How to source and screen Technical Program Manager candidates

Title variants to search

Cover all 4 when searching boards and your own database.

• Technical Program Manager
• Program Manager (Technical)
• IT Program Manager
• Engineering Program Manager

Starter Boolean search string

Paste into a job board or resume database, then add location and work authorization.

("Technical Program Manager" OR "Program Manager (Technical)" OR "IT Program Manager" OR "Engineering Program Manager") AND ("Running programs across several engineering teams" AND "Technical understanding of systems and dependencies" AND "Risk, scope and schedule management")

Google resume X-ray string

Replace City and ST with your target location.

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) ("Technical Program Manager" OR "Program Manager (Technical)" OR "IT Program Manager" OR "Engineering Program Manager") ("Running programs across several engineering teams" OR "Technical understanding of systems and dependencies" OR "Risk, scope and schedule management") ("City" OR "ST") -job -jobs -sample -template -hiring

LinkedIn Recruiter variant

Operators in uppercase; the NOT group removes junior and recruiter profiles.

("Technical Program Manager" OR "Program Manager (Technical)" OR "IT Program Manager" OR "Engineering Program Manager") AND ("Running programs across several engineering teams" OR "Technical understanding of systems and dependencies" OR "Risk, scope and schedule management") AND NOT (intern OR trainee OR recruiter)

Demand in the job feed

MatchWire's job feed (snapshot, November 1, 2026) holds 226 postings under these titles, and Full-time is the most common job type (72.6% of postings that state one). States with the most, counting only state and title pairs with at least 5 postings:

• California: 81 postings
• New York: 15 postings
• Texas: 10 postings
• Virginia: 10 postings
• Missouri: 10 postings

Must-have skills

For Technical Program manager roles, a candidate who cannot speak to these is rarely a fit.

• Running programs across several engineering teams
• Technical understanding of systems and dependencies
• Risk, scope and schedule management
• Stakeholder communication
• Agile and waterfall delivery

Nice-to-have skills

Rank candidates who already meet the must-haves.

• PMP or similar
• Cloud migration or platform programs
• Jira and roadmapping tools
• Budget tracking
• Vendor management

Screening questions

Hands-on experience versus keyword matching.

• Describe the largest program you ran, the number of teams and the outcome.
• How do you manage a dependency that is slipping?
• How do you report status to executives?

Before you run these strings

Test each string on a small result set first. Operator rules are in the Boolean search cheat sheet and the Dice Boolean search guide.

Where automation helps

MatchWire matches each new Technical Program manager posting to your consultants by rule and drafts a tailored resume for the matches you queue. Try the free match test.

Frequently asked questions