Staff Technical Program Manager, Core Technologies

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

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.