Technical Program Manager, Software

Mind Robotics; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Mind Robotics is seeking a Software Program Manager to own the integrated software program plan from roadmap to fleet release. You will partner with hardware PMs to unify software and hardware into one program view, driving milestones, risk mitigation, and decision making.

You will design the program practice, establish planning rhythms, and track metrics to keep teams aligned with org goals while balancing time, scope, and resource constraints on real-world robotics deployments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years in technical program management for software.
• Experience integrating software with hardware in robotics/autonomous systems.
• Proven track record delivering software from development to release.
• Strong software fundamentals for architecture, planning and integration.
• Experience managing multi-domain programs with hardware dependencies.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Ownership: Own the software program plan end to end — roadmap through fleet release.
• Program Practice Design: Establish planning rhythm tying team work to org milestones.
• Milestone Planning: Define milestones and what done means at each step.
• Metric Tracking: Monitor program metrics; report blockers and risks.
• Progress Tracking: Build a tracking layer to show on/off track status.
• Risk Mitigation: Identify and elevate technical, dependency, and resourcing risks.
• Technical/Business Judgment: Engage in architecture and design discussions.

Skills

Technical program management

Robotics domain experience

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Job description

About Mind:

Mind Robotics is building Physical AI for real-world industrial deployment, starting with the factory floor. We believe the hardest problems in AI are solved when researchers and engineers are hands-on with the physical world every day - and we’re looking for people who are passionate about robotics, value ownership, and are excited to tackle difficult problems. Join us if you want to move beyond digital intelligence and put intelligence into motion.

About the team and the role:

Program Management at Mind is an operational catalyst. We own outcomes, drive the trade-offs that keep engineering moving, and set the metabolic rate of the teams we partner with — clearing roadblocks, closing stalled decisions, carrying risk upward, and protecting the focus engineers need to build. As a Software Program Manager you will own the integrated program plan across all of software and build the practice itself: how teams define their own milestones and commit to org-level ones, how we know week over week whether we are on or off track, and how problems surface early enough that we can still do something about them. You will partner directly with hardware program management so that software and hardware roll up into one program picture rather than two competing ones.

Responsibilities:

• End-to-End Ownership: Own the software program plan end to end — from roadmap planning through implementation, integration, validation, and release to the fleet — and own the functional outcome, not just the schedule.

• Program Practice Design: Establish how software program management works at Mind: the planning rhythm that connects team-level work to org-level milestones, what qualifies as a milestone, what “done” means at each one, and the artifacts that support both the individual engineer and leadership in prioritization and decision making.

• Milestone Planning: Build software plans that align with org-level milestones, including clear definitions of what “done” means at each step.

• Metric Tracking: Monitor and report on key program metrics, and communicate status, blockers, and risks to leadership.

• Progress Tracking & Status Integrity: Build the tracking layer that answers whether we are on or off track, drawn from the systems teams already work in.

• Risk Mitigation: Identify and elevate technical, dependency, and resourcing risks early, and and drive them to resolution.

• Technical / Business Judgment: Engage directly in architecture and design discussions at a depth sufficient to stress-test engineering estimates and pressure-test readiness. Drive decisions at that level with understanding of the impacts to our business goals.

Requirements:

• Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in engineering (software / computer science preferred), or equivalent experience.

• Industry Experience: 5+ years of experience in technical program management for software products, ideally in robotics, autonomous systems, or another domain where software ships against hardware and real-world deployment constraints.

• Proven Track Record: Demonstrated success taking software from early development through release and sustained operation.

• Technical Depth: Strong software fundamentals with the ability to engage meaningfully in architecture, planning, and systems integration discussions.

• System Complexity: Experience managing programs spanning multiple interdependent software domains along with their dependencies on hardware revisions and the availability of test hardware.

• Execution & Ownership: High sense of urgency, comfortable with ambiguity, and driven by an “engineering curiosity” to understand how the entire system works.