Kanav Dhawan

Strategic Program Manager

I bridge the gap between complex C-suite vision and ground-level execution.

The Mission

My mission is to solve the 'how' of complex delivery. I specialize in transforming high-ambiguity initiatives into governed successes by providing leaders with the strategic insights of the PgMBlog and the automated power of the AI PgM Sandbox—replacing manual overhead with high-stakes results.

Professional Experience

    • Organizational Transformation: Spearheading the end-to-end implementation of formal Project and Program Management (PPM) frameworks for Europe’s largest cruise travel agency (£450M+ revenue).

    • Change Management: Establishing the inaugural Change Delivery Management practice, institutionalizing governance and standardized delivery lifecycles across the enterprise.

    • Commercial Growth: Orchestrating cross-functional IT initiatives to scale platform pricing capabilities and expand booking options, directly contributing to an uplift in Gross Margin Per Passenger.

    • Product Scaling: Leading complex technical workstreams to enhance the core Cruise Product, ensuring platform stability during rapid scaling and feature expansion.

  • Senior Program Manager | Mar 2023 – May 2025

    • Performance & Scale: Directed multi-team programs across Checkout Migration and Operational Excellence, reducing incidents by 36% and boosting platform performance by 43%.

    • Leadership: Built and scaled a distributed team of 34 from scratch, establishing RACIs and delivery rituals that drove an 89% retention rate.

    • Compliance: Acted as PCI, SOX, and Accessibility Champion, ensuring 100% regulatory compliance across all global Checkout platforms.

    Program Manager III | Jul 2018 – Mar 2023

    • Efficiency & Cost: Orchestrated micro-app migrations to PCI-secured clusters, enabling ~$40M in annual audit cost savings.

    • Transformation: Led the migration of Brand Expedia’s payment UI to a Progressive Web App (PWA) using GraphQL to enhance checkout performance.

    • Regulatory Leadership: Spearheaded Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and NDFC initiatives, ensuring seamless compliance across EU/UK markets.

    Technical Product Management & Operations | May 2012 – Jun 2018

    • Optimization: Launched 250+ A/B tests over 18 months and integrated digital wallets (Apple Pay, PayPal, Klarna) to drive conversion.

    • Technical Foundation: Introduced Agile methodologies to Operations; built predictive monitoring systems and dashboards using Splunk, Python, and C++.

See Project Details & Endorsements
See Project Details & Endorsements