by Taima Elias

You might be wondering what a Technical Program Manager is. First of all, Technical Program Managers (TPM) develop new products to increase the money their business makes. Second of all, TPMs have to get a bachelor’s degree in computer science, management, business, or engineering. TPM’s are highly desired by employers when they have experience and education. Last but not least Technical Program Managers can make $100,000+ annually! And most employers offer full benefit packages, which means they offer good insurance.

Bhawna Bhatia used to work at a famous computer company called Intel that is located in Portland. She says that in her current job it’s all about “end to end managing and launching of products.” She now serves as a Technical Program Manager, where she develops new products for her company. Bhawna enjoys the free time. She studied very hard to get this good at her job. She originally wanted to be a doctor but she was better with numbers and math. She went to graduate school for her doctorate in chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon university.

Bhawna’s day-to-day schedule includes working hard to make sure things go to plan, and when things don’t she makes sure she fixes them fast! She says, “Most days, I’m in fire-fighting mode.” Her usual meetings start from 8:30-9:00 and usually do not end until as late as 5:00. When Bhawna was a kid, her role model was her dad because her dad taught her to study well. She later spent for four years in a University in Pennsylvania. If Bhawna Bhatia could change anything about her job she said she would become more of a manager and less of an individual contributor. She works on Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle.

Bhawna impacts her community by enabling “people to access cheaper and faster storage for their digital content.” She works in the technology sector. As you can see being a TPM is very hard but also enjoyable.