Program Manager, Business Operations Cambridge, MA

Walden Robotics, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Walden Robotics, Inc. seeks a Program Manager to serve as strategic and operational support to the Head of Business Operations.

The role coordinates across Facilities, Legal, Procurement/Supply Chain, HR Operations, IT, and EH&S, while collaborating with Finance and Talent Acquisition on cross-functional work. It requires discretion, trust, and judgment, and focuses on leading company-wide program rollouts and building scalable processes.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in program/project management, business operations, strategy, or similar roles.
• Experience working across multiple functions (legal, facilities, HR, procurement, etc.).
• Ability to build tracking systems from the ground up.
• Tool-agnostic and able to work in team systems (Jira, GitHub).
• Strong written and verbal communication translating complexity into actionable plans.

Responsibilities

• Identify, track, and summarize high-priority work across multiple teams; flag delays and risks.
• Lead end-to-end execution of cross-functional programs from Business Operations.
• Scope, sequence, and prioritize operational initiatives with COO and leaders.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects across Facilities, Legal, Procurement, HR, Finance, IT, EH&S, Talent Acquisition.
• Drive change management for company-wide rollouts with adoption planning.

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Communication (written & verbal)

Process design & tracking

AI-assisted synthesis & reporting

Tools

Jira

GitHub

Job description

We're looking for a Program Manager to serve as a strategic and operational right hand to the Head of Business Operations, keeping priorities organized across each team including Facilities, Legal, Procurement/Supply Chain, HR Operations, IT, and EH&S, while collaborating with Finance and Talent Acquisition on cross-functional work. While this person has no direct reports, this role calls for a high degree of trust, discretion, and judgment. This person will lead company-wide program rollouts that originate from Business Operations, keep complex, multi-team initiatives on track, and bring visibility to the technical organization. This person will build structure and momentum on the fly, establishing the lightweight systems needed to organize and scale along the way.

Core Responsibilities:

• Identify, track, and summarize high priority active work across these teams and proactively flag delays, risks, unassigned responsibilities, and pending decisions requiring attention
• Lead end-to-end execution of cross-functional programs and initiatives that originate from Business Operations and affect the broader company
• Partner with the Business Operations team leads and COO to scope, sequence, and prioritize operational initiatives
• Manage multiple concurrent projects spanning Business Operations functions - Facilities, Legal, Procurement, HR Operations, Finance, IT, EH&S, and Talent Acquisition - tracking timelines, dependencies, and risks
• Drive change management for company-wide rollouts, including stakeholder communication and adoption planning
• Build credibility and working relationships across teams that don't report directly into Business Operations, driving progress through influence and clear communication rather than formal authority
• Establish initial tracking and reporting practices for Business Operations work, including foundational metrics and dashboards where none currently exist
• Build repeatable project management frameworks and templates for the Business Operations team to use going forward
• Support the transition of work from the Head of Business Operations to new team members as they join, including coordinating handoffs, documenting processes, and building playbooks
• Serve as a central point of coordination across Business Operations functions to reduce duplicated effort and surface interdependencies
• Provide regular status updates and progress reporting to leadership
• Flex between planned initiatives and ad hoc, reactive requests as priorities shift

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in program or project management, business operations, strategy, or similar roles, ideally spanning multiple functions or teams
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience working across varied functions (e.g. legal, facilities, HR, procurement, or similar operational areas)
• Comfort building process and tracking systems from the ground up
• Tool-agnostic - able to work effectively in whatever systems the team uses (e.g. Jira, GitHub)
• Strong ability to leverage AI tools to move faster on synthesis, documentation, and reporting
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to translate cross-functional complexity into clear, actionable plans

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in a high-growth startup environment
• Experience building basic dashboards or reporting infrastructure (e.g. in Sheets, Excel, or a BI tool)

At Walden Robotics, we envision a world where general-purpose robots dramatically improve the quality of life for all people - supporting us at home, at work, in factories, on farms, and beyond. To accomplish this, we are building a team of exceptional professionals who combine world-class technical skills with creative vision, grounded in humility and collaboration.