Forward was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, building the industry's first network digital twin: a mathematically accurate model of the production network. It's the foundation for autonomous networking, giving engineers and AI agents the ability to know the impact of every change before it touches production. That founding instinct still defines how we work. We're accurate and evidence-driven, relentless about clarity, and we'd rather be certain than comfortable, building a groundbreaking platform that transforms how teams run and secure networks across every major cloud and vendor environment.
Global leaders like Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell trust Forward, alongside fast-growing enterprises and government agencies, realizing an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits, according to IDC. Backed by top-tier investors, including A. Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, Omega Venture Partners, Section 32, and Threshold Ventures, and headquartered in Santa Clara, we're most proud of our team: curious people who'd rather build what doesn't exist than accept how things have always been done.
Forward is looking for a Technical Program Manager
Core accountability: Drive execution across engineering programs, including releases, cross-functional initiatives, and the communications and coordination infrastructure that keeps a scaling org aligned.
What you'll own:
- Release management end-to-end: SDLC coordination from product definition through production deployment, dependency mapping, release cadence, risk identification, and escalation before deadlines slip
- Cross-functional programs that span engineering, product, and the technical field: scoping, sequencing, and driving them to outcomes
- Internal engineering communications: status reporting, exec updates, and the cadence of how engineering keeps the rest of the org informed
- Process design that gets teams aligned without adding bureaucracy. Lightweight, followed, and retired when no longer useful
- Automation and AI leverage: identify what should be automated, partner with engineers to implement, and use AI for status tracking, documentation, and dependency analysis
What matters:
- Track record running multi-team SaaS releases and broader engineering programs with complex dependencies
- Technical depth to distinguish realistic from fantasy (networking or infrastructure background a plus)
- Translates fluently between technical teams and business stakeholders
- Builds lightweight processes that actually get followed
- Knows when to push back on scope or timeline vs. when to escalate
- Comfortable being the person who asks "are we still on track?" repeatedly, and the one who reframes the question when the answer keeps being "yes" but the evidence says otherwise
What this isn't:
- Pure project management. You need technical credibility
- Pure engineering. You're not writing runbooks or going on-call
- Order-taker. You'll challenge unrealistic commitments and unclear program goals
- Customer-facing. This role is internal
The base pay range for this role is between $190,000 and $220,000. Base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.
Skills Required
- Track record running multi-team SaaS releases and complex engineering programs
- Release management and SDLC coordination from product definition through production deployment
- Ability to scope, sequence, and drive cross-functional programs to outcomes
- Technical depth and credibility to evaluate technical tradeoffs
- Networking or infrastructure background
- Strong translation and communication between technical teams and business stakeholders
- Design lightweight, effective processes and governance
- Experience identifying and partnering to implement automation and AI for processes and tracking
- Ability to identify risks, push back on unrealistic scope, and escalate appropriately
Forward Networks Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Forward Networks and has not been reviewed or approved by Forward Networks.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered competitive for a mid-stage infrastructure/software company across several roles and locations. Signals point to strong totals in technical and select go-to-market positions.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is broadly offered to all employees, creating ownership potential alongside salary and bonus. As a private company, perceived value can rise with company performance and future liquidity.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage is described as top-grade for employees and dependents. Company materials consistently highlight strong core health benefits across hiring channels.
Forward Networks Insights
What We Do
The future of network operations is network modeling. Forward Networks' flagship platform Forward Enterprise gives users a mathematically accurate network digital twin. Forward enables perfect network visibility, full path analysis, security policy verification, and change prediction, freeing up time and saving you money.
