Staff Engineering Program Manager, Core Tech

United States Digital Space LLC; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 198,000 - 233,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity packages

Health, dental, vision insurance

Paid time off & holidays

Parental leave

Employee discounts

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC in San Francisco, CA seeks a Staff Technical Program Manager, Core Technologies to lead cross-functional tech initiatives and mature emerging technologies for future productization. Expect collaboration with mechanical, electrical, firmware, software, science, sensing, silicon, and materials teams.

You will define scope, milestones, and readiness criteria, manage risks, and drive alignment across teams while coordinating early prototype builds and learning cycles.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience leading complex cross-functional engineering or technology development efforts across disciplines such as electrical, mechanical, firmware, science, systems, manufacturing, and supply chain
• Experience with phase-gated or maturity-based development models, including defining entry and exit criteria and the evidence needed for progression
• Experience planning and executing design-of-experiments, prototypes, and learning cycles to inform technical decisions
• Strong program management judgment, including prioritization, risk management, issue resolution, and executive communication

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple core technology initiatives, driving technical feasibility, risk reduction, and readiness for transfer into NPI programs
• Partner with senior engineers, designers, supply managers, and cross-functional leaders across mechanical, electrical, firmware, software, science, sensing, silicon, materials, design, and adjacent spaces
• Define scope, objectives, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and success criteria for each initiative
• Establish development plans, decision points, and readiness criteria that clarify when a technology is ready to enter product development
• Drive cross-functional alignment across all teams
• Identify and mitigate technical, supply, schedule, and integration risks early to reduce downstream NPI risk
• Lead early prototype builds, feasibility experiments, design-of-experiments, and learning cycles to mature technologies
• Provide clear program reporting on status, risks, decisions, open questions, and resource needs
• Support external partners and vendors delivering development work or early capability builds
• Help define and refine the core technology development process, including incubation to transfer into NPI teams
• Foster strong execution, open communication, and a collaborative, high-accountability working environment

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Program management

Design of experiments

Risk management

Executive communication

Travel readiness

Technical depth across disciplines

Project scheduling

Tools: Linear

Tools: Confluence

Tools: Smartsheet

Tools

Linear

Confluence

Smartsheet

Job description

Our mission at the company is to empower every person to own their inner potential. Our award-winning products help our global community gain a deeper knowledge of their readiness, activity, and sleep quality by using their the company Ring and its connected app. We've helped millions of people understand and improve their health by providing daily insights and practical steps to inspire healthy lifestyles.

Empowering the world starts with living our values and empowering our team. As a quickly growing company focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives, we ensure that our team members have what they need to do their best work — both in and out of the office.

We’re looking for a Staff Technical Program Manager, Core Technologies to join our Hardware TPM team. This role focuses on maturing emerging technologies ahead of productization so they can be transferred into future NPI programs. You will lead multiple fast-moving initiatives across multiple system technologies leveraging your previous experience across component, module and system work in any number of engineering domains, .

This role will be located in San Francisco, California with in-office collaboration required, along with global travel to other offices and suppliers as needed.What you will do

• Lead multiple core technology initiatives, driving technical feasibility, risk reduction, and readiness for transfer into NPI programs

• Partner closely with senior engineers, designers, supply managers, and other cross-functional leaders across mechanical, electrical, firmware, software, science, sensing, silicon, materials, design, and adjacent spaces

• Define scope, objectives, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and success criteria for each initiative

• Establish development plans, decision points, and readiness criteria that clarify when a technology is ready to enter product development

• Drive cross-functional alignment across all teams

• Identify and mitigate technical, supply, schedule, and integration risks early to reduce downstream NPI risk

• Lead early prototype builds, feasibility experiments, design-of-experiments, and other learning cycles needed to mature technologies

• Provide clear program reporting on status, risks, decisions, open questions, and resource needs

• Support external partners and vendors delivering development work or early capability builds where applicable

• Help define and refine the core technology development process, including how technologies are incubated, matured, and transferred into NPI teams

• Foster strong execution, open communication, and a collaborative, high-accountability working environment

Requirements

We would love to have you on our team if you have:

• 10+ years of experience leading complex cross-functional engineering or technology development efforts across disciplines such as electrical, mechanical, firmware, science, systems, manufacturing, and supply chain

• Strong experience with new technologies, difficult integrations, or early-stage development programs

• Demonstrated ability to lead work ahead of formal productization, including structuring ambiguous problems, planning technical work, and defining readiness

• Experience driving multiple initiatives in parallel across different timelines, maturity levels, and stakeholder groups

• Strong understanding of workflows and dependencies within and across engineering disciplines

• Experience with phase-gated or maturity-based development models, including defining entry and exit criteria and the evidence needed for progression

• Experience planning and executing design-of-experiments, prototypes, and learning cycles to inform technical decisions

• Strong program management judgment, including prioritization, risk management, issue resolution, and executive communication

• Proficiency with tools such as Linear, Confluence, and Smartsheet

• Ability to build and improve processes and workflows

• Curiosity, adaptability, and comfort operating in fast-moving environments

• Willingness to travel up to 25–30% of the time

What we offer

At the company, we care about you and your well-being. Everyone here at the company has a ring of their own and we are continually looking to improve employee health.

• Competitive salary and equity packages

• Health, dental, vision insurance, and mental health resources

• An the company Ring of your own plus employee discounts for friends & family

• 20 days of paid time off plus 13 paid holidays plus 8 days of flexible wellness time off

• Paid sick leave and parental leave

the company takes a market-based approach to pay, which may vary depending on your location. US locations are categorized into tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. While most offers will be closer to the starting range, successful candidates' pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, internal peer equity, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

• Region 1 $198,050 - $233,000

A recruiter can determine your zones/tiers based on your US location.

We are not considering candidates residing in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

the company is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals seeking employment at the company are considered without regard to protected characteristics under applicable law, and we will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

the company is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals seeking employment at the company are considered without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.