🛩️ Technical Program Manager
📍 Los Angeles County, CA
💼 Full-time | On-site | Relocation assistance provided
Why Join Us
My client is a high-growth technology company developing advanced, dual-use autonomous aerial systems for mission critical applications! The team has been quickly scaling over the past year, but are still a lean, fast-paced organization where every individual has a huge impact.
They are looking to bring on a Technical Program Manager to bridge the gap between complex software R&D and hardware integration. Embedded directly within the engineering department, you will never be far from the technical work. This role has significant visibility, offering a direct path to shape program management practices, drive immediate high-profile software releases, and scale your career as the company grows.
What You'll Do
- End-to-End Delivery: Oversee complex software development initiatives from early-stage architecture and functional requirements through systems integration, verification, and major product releases.
- Agile Leadership: Guide multi-disciplinary technical teams as a Scrum Master, introducing framework best practices to optimize sprint cycles and accelerate delivery pipelines.
- Hybrid Project Planning: Build, execute, and maintain detailed engineering program plans and roadmaps, blending Agile execution (Jira) with structured timeline tracking (Gantt/Smartsheet) to balance velocity with predictability.
- Immediate & Long-Term Deliverables: Take immediate ownership of an upcoming critical software release; over the first 90 days, partner with engineering leadership to build out scalable, standardized software processes and gradually absorb long-term product sustainment efforts.
- Cross-Functional & Hardware Alignment: Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary hardware and systems engineering teams to implement technical improvements, manage resource allocation, and ensure software-hardware interoperability.
- Lifecycle Sustainment: Gradually assume oversight of post-launch product stability, establishing workflows to support long-term product lifecycle continuity and continuous system improvement.
- Risk & Issue Mitigation: Proactively manage technical risks and unblock teams. Track internal and customer-reported issues, driving prioritization, resolution, and objective Root Cause Analysis.
- Communication & Transparency: Act as the primary technical point of contact for program execution, directly communicating critical timelines, structural trade-offs, and mitigation plans to stakeholders.
What You'll Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in Software, Computer, Systems Engineering, or a highly related technical discipline.
- 3-5+ years managing software programs (as a TPM, PM, or Lead) within an interdisciplinary engineering environment.
- Proven track record bridging software infrastructure with complex electro-mechanical, robotic, hardware, or consumer electronic systems (not pure software applications).
- Hands-on experience running Agile project cycles, managing sprint ceremonies, and driving execution utilizing modern ticketing tools (Jira).
- Experience navigating both structured, large-scale best practices and small, scrappy startup environments.
- Proficiency with project scheduling tools, with a strong preference for Smartsheet or advanced Gantt chart applications.
- Prior technical experience as an individual contributor, systems specialist, or engineering team lead.
- Knowledge of optics-related hardware (AR/VR), vision systems, robotics, autonomous vehicles, or regulated/defense environments.
Culture Fit
- You thrive in dynamic environments, proactively leaning in to establish structure and accountability where it is needed most.
- You focus heavily on continuous team improvement, providing empowering feedback loops that build up engineering capabilities rather than relying on top-down authority.
- You practice open, direct communication. You present delays objectively alongside immediate, viable solutions to mitigate schedule risks.
- You measure success by how effectively your cross-functional engineering team builds, ships, and sustains exceptional products.
ITAR Clause
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable.
Apply ASAP to take advantage of this opportunity!