Senior Program Manager, Autonomous Systems & Production

PDW; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

BCBS medical coverage

401(k) with company match

On-site gym

Life insurance

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Generous PTO

Job summary

Performance Drone Works (PDW) seeks a Program Manager to own schedules, costs, and scope across major cross-functional production programs, driving alignment and ensuring strategy translates into high-quality execution.

You will lead development from concept through production readiness, track key metrics, and escalate issues to resolve cross-functional challenges affecting production. This role requires a strong aerospace/defense and robotics background and hands-on leadership.

Qualifications

• 8+ years leading complex product development programs in engineering-intensive environments.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary hardware and software development efforts from concept through TRL6.
• Background in aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, or other complex technical industries.
• Familiar with prototype development, system integration, verification and validation, and transition-to-production processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional development programs from concept through design, integration, verification, and readiness for production transition.
• Manage program schedules, risk registers, implementation plans, and action-item tracking to ensure disciplined execution.
• Lead recurring production reviews, change control boards, and cross-functional readiness assessments.
• Track and report key program metrics, including delivery performance, production readiness, change implementation status, schedule adherence, and risk mitigation progress.
• Escalate issues proactively and drive resolution of cross-functional challenges affecting production execution.
• Track progress against design reviews, integration milestones, prototype builds, test events, and validation activities to achieve production release.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

Risk management

Hardware development

Aerospace experience

Job description

Performance Drone Works (PDW) seeks a Program Manager to own schedules, costs, and scope across major cross-functional production programs, driving alignment and ensuring strategy translates into high-quality execution.

You will lead development from concept through production readiness, track key metrics, and escalate issues to resolve cross-functional challenges affecting production. This role requires a strong aerospace/defense and robotics background and hands-on leadership.