Technical Program Manager, Operations Readiness Santa Clara, CA

Gatik; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Gatik is seeking an experienced Technical Program Manager for Operations Readiness to ensure commercial operations smoothly adapt to engineering changes. You’ll oversee impact evaluations, change management, and readiness for hardware, software, map, and posture updates from engineering, reporting to the Director of Program Management.

The role is hybrid in Santa Clara, CA, requiring collaboration with Operations, AVO, Technical Operations, and Engineering to maintain safety and continuity as we

Qualifications

• Strong cross-functional communication and questioning skills, with the ability to translate technical changes into practical procedures.
• Experience in operations readiness, product feature rollouts, program management, or operational training in a scaled technology/logistics company.
• Background in AV/robotics, mobility, logistics, or hardware-enabled service platforms.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary bridge between Engineering and Commercial Operations for engineering-driven technology and product changes.
• Ask probing, structured questions across technical stakeholders to evaluate impact of hardware, software, map, or posture changes on daily operations.
• Map out operational touchpoints and build end-to-end readiness plans, training materials, and updated workflows prior to deployment.
• Coordinate cross-functional alignment between Ops leadership, AVO drivers, field safety, and engineering for onboarding of updates.
• Track rollout milestones, manage operational risks, and provide post-deployment feedback loops to engineering.

Skills

Cross-functional communication

Program management

Operational training

Structured questioning

Job description

Technical Program Manager, Operations Readiness

Who We Are

Gatik is in the business of autonomous freight, and that business is already on the road.

Every day, Gatik’s autonomous trucks move freight for Fortune 50 retailers, grocers and consumer brands across Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada, connecting distribution centers and stores and keeping goods moving. At the heart of it all is the Gatik Driver™, our proprietary Level 4 autonomous driving system, powered by scalable, interpretable AI and engineered to deliver safe, reliable, high-frequency freight operations.

Gatik’s momentum is real. With more than $600 million in contracted revenue and $200 million raised in our August 2026 Series D round, Gatik has taken one of the toughest challenges in autonomous technology and turned it into a proven commercial business.

And the market is paying attention. In 2026, Gatik earned a place on Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers list, and the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. The Gatik Driver™ won an Edison Award for Advancements in Autonomous Driving, and Inc. named our Co-founder and Chief Engineer, Apeksha Kumavat, to its Female Founders 500 list.

There's a lot more road ahead, and some of the brightest, most driven minds in autonomous technology are building the next chapter at Gatik. We're taking on hard engineering problems, pushing the limits of what's possible and building on a commercial foundation that's already proven itself in the real world with some of the biggest companies in the world, like PepsiCo and Loblaw. If you're ambitious, love solving problems that matter and want to see your work make a real difference, you'll find plenty to get excited about here.

About the Role

Gatik is looking for an operational and solution-oriented Technical Program Manager who will focus on Operations Readinessto ensure our commercial operations seamlessly adapt to engineering and technology changes. In this role, you will oversee operational impact evaluations, process change management, and readiness preparation for all incoming hardware, software, map, and posture modifications originated by engineering. Reporting to the Director of Program Management, you will partner closely with Operations, Autonomous Vehicle Operations (AVO), Technical Operations, and Engineering teams. You will be instrumental in maintaining operational safety and business continuity while driving smooth scaling of autonomous commercial routes.

This role is hybrid in our Santa Clara, CA office.

What You'll Do

• Serve as the primary bridge between Engineering and Commercial Operations for all engineering-driven technology and product changes.
• Ask probing, structured questions across technical stakeholders to thoroughly evaluate how new hardware, software, map, or posture changes impact daily operations.
• Map out operational touchpoints and build end-to-end readiness plans, training materials, and updated operational workflows prior to deployment.
• Coordinate cross-functional alignment between Ops leadership, AVO drivers, field safety, and engineering to ensure field teams are fully qualified for incoming updates.
• Track operational rollout milestones, manage operational risks, and provide post-deployment feedback loops to engineering.

What We're Looking For

• 3–5+ years of experience in operations readiness, product feature rollouts, program management, or operational training in a scaled technology/logistics company.
• Background in AV/robotics, mobility, logistics, or hardware-enabled service platforms
• Superior cross-functional communication and questioning skills, with an ability to translate technical engineering changes into practical operational procedures.
• Strong organizational skills and capability to manage complex operational change management workflows.
• Strong preference for candidates based in the Bay Area with willingness to work closely with local test/operations teams onsite.

Salary range: $170,000-220,000

More about Gatik

Founded in 2017, Gatik has grown into a commercial force in autonomous freight, operating trucks daily in live customer networks across the United States and Canada. We're headquartered in Santa Clara, California, but our impact is felt on the roads and in the supply chains that keep essential goods moving for some of the biggest companies in North America.

Our trucks do some of the most demanding work in freight, running high-frequency, time-sensitive routes between distribution centers and stores, where reliability matters every single day. For our customers, that means more capacity, better service and products arriving where they need to be, when they need to be there.

Behind it all is AI-first technology built from the ground up for autonomous trucking, capable of navigating highways and surface streets and tackling the complexity of real-world logistics at scale.

For the latest company news, visit the Gatik newsroom.

At Gatik, we connect people of extraordinary talent and experience to an opportunity to create a more resilient supply chain and contribute to our environment’s sustainability. We are diverse in our backgrounds and perspectives yet united by a bold vision and shared commitment to our values. Our culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, respect and agility.

We at Gatik strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they have opportunities to succeed and grow because we know that together we can do great things. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse team. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.

E-Verify Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Gatik participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Gatik AI’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

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