OPT Director Of Technical Program Management Jobs
Director of Technical Program Management jobs are senior leadership roles that F-1 OPT students with degrees in computer science, engineering, or information systems can pursue. Your 12-month standard OPT window starts immediately, and a STEM OPT extension gives you up to 36 months total to secure H-1B visa sponsorship from a top tech employer.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games. Discord's IT function is at an inflection point. We have a strong support team, and now we need a leader who can build an engineering discipline on top of it. This role reports to the Head of Security & IT and owns the full IT surface: identity and access, endpoint and device trust, SaaS governance, workplace infrastructure, and internal tooling. Your mandate is to transform how IT operates — a fundamental shift from reactive support into a team that writes code, ships automation, and builds the platforms that a top-tier engineering company deserves. This is a building role, not a maintenance role. You'll inherit a functioning support operation and a set of tools that work, but the engineering layer doesn't exist yet. You're here to create it, build the muscle to automate, integrate, and ship to help Discord scale. You should be just as comfortable architecting an identity platform as you are debugging a network issue or writing a Terraform module. You also own the IT side of the security boundary: identity and access management, endpoint protection, device trust, and the compliance controls that live within IT. Dedicated Security Engineering owns the deeper security stack. You partner closely with them on Zero Trust architecture and incident response, and you manage that boundary with maturity and clarity.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
What You'll Be Doing
- Build engineering capability where there is none today, stand up infrastructure-as-code practices, and shift the team's center of gravity from ticket resolution to platform engineering and automation
- Own identity and access management end-to-end. Progress our Zero Trust strategy across identity, device trust, and network layers, and drive the technical roadmap for how Discord employees authenticate, authorize, and access resources
- Drive SaaS governance as a technical discipline: license management, shadow IT discovery, cost optimization, and vendor consolidation
- Modernize service delivery. Integrate AI into workflows, build self-service capabilities, and manage to meaningful SLAs that continuously improve resolution time and employee satisfaction across a globally distributed, hybrid workforce
- Own workplace infrastructure: office networking, AV systems, and endpoint readiness for our San Francisco headquarters, future offices, and hybrid workforce
- Manage the IT budget like a product org. Prioritize ruthlessly, make disciplined build-vs-buy decisions, reduce vendor redundancy, and quantify the value your team delivers
- Administer and continuously improve core IT-managed systems (e.g., Okta, Google Workspace, Jamf, Intune, Crowdstrike, 1Password/Kolide, Asana, Zendesk).
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 10+ years of progressive IT experience with a strong background in endpoint management, SaaS/identity platform administration, and systems engineering.
- 7+ years of experience building and managing multiple teams.
- You've built or transformed an IT organization at a technology company. You took a support-oriented function and turned it into a team that ships code, builds platforms, and operates with engineering discipline.
- You're a technical leader who still builds. You've personally written automation, designed identity architectures, or built internal tooling. You think in infrastructure-as-code, not click-ops, and you're credible with the engineers on your team and across the company.
- You've owned the IT side of the security boundary: endpoint management, identity, device trust, and compliance controls. You know where IT ends and dedicated security engineering begins, and you've navigated that line collaboratively.
- You've managed modern IT platforms at scale. Identity, endpoint management, EDR, productivity suites, and ticketing systems, operated as integrated systems through automation rather than standalone tools managed through consoles.
- You manage multimillion-dollar budgets and make strategic trade-offs. Vendor consolidation, cost optimization, and the judgment to know when to build versus when to buy.
- You've personally stood up capabilities from scratch, whether internal tooling, automation pipelines, or new team functions, and you thrive in the ambiguity of "we don't have this yet."
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience at a company with a similar profile to Discord: consumer tech, high-growth, highly technical employee base, strong product culture.
- Background in leading IT through significant company milestones like enterprise readiness, M&A integration, or international expansion.
- Track record of building internal tooling where commercial solutions weren't justified. You shipped code, not just purchased software.
COMPENSATION
The US base salary range for this full-time position is $400,000 to $450,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.
WHY DISCORD?
Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank.
Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!
Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.
Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.
INTRODUCTION
Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games. Discord's IT function is at an inflection point. We have a strong support team, and now we need a leader who can build an engineering discipline on top of it. This role reports to the Head of Security & IT and owns the full IT surface: identity and access, endpoint and device trust, SaaS governance, workplace infrastructure, and internal tooling. Your mandate is to transform how IT operates — a fundamental shift from reactive support into a team that writes code, ships automation, and builds the platforms that a top-tier engineering company deserves. This is a building role, not a maintenance role. You'll inherit a functioning support operation and a set of tools that work, but the engineering layer doesn't exist yet. You're here to create it, build the muscle to automate, integrate, and ship to help Discord scale. You should be just as comfortable architecting an identity platform as you are debugging a network issue or writing a Terraform module. You also own the IT side of the security boundary: identity and access management, endpoint protection, device trust, and the compliance controls that live within IT. Dedicated Security Engineering owns the deeper security stack. You partner closely with them on Zero Trust architecture and incident response, and you manage that boundary with maturity and clarity.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
What You'll Be Doing
- Build engineering capability where there is none today, stand up infrastructure-as-code practices, and shift the team's center of gravity from ticket resolution to platform engineering and automation
- Own identity and access management end-to-end. Progress our Zero Trust strategy across identity, device trust, and network layers, and drive the technical roadmap for how Discord employees authenticate, authorize, and access resources
- Drive SaaS governance as a technical discipline: license management, shadow IT discovery, cost optimization, and vendor consolidation
- Modernize service delivery. Integrate AI into workflows, build self-service capabilities, and manage to meaningful SLAs that continuously improve resolution time and employee satisfaction across a globally distributed, hybrid workforce
- Own workplace infrastructure: office networking, AV systems, and endpoint readiness for our San Francisco headquarters, future offices, and hybrid workforce
- Manage the IT budget like a product org. Prioritize ruthlessly, make disciplined build-vs-buy decisions, reduce vendor redundancy, and quantify the value your team delivers
- Administer and continuously improve core IT-managed systems (e.g., Okta, Google Workspace, Jamf, Intune, Crowdstrike, 1Password/Kolide, Asana, Zendesk).
