Director of Innovation Evangelism Programs (Remote Eligible)
A core value at Okta is “Never stop Innovating”
As a Director of Innovation Evangelism Programs in the Technology Organization, you are in a high impact, high visibility role – partnering with Engineering and Business Technology, to drive programs, initiatives, and highly engaging events that power innovation at scale. You will be a focal point for innovative Technology functions like our Patents program, our Technology Hackathon and our Tech Talk series as examples. You are not only able to develop and drive key initiatives, but can also dig in, and get the job done by employing both a strategic and highly tactical approach which is required for this role. You will play equal parts problem solver and doer, tackling the roles of strategist, operator, influencer and delivery specialist, while creating an inclusive team environment that inspires a diversity of perspectives and solutions.
In addition to being responsible for existing programs that enable a culture of innovation, you will more importantly lead the definition of future strategies and roadmaps to deepen the culture of creative potential as well as take innovation to the next level. We are looking for a creative and visionary strategist who is strong at building relationships across functions to align strategies, secure management buy-in, manage budgets, and drive execution.
The ideal candidate for this position will be seasoned in program management with strong leadership skills, communication skills, and expertise with technology transformation. The candidate will not only have experience managing large programs, but also Engineering process development and implementation in a SaaS and Agile environment. You’re an individual who is self-motivated and driven, can thrive in a fast paced setting, and has demonstrated the focus, accountability, and responsibility needed for the success of important programs with ambiguity and competing priorities.
Duties:
- Lead programs and strategic events that enable a strong culture of innovation in the Technology Organization including the patents program, biannual hackathon, Tech Talks, and Innovation forums
- Generate detailed program plans and requirements, maintain a list of milestones and schedules, ensure visibility and accurate reporting of progress towards completion
- Coordinate and track creation of assets and collateral required to support program execution including program budgets, invention disclosures, rewards and incentives
- Create promotional content (emails, in-person announcements, Slack reminders) as required for maximum organizational engagement
- Lead planning and communication with participants, helpers…MCs, moderators, AV support to ensure execution readiness
- Provide suggestions and implement ideas that promote audience engagement and creativity of thought
- Coordinate annual scheduling of innovation events and publish to central wiki
- Establish a clear, compelling vision and strategy for elevating the culture of innovation in the Technology organization both vertically and horizontally that is scalable and demonstrates value and impact over time
- Develop a multi-year plan to strengthen the DNA of innovation across the organization along with measurable progress and benefits
- Help evangelize and promote new initiatives that foster innovation for Technology teams like Software Development, Infrastructure Engineering, Business Systems, and Data and Insights
- Promote and launch these new innovation programs with clarity of purpose and maximum excitement and participation
- Conduct retrospectives to identify opportunities and include in planning going forward as incremental improvements to evolve and increase value
- Maintain a tracking wiki for distribution and access to key communications and knowledge
- Deliver presentations to a variety of audiences in the organization and company
Skills:
- 10+ years of project/program management experience in a software, SaaS or systems development environment – self motivated with a strong sense of accountability, ownership, and drive
- Drive an innovation mindset through establishing a vision, strategy and roadmap to integrate customer-centered programs and practices throughout the organization
- Demonstrated ability and experience to champion an innovation culture within the organization
- A structured and principled thinker who can cut through complexity by creating clear frameworks and scalable solutions
- Skilled at influencing and collaborating with all levels of an organization from top leaders to individual contributors
- Experience working with Engineering or IT teams in a highly cross functionals and agile environment
- Experience in creation of a project plan, coordination of meetings, and regular communication of progress.
- Coordinate with management, technical teams, and functional partners to ensure smooth delivery of organizational events
- Ability to drive alignment, prioritization, and planning activities across a wide range of stakeholders
- Ability to deal with ambiguity and work in a dynamic, results-oriented matrixed environment
- Strong problem solving, influencing, and negotiation skills
- Strong and articulate communicator
- Experience with project management and reporting tools such as Gsuite and O365. Extensive experience working with JIRA/Confluence is a must.
Education and Training:
- Bachelor’s degree or Masters (preferred) or equivalent experience
- Certified in Agile and Scrum a plus
Okta’s Top 5 Core Leadership Competencies are part of the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of our company’s actions. They also align strongly to our cultural cornerstones, our Okta values: love our customers, empower our people, never stop innovating, act with integrity, and maintain transparency. It’s our expectation that our managers and leaders embody these core competencies:
- Builds Effective Teams: Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
- Demonstrates Self-Awareness (EQ): Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
- Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization’s goals.
- Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
- Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Okta is rethinking the traditional work environment, providing our employees with the flexibility to be their most creative and successful versions of themselves, no matter where they are located. We enable a flexible approach to work, meaning for roles where it makes sense, you can work from the office, or from home, regardless of where you live. Okta invests in the best technologies and provides flexible benefits and collaborative work environments/experiences, empowering employees to work productively in a setting that best and uniquely suits their needs. Find your place at Okta https://www.okta.com/company/careers/.
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