First TPM for AI/ML Platform Launches

Chalk; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

15 company holidays

15 days of PTO

Lunch and dinner provided daily

Snacks and drinks in the office

Uber/Lyft home after late nights

Job summary

Chalk is building a data platform powering ML applications, with a fast surface engine and privacy-conscious compute. We seek our first Technical Program Manager to coordinate multi-team launches and scale our program culture.

You’ll partner with founders, VP of Product, and engineering leads to implement programs, processes, and governance. This role is office-based five days a week with flexible handling for conflicts.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience, including 6+ years of technical program management experience.
• Proven track record shipping complex, multi-team technical programs.
• Strong technical depth to follow architecture discussions and ML systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with engineers and executives.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and building structure.
• Experience as a software engineer or hands-on technical role.
• Experience launching developer-facing platforms, APIs, or ML/data infrastructure.
• Experience as the first TPM at a startup.
• Familiarity with data pipelines, analytics, serving, and Kubernetes in customer VPCs.
• Languages: Python, SQL, Rust, and Go.

Responsibilities

• Drive Chalk’s largest cross-functional programs end to end with independence.
• Build program management systems, processes, and culture across teams.
• Elevate execution capability of the engineering teams around you.
• Own timelines, dependencies, and risks for major platform initiatives.
• Run launch readiness for new products, coordinating across docs, marketing, and customer teams.
• Provide visibility into program health, blockers, and outcomes to founders and leads.
• Manage sequencing, push back on shipping when needed, and focus priorities.
• Participate in product/engineering design and identify risks in strategy and architecture.
• Unblock teams by resolving conflicts and keeping decisions moving.

Skills

Technical Program Management

Program management

Communication

Ambiguity management

Software engineering

Developer platforms

Startup experience

Data pipelines

Python

SQL

Rust

Go

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent

Tools

Kubernetes

Job description

Chalk is building a data platform powering ML applications, with a fast surface engine and privacy-conscious compute. We seek our first Technical Program Manager to coordinate multi-team launches and scale our program culture.

You’ll partner with founders, VP of Product, and engineering leads to implement programs, processes, and governance. This role is office-based five days a week with flexible handling for conflicts.