Technical Program Manager- LA

Description

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own the execution of complex, multidisciplinary programs spanning hardware, software, systems engineering, manufacturing, testing, supply chain, and customer delivery.
• Partner closely with engineering, product, operations, and company leadership to translate program objectives into clear plans, priorities, deliverables, schedules, and ownership.
• Drive programs from early requirements and system definition through design, integration, qualification, production, and field delivery.
• Develop and maintain integrated program plans that connect technical development, procurement, manufacturing, testing, documentation, and customer milestones.
• Identify critical-path activities, technical and schedule dependencies, resource constraints, and execution risks. Drive mitigation plans and escalate issues when necessary.
• Lead cross-functional execution across internal teams and external partners, ensuring that decisions, actions, owners, and deadlines are clearly documented and followed through to completion.
• Serve as a central point of coordination between engineering teams, company leadership, customers, government stakeholders, vendors, test facilities, and manufacturing partners.
• Own preparation and coordination of key program reviews, customer deliverables, technical data packages, test documentation, status reports, and other contractual or programmatic submissions.
• Work with engineering teams to establish clear requirements, interfaces, configuration baselines, verification plans, and acceptance criteria.
• Coordinate system integration and test activities, including test planning, hardware availability, facility scheduling, readiness reviews, issue resolution, and delivery of test results.
• Partner with manufacturing and supply-chain teams to support production readiness, supplier execution, material availability, build planning, production tracking, and delivery commitments.
• Establish practical program-management processes, tools, and reporting structures that improve execution without creating unnecessary overhead.
• Track and clearly communicate program status, risks, decisions, dependencies, and areas requiring leadership attention.
• Create clarity in fast-moving or ambiguous situations, remove obstacles, and proactively drive teams toward decisions and results.
• Develop sufficient technical understanding of the system architecture, interfaces, requirements, and development risks to ask effective questions, challenge assumptions, and facilitate informed decisions.
• Support proposal efforts, statements of work, program estimates, customer requests, and planning for future phases of work.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, a technical discipline, business, or a related field.
• Five or more years of experience in technical program management, systems engineering, engineering project management, operations, or a related role supporting complex technical products.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional programs involving multiple engineering disciplines.
• Experience managing programs that combine hardware and software development, system integration, manufacturing, and testing.
• Strong project-management skills, including the ability to develop schedules, establish priorities, manage dependencies, track risks, and drive action across teams.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with evolving requirements, limited structure, and competing priorities.
• Strong technical aptitude and the ability to understand system architectures, interfaces, development lifecycles, technical risks, and verification approaches.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate clearly with engineers, executives, customers, vendors, and government stakeholders.
• Strong attention to detail, sound judgment, and a demonstrated commitment to quality and follow-through.
• Ability to take ownership of complex problems, create structure where needed, and drive work to completion with limited direction.
• Experience working with government customers, government contracts, proposals, contractual deliverables, or technical data requirements.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience delivering aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, unmanned systems, or other highly integrated technical products.
• Experience taking a new hardware or software-enabled product from development through qualification, production, and delivery.
• Experience with defense-system safety, qualification testing, compliance documentation, technical reviews, or government concurrence processes.
• Experience managing external suppliers, contract manufacturers, test laboratories, and other technical partners.
• Familiarity with government contract structures, statements of work, contract data requirements lists, data-item descriptions, and formal delivery documentation.
• Experience supporting production planning, configuration management, supplier management, or manufacturing-readiness activities.
• Experience developing or improving organizational processes, program reporting, communication plans, and execution workflows.
• Experience with tools such as Linear, Notion, Jira, Google Workspace, or equivalent program-management platforms.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to use data and metrics to inform priorities, recommendations, and decisions.