Manager, Competitive Programs

We are looking for a versatile leader who is excited to build something from the ground up and can apply the same skills to other high-priority GTM initiatives as the team’s mandate and Stripe’s needs evolve. What you’ll do You will lead and develop a team of program managers responsible for helping Stripe compete more effectively in its highest-priority competitive situations. You will turn an emerging capability into a durable operating model: establish the team’s goals and work plans, partner with Stripe leadership to determine where to deploy scarce program capacity, and ensure named competitor programs are well run, measurable, and connected to the functional teams that own decisions and delivery. This is a high-ambiguity management role. You will work with senior leaders across Sales, Product, Product Operations, Marketing, Market Intelligence, Pricing, Finance & Strategy, and GTM Operations to turn unclear competitive problems into focused programs with clear objectives, owners, decision forums, operating cadences, and measures of success. Initially, you will: Lead and develop the Competitive Programs team, setting clear objectives, assigning work, coaching program managers, and maintaining a high bar for judgment, execution, and stakeholder management. Establish the portfolio and operating model for centrally staffed P0 and P1 competitor programs, in partnership with Market Intelligence and GTM Strategic Programs leadership. Manage the highest-complexity competitive programs directly, particularly where Stripe must coordinate across Product, GTM, Commercial, and executive stakeholders. Build the repeatable playbooks and mechanisms that allow Stripe to respond to competitive threats quickly and learn at scale, without centralizing functional decisions that belong elsewhere. You will be successful in this role if you are excited to build a new function from the ground up and tenacious at motivating XFN partners across the company to build a repeatable structure and deliver against Stripe’s top competitive priorities. You will be a trusted partner to executive leaders across Sales, Product, Product Operations, Marketing, Market Intelligence, Pricing, Finance & Strategy, and GTM Operations. You will help influence decision making around Product roadmap, commercial-policy, or account-strategy decisions and ensure the right functional owners are engaged, accountable, and able to make decisions at the pace required. You will need (1) superior communication skills to work across senior stakeholders from different functions and (2) are someone who thrives when solving complex problems with limited oversight. Responsibilities Set the team’s SOKRs, portfolio priorities in partnership with Stripe leadership, work plans, and success measures; allocate program-management capacity across the highest-priority competitive needs. Develop, coach, and retain a high-performing team of program managers capable of operating independently in ambiguous, high-stakes environments. Directly lead the design, launch, and lifecycle management of centrally staffed P0 and P1 competitor programs, including recommendations to continue, adjust, graduate, or re-elevate programs as the market changes. Coach program managers as they also design, launch, and lifecycle management of centrally staffed P0 and P1 competitor programs, including recommendations to continue, adjust, graduate, or re-elevate programs as the market changes. Build and continuously improve the program-management layer of Stripe’s competitive operating system, including playbooks, program standards, decision logs, operating reviews, escalation mechanisms, and executive reporting. Partner closely with Market Intelligence to translate competitive, customer, and deal signals into prioritized program actions; partner with Product, PMM, Sales, Pricing, and Product S&O to ensure those actions have accountable functional owners. Create clear, decision-oriented updates for senior leadership on program health, competitive risks, outcomes, capacity needs, and recommendations. Lead the identification and operationalization of the “competing fiercely” cultural change, surfacing systemic friction, and ensuring the right functional teams own durable solutions. Apply the team’s program-design and execution capabilities to other strategic GTM priorities as business needs evolve. Who you are We're looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement. You are a strategic, hands-on people leader who is energized by ambiguous, cross-functional business problems. You can set direction without waiting for perfect information, while maintaining enough operational rigor to ensure your team delivers durable results. You know how to move between executive-level strategy and program detail: helping senior leaders make trade-offs, owning your own P0/P1 competitor programs all while ensuring teams have clear owners, milestones, decisions, and measures of success. You build trust across functions, but you are also comfortable naming risk, resolving ambiguity, and holding stakeholders accountable to commitments. You are excited by the intersection of market dynamics, competitors, product strategy, commercial strategy, GTM execution, and organizational change. You recognize that a central Competitive Programs team should not replace functional ownership; its value is making the company faster, more coordinated, and more effective in priority situations. Minimum requirements 9+ years of experience in program management, business operations, GTM strategy, management consulting, or a related discipline, including experience in a Sales, Marketing, Product, GTM Operations, or other commercial organization. 2+ years of people-management experience, including setting team objectives, assigning work, coaching and developing experienced