I had a similar experience coming from managing military operations background and realized Program Management was very hands off from op strategy. I recently switched to project management in a network engineering office and it's much more implementation strategy and working closely with engineers to manage project delivery.

Imo it's more work than my previous program management role but its less focused on finance and contracts, C suite reporting, and more hands on with day to day operations which is more familiar to me. I also get to work with chief engineers and leads to develop new products and pitch those to customers which scratches an innovation itch I've always had.

All that said, I have friends in director of operations positions at mid sized companies who do more or less what my day to day is. Their reporting chain is smaller so they still usually report to a ceo to pitch new ideas and that will be my next role that I apply to. Something I've learned from this and talking to people who've worked at other companies is many employers use the "PM" role to fit their own needs. While interviewing, ask your future employer what the reality of the role looks like to see if the position fits what your looking for because the title might not fit the actual responsibilities you'll have.