AI Program Manager, Temporary

HME; Carlsbad (CA); On-site; USD 172,000 - 207,000; Full time

Job summary

HME is seeking a contractor Program Manager to accelerate Engineering's transition to Spec-Based AI Development. You will partner with Engineering leadership and AI stakeholders to operationalize standards, tools, and playbooks, delivering repeatable practices to improve speed, quality, and business impact.

The role focuses on cross-functional execution, change management, and enablement material creation, with emphasis on adoption metrics and ROI.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of program management experience in engineering/tech environments.
• Experience supporting software engineering teams and change initiatives.
• Strong understanding of SDLC: requirements, design, code review, testing, release readiness.
• Ability to drive cross-functional initiatives from planning to execution.
• Demonstrated ability to create templates, playbooks, and status updates for stakeholders.
• Experience coordinating training or enablement activities.
• Ability to translate strategy into practical operating processes and measurable outcomes.
• Strong organizational skills to manage multiple workstreams and deliverables.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate rollout of AI coding standards, tools, and governance across Engineering teams.
• Partner with AI/Engineering leadership to support oversight and adoption of AI-enabled practices.
• Drive creation and standardization of reusable templates for specifications, design, tasks, and acceptance criteria.
• Develop internal playbooks, training materials, examples, and enablement resources.
• Identify training needs and coordinate delivery of enablement activities (office hours, guild forums).
• Expand adoption of Spec-Based AI Development across teams.
• Define and track adoption metrics, productivity gains, cycle-time improvements, quality signals, and ROI indicators.
• Coordinate automation improvements (tests, build validation, static analysis, security scans, gates).
• Maintain project plans, action trackers, communications, and escalation paths.

Skills

Program management

Software development lifecycle

Cross-functional collaboration

Change management

Technical documentation

Training coordination

Stakeholder communication

Job description

HME is seeking a contractor Program Manager to help accelerate Engineering's transition to Spec-Based AI Development. This role will partner closely with Engineering leadership, AI Center of Excellence stakeholders, and product development teams to operationalize AI coding standards, approved tools, review practices, training materials, reusable specifications, playbooks, and adoption tracking.

The ideal candidate is a highly organized technical program manager with experience supporting software engineering teams, change management initiatives, AI-enabled development practices, and cross-functional execution. This role will help turn AI development strategy into practical, repeatable operating practices that improve engineering speed, quality, consistency, and measurable business impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate the rollout of established AI coding standards, approved tools, review practices, and governance expectations across Engineering teams.
• Partner with AI / Engineering leadership to support consistent oversight, risk controls, and adoption of AI-enabled development practices.
• Drive creation and standardization of reusable templates for product specifications, technical design, task decomposition, and acceptance criteria.
• Support development of internal playbooks, training materials, examples, and enablement resources for engineering teams.
• Identify training needs and coordinate delivery of enablement activities, including office hours, guild-style forums, and practical team support.
• Help expand adoption of Spec-Based AI Development across teams.
• Partner with Engineering teams to define and track adoption metrics, productivity gains, cycle-time improvements, quality signals, rework, test coverage, and other ROI indicators.
• Coordinate activities related to automation improvements, including automated tests, build validation, static analysis, security scans, and regression gates, as applicable.
• Maintain project plans, action trackers, stakeholder communications, status updates, and escalation paths to ensure the transition progresses quickly and consistently.
• Surface risks, dependencies, and adoption barriers; recommend practical solutions to improve execution and team engagement.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in program management, technical program management, engineering operations, product operations, or a related role.
• Experience working with software engineering teams and technical stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of software development lifecycle practices, including requirements definition, technical design, code review, testing, and release readiness.
• Demonstrated ability to drive cross-functional initiatives from planning through execution.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to create clear templates, playbooks, status updates, and stakeholder-facing materials.
• Experience coordinating training, enablement, or change management initiatives.
• Ability to translate strategic goals into practical operating processes and measurable outcomes.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, stakeholders, and deliverables in parallel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AI-assisted software development, AI coding tools, prompt/spec-driven development, or engineering productivity initiatives.
• Familiarity with AI governance, responsible AI practices, risk controls, and tool approval processes.
• Experience creating engineering templates, technical documentation, internal playbooks, or development standards.
• Experience defining dashboards or performance metrics related to engineering productivity, quality, adoption, or ROI.
• Background working with distributed engineering teams or multiple product areas.
• Experience with DevOps, automated testing, static analysis, security scanning, or build validation processes.

The posted pay range, $125-$150 per hour, is what we reasonably expect to pay for the role. This may vary depending on experience and other factors.

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee will occasionally lift and move up to 10 pounds, 50 pounds with assistance.