Defense-Scale Manufacturing Program Manager

GrayMatter Robotics; Carson (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Unlimited PTO

401(k) with employer match

Regular offsite events

Productivity enhancement fund

Job summary

GrayMatter Robotics seeks a seasoned Program Manager to lead a multi-year, defense-scale manufacturing build. You will stand up the physical facility, coordinate production readiness, and ensure seamless integration with external robotics partners to deliver complex output across several applications.

The role requires experience in regulated industrial environments, strong executive stakeholder skills, and willingness to travel to customer sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related engineering field, or equivalent professional engineering experience.
• 10+ years of experience in program or project management within complex, highly regulated engineering environments such as aerospace, automotive, maritime, or defense.
• Demonstrated experience standing up new production capability, not just managing an existing line.
• Proven track record managing executive-level and cross-organizational stakeholder relationships.
• Ability to operate with significant ambiguity and evolving scope, and to turn that ambiguity into a clear, sequenced plan.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively across multiple teams.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites as required by the role.
• Must meet export control requirements in the United States and maintain ongoing work authorization beginning at the time of hire through the entirety of employment.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of a multi-year, defense-scale manufacturing build-out, including standing up the physical facility itself (permitting, layout, and utilities), through to full production qualification.
• Coordinate ongoing production operations once qualified, not just the qualification milestone itself, so output stays on schedule as volume scales.
• Sequence work across a growing set of robotic applications, including cutting, beveling, grinding, blasting, spraying, inspection, and material handling, so each application's output cleanly feeds the next.
• Coordinate design and scheduling decisions between GMR's engineering teams and a key external robotics collaborator to keep interdependent workstreams aligned.
• Own the qualification roadmap with the NAVSEA, translating federal requirements into a sequenced plan for robotic process approval.
• Report program status, risk, and milestones to senior leadership on both the customer and GMR side, including executive and government stakeholders.
• Identify program risk early and resolve cross-functional bottlenecks before they affect schedule, cost, or qualification timelines.
• Build and maintain the single source of truth for program requirements, milestones, and inter-company handoffs.
• Use AI-native tools to track program status, surface risk earlier, and keep documentation current across a fast-moving, multi-site build.
• Travel to customer and program sites as needed, up to 25% of the time.

Skills

Program management

Executive stakeholder management

Cross-team collaboration

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or Industrial Engineering or related field

Job description

GrayMatter Robotics seeks a seasoned Program Manager to lead a multi-year, defense-scale manufacturing build. You will stand up the physical facility, coordinate production readiness, and ensure seamless integration with external robotics partners to deliver complex output across several applications.

The role requires experience in regulated industrial environments, strong executive stakeholder skills, and willingness to travel to customer sites.