Technical Program Manager

Position Summary

The Technical Program Manager (TPM) drives the execution of our client's Engineering projects from approved scope through delivery. The TPM maintains project schedules, risk/dependency tracking, and stakeholder alignment while leading project management process improvements across the department.

Core Responsibilities

• Project Planning & Schedule Control: Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, and milestones based on Technical Activity Plans (TAPs). Track progress, identify variances early, and adjust plans as dependencies or priorities shift.
• Risk & Escalation Management: Maintain visibility over risks, dependencies, and blockers. Ensure mitigation plans have clear owners, and escalate technical issues to the Chief/Legacy Engineers and staffing/priority issues to the Director of Engineering.
• Delivery Visibility & Closeout: Act as the source of truth for project status using PM tools. Report updates to stakeholders, confirm handoffs and deliverables before closure, and capture lessons learned.
• PM Capability & Process Improvement: Own and streamline Engineering's project management tools, workflows, and templates to maximize project visibility while minimizing administrative burden on engineers.

Role Boundaries & Decision Rights

• TPM: Owns project management plans, process alignment, and TAP schedule integration. Does not make technical decisions, direct personnel, or resolve staff performance issues.
• Director of Engineering: Owns staffing, resource allocation, priorities, capacity, budgets, and overall department performance.
• Legacy Engineers: Own technical delivery, solutions, estimates, and execution.
• Chief Engineer: Owns technical authority, standards, acceptance, and technical risk oversight.
• Operational Execution Lead: Owns day-to-day operational execution within Engineering.

Key Performance Metrics

• Planning Readiness: Approved plans and TAPs are in place before commitments or work begin.
• Schedule Integrity: Schedules reflect active capacity, dependencies, and priorities.
• Risk & Dependency Control: Blockers are identified, assigned, and escalated promptly.
• Execution Visibility: Clear, real-time status in PM tools without relying on repetitive manual engineering updates.
• Closure Discipline: Complete handoffs, approvals, and open-item dispositions prior to closeout.

Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years in technical program/project management across complex, cross-functional technical projects. Hardware, electronics, embedded systems, or legacy-product experience strongly preferred.
• Skills: Strong proficiency in project scheduling, risk management, and dependency tracking. Ability to constructively challenge engineering plans and estimates without taking technical ownership.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication for stakeholder updates and escalation management.
• Tools & Standards: Familiarity with PM/collaboration tools (Zoho, Jira, Confluence) and quality frameworks (ISO 9001, AS9100) preferred.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, a technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience preferred.