Technical Program Manager

Samara; Redwood City (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Samara is seeking a Program Manager to own and drive the integrated schedule from feasibility through production release. You will lead phase-gate reviews, manage cross-functional dependencies, and maintain critical-path clarity.

The role requires coordinating design, engineering, manufacturing, site operations, and supply chain to ensure on-time delivery. You will track budget and risk, maintain logs and dashboards, and present honest health updates to leadership.

Qualifications

• Owns schedule from feasibility through production/construction release with gate dates and cross-functional dependencies.
• Leads phase-gate reviews, packages, decisions, and ensures deliverables are complete.
• Tracks program budget, reports variances and drivers to leadership.
• Manages risk, issues, decisions, change records and assigns owners with due dates.

Responsibilities

• Serve as source of truth on program health via dashboards and weekly reviews.
• Build the program’s operating structure, including a document repository and RACI.
• Coordinate across design, engineering, manufacturing, factory ops, supply chain, quality, and site teams.

Skills

Program management

Scheduling

Budget management

Risk management

Leadership

Communication

Data-driven

Education

BS/MS in mechanical/industrial engineering, architecture, construction management or related field

Tools

Microsoft Project

Asana

Autodesk Construction Cloud

Job description

What You’ll Do

• Own the integrated program schedule from feasibility through production release, including gate dates, cross-functional dependencies, long-lead procurement windows, and the critical path, and keep it current as conditions change.
• Lead phase-gate reviews: assemble gate packages, confirm deliverables against acceptance criteria, record decisions, and hold the gate when required deliverables are incomplete.
• Track program budget and cost against plan, and report variances and their drivers to leadership.
• Run the program’s risk register, issue log, decision log, and change records, and drive each item to an owner, a due date, and closure.
• Serve as leadership’s source of truth on program health through dashboards and weekly program reviews, with an early, honest view of schedule, cost, and risk.
• Build out the program’s operating structure, including its document repository, RACI, and meeting cadence, so every team knows what it owns, when it is due, and where the current information lives.
• Bring design, engineering, manufacturing engineering, factory operations, supply chain, quality, and site teams together through design, DFM, and readiness reviews, and make sure decisions and actions are captured and closed.
• Partner with the technical lead to sequence engineering design work, surface tradeoffs that affect schedule or cost, and bring the right decisions to leadership at the right time.
• Work with supply chain on material readiness, vendor submittals, and long-lead items, and reflect their status in the schedule and risk plan.
• Lead construction administration for the first article build and site deployment, including manufacturing drawing review and release, RFI and redline tracking, and resolution of factory and field issues.
• Continuously improve our product development process by running post-mortems and first article reviews and making sure findings become approved changes, updated documentation, and lasting lessons.
• Help shape Samara’s program management standards, tools, and reporting as the function grows.

What We’re Looking For

• 3 to 8 years of program management experience on complex physical products, ideally in prefabricated or modular construction, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, or a comparable environment.
• BS/MS in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, architecture, construction management, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated ownership of schedule, budget, and risk through a phase-gate development process, from early design through production or construction.
• Experience carrying builds from first prototype or first article through production, including clear-to-build reviews, change control, and issue tracking to closure.
• Enough technical fluency across structural, MEP, and envelope systems to read drawings, follow engineering tradeoffs, and ask the questions that matter, without needing to own the technical solution.
• Experience with scheduling and program tools such as Microsoft Project or Asana, and with document control in Autodesk Construction Cloud or comparable platforms.
• Clear, direct communication with leadership, technical teams, factory staff, and external partners, and the confidence to raise risks early.
• A data-driven approach to reporting and a habit of improving the process as you go.
• As comfortable on the factory floor and on a job site as you are presenting to leadership.
• The ambition to help build Samara’s program management function and grow into a leadership role within it.