as-code practices.

○ Databases, data integration, ETL/ELT, and data governance.

○ CI/CD, DevOps tooling, and agile software delivery.

● Proven track record of delivering multi-workstream, complex programs with cross-functional dependencies and tight timelines.

● Strong risk assessment and mitigation skills for complex technology landscapes.

● Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with experience presenting to senior leadership and translating technical topics for non-technical stakeholders.