Senior Technical Program Manager, Robotics
Technical Program Manager bridging Engineering and Operations for Physical AI and robotics programs at Scale. Own end-to-end complex multidisciplinary programs from design to production, drive cross-functional alignment, and establish processes in an ambiguous, fast-evolving environment. Requires 5+ years TPM/PM/Lead Engineer experience and strong technical foundation in HW/SW systems.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary driver of alignment between all major stakeholder groups (Engineering, Operations, Solutions, Product, GTM, etc.), ensuring shared milestones, OKRs, and clear ownership.
- End-to-end ownership of complex programs: define program scope, build comprehensive schedules, manage dependencies, and aggressively mitigate risks to ensure on-time delivery.
- Establish a single source of truth for program status. Author clear program documentation, maintain schedules, and provide regular, high-impact updates to executive leadership.
- Thrive in a highly fluid, rapidly evolving environment. Proactively chart a path forward, make sound decisions with incomplete data, and establish structure where none exists.
- Operate with a deep, hands-on approach: manage hardware release schedules, run sprint planning meetings, or manually audit data to solve critical issues.
- Design and implement scalable frameworks, tools, and communication cadences to optimize how Eng and Ops teams collaborate.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience as a TPM, Product Manager, or Lead Engineer managing complex, deeply technical programs.
- Demonstrated success managing programs that span both engineering / R&D and operational environments.
- Exceptional ability to navigate ambiguity, build structure out of chaos, and influence senior stakeholders without formal authority.
- Strong technical foundation allowing active participation in architecture reviews and credibly challenge/evaluate technical trade-offs with both HW and SW engineers.
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
Nice-to-Haves
- Proven track record delivering complex robotics, mechatronics, autonomous vehicles, or hardware-software integrated systems from concept to production.
- Experience working with large language models (LLMs) and/or vision-language models (VLMs).
- Deep familiarity with both Agile/Scrum and Waterfall methodologies, and the ability to hybridize them effectively.
- Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
- PMP certification or equivalent.
Skills
Technical Program Management, Cross-Functional Leadership, Risk Management, Hardware-Software Integration, Robotics, Mechatronics, Autonomous Vehicles, LLMs, Vlms, Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, Architecture Reviews
Similar jobs
Technical Program Management jobs
Airbnb
San Francisco, CA
Drive planning and delivery of Airbnb's priority software product programs by partnering with engineering, design, marketing and operations teams. Develop custom program plans, anticipate risks, and act as a force multiplier to improve quality and velocity across cross-functional stakeholders. Requires 8+ years managing complex product programs at global scale.
Datadog
New York, NY
Leads complex, cross-functional technical programs across engineering, product, and business functions while identifying systemic risks and driving completion. The role emphasizes technical credibility in infrastructure, observability, data, or AI/ML systems and building AI-powered automation that reduces coordination overhead.
Figma
San Francisco, CALead cross-functional infrastructure programs at Figma, coordinating reliability, storage, distributed systems, and compliance initiatives across engineering, security, and legal teams. Requires 8+ years of infrastructure TPM experience with deep technical expertise in cloud-native systems.
OpenAI
San Francisco, CA
Leads cross-functional delivery of large-scale AI infrastructure programs from planning through operational handoff, coordinating engineering, construction, hardware, networking, operations, and external partners. Requires 8+ years of complex technical program leadership, strong dependency and risk management, and executive communication skills.
OpenAI
Remote
Leads end-to-end technical delivery of AI deployments for semiconductor customers, coordinating engineering, research, product, and customer teams. The role requires 7+ years of customer-facing technical delivery experience, deep semiconductor workflows expertise, and experience shipping production AI or LLM systems.