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 10+ years of progressive IT experience with a strong background in endpoint management, SaaS/identity platform administration, and systems engineering.
- 7+ years of experience building and managing multiple teams.
- You've built or transformed an IT organization at a technology company. You took a support-oriented function and turned it into a team that ships code, builds platforms, and operates with engineering discipline.
- You're a technical leader who still builds. You've personally written automation, designed identity architectures, or built internal tooling. You think in infrastructure-as-code, not click-ops, and you're credible with the engineers on your team and across the company.
- You've owned the IT side of the security boundary: endpoint management, identity, device trust, and compliance controls. You know where IT ends and dedicated security engineering begins, and you've navigated that line collaboratively.
- You've managed modern IT platforms at scale. Identity, endpoint management, EDR, productivity suites, and ticketing systems, operated as integrated systems through automation rather than standalone tools managed through consoles.
- You manage multimillion-dollar budgets and make strategic trade-offs. Vendor consolidation, cost optimization, and the judgment to know when to build versus when to buy.
- You've personally stood up capabilities from scratch, whether internal tooling, automation pipelines, or new team functions, and you thrive in the ambiguity of "we don't have this yet."
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience at a company with a similar profile to Discord: consumer tech, high-growth, highly technical employee base, strong product culture.
- Background in leading IT through significant company milestones like enterprise readiness, M&A integration, or international expansion.
- Track record of building internal tooling where commercial solutions weren't justified. You shipped code, not just purchased software.
COMPENSATION
The US base salary range for this full-time position is $400,000 to $450,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.
WHY DISCORD?
Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank.
Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!
Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.
Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship in Director Of Technical Program Management
Target companies with established H-1B sponsorship history
Large tech firms and enterprise software companies file hundreds of H-1B visa petitions annually for TPM leadership roles. Prioritize employers with a documented track record of sponsoring senior program management positions, not just entry-level engineering roles.
Make your OPT timeline explicit in conversations
Director-level hiring cycles run three to six months. If you have 12 to 18 months of OPT remaining, say so upfront. Employers need enough runway to complete onboarding and initiate H-1B paperwork before your authorization expires.
Align your degree field to the job description carefully
STEM OPT eligibility depends on your degree CIP code. A Director of Technical Program Management role typically qualifies under computer science or engineering, but confirm your degree classification with your DSO before accepting an offer.
Position your STEM OPT extension as a sponsorship bridge
The 24-month STEM extension gives employers two additional H-1B lottery attempts. Frame this explicitly in interviews. Senior hiring managers often do not realize the STEM extension exists and may assume your OPT window is shorter than it actually is.
Negotiate sponsorship commitment before signing an offer
At the director level, you have real leverage. Ask directly whether the company sponsors H-1B visas for this role before finalizing any offer. Get confirmation in writing, including a point of contact in HR or legal who manages immigration filings.
Build relationships with engineering and product leadership, not just recruiters
Hiring decisions for Director of TPM roles often sit with VPs of Engineering or Chief Product Officers. Internal champions who understand your work authorization situation can advocate for sponsorship approval when HR or finance raises cost concerns.
Director Of Technical Program Management OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Can F-1 OPT students work as a Director of Technical Program Management in the United States?
Yes. F-1 OPT authorizes full-time employment in a role directly related to your degree field. A Director of Technical Program Management role typically qualifies under computer science, electrical engineering, or information systems degrees. Your DSO can confirm eligibility based on your specific CIP code before you accept an offer.
Does a Director of Technical Program Management role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
It depends on your degree, not the job title. If your degree is in a STEM-designated field, such as computer science or engineering, and the role involves technical program oversight in that discipline, it generally qualifies. Your employer must also be enrolled in E-Verify. Confirm the STEM CIP code with your DSO before applying for the extension.
How do I find Director of Technical Program Management jobs that sponsor OPT?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for F-1 OPT students and filters roles by visa sponsorship willingness. Director-level TPM positions at companies actively sponsoring OPT and H-1B candidates are listed there. Searching a general job board surfaces thousands of listings with no sponsorship signal, which wastes time when you're working against an OPT deadline.
What happens to my OPT authorization if I am laid off from a Director of Technical Program Management role?
F-1 OPT students have a 90-day aggregate unemployment limit during the OPT period. If you lose your job, that clock starts immediately. You must report the change to your DSO and begin actively seeking new employment. Finding another qualified TPM role quickly is critical to maintaining your F-1 status and preserving any remaining OPT time.
Will employers hesitate to hire an OPT student for a Director-level role because of visa costs?
Some will, but director-level candidates have more negotiating leverage than junior hires. Employers investing in senior leadership are more willing to absorb sponsorship costs when the candidate reduces risk by explaining the STEM OPT extension clearly. Two additional H-1B lottery opportunities over 36 months significantly changes the employer's calculus compared to a standard 12-month OPT window.