Staff Technical Program Manager - Defense Technology

About the Role

We’re seeking a Staff Technical Program Manager to drive hardware design and development efforts across several of Connected Warfare’s largest programs. This Staff Technical Program Manager remote position requires a unique blend of technical expertise, program management experience, customer focus, and an understanding of the defense sector and military systems. You will work closely with engineering, product, business, and government stakeholders to deliver innovative solutions that meet the needs of our customers and partners.

What You'll Do

• Program Management: Align program roadmaps, manage timelines, and allocate resources to ensure successful delivery and production-quality. Balance competing priorities across multiple products and programs in a fast-paced, startup environment.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary liaison between research, engineering teams, product management, and external stakeholders—including defense contractors and government entities. Align cross-functional teams on their goals, dependencies, and deliverables. Drive effective communication and collaboration across distributed teams and locations.
• Technical Expertise: Understand the architecture, dependencies, and technical challenges of defense-related systems. Support engineering teams in resolving technical issues, making trade-offs to meet division objectives. Ensure compliance with industry standards and government regulations, such as ITAR and RMF.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate risks proactively, including technical, schedule, and compliance-related risks. Monitor dependencies, anticipate bottlenecks, and adjust plans as needed to maintain program momentum.
• Stakeholder Management: Manage relationships with key suppliers, customers, partners, and government agencies, ensuring program alignment with contractual obligations and stakeholder expectations. Prepare and deliver clear program updates, technical briefs, and performance reports for internal and external audiences.
• Process Improvement: Implement and refine processes to enhance program execution and efficiency within a startup environment. Leverage best practices in program management while adapting to the unique challenges of the defense sector. Cultivate knowledge management repositories and CI/CD pipelines to build processes that result in production-quality engineering deliverables.

Requirements

• Minimum 10+ years managing complex hardware development programs through all phases of the hardware development cycle.
• At least 8+ years as Technical Program Manager, Product Manager, Engineering Manager, or Engineer for a commercial technology or aerospace and defense company.
• Strong technical background with familiarity in systems engineering, software development, and networking.
• Proven client-facing technical program management and/or systems engineering experience.
• Exceptional organizational and communication skills.
• Willingness to travel as needed (up to 25%).

Nice to Have

• Ability to work within organizations with minimal structure and with minimal direction.
• Proven track record in designing and implementing best practices that drive operational efficiency and sustainable growth.
• Familiarity with defense industry compliance and reporting requirements.
• Experience with developing and operating distributed systems, CI/CD pipelines, APIs, middleware, 3rd-party software developer experience initiatives, and/or modular system architectures.
• Experience managing Test and Evaluation or continuous Quality Assurance of complex programs.
• Strong technical, analytical, and quantitative skills with the ability to use data and metrics to back up assumptions, recommendations, and drive decisions.
• Bachelor’s Degree in an Engineering discipline, ideally Mechanical and/or Electrical.

What We Offer

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans at little to no cost to you.
• Highly competitive PTO plans with a holiday hiatus in December.
• Access to free mental health resources 24/7, including therapy and life coaching.
• Annual reimbursement for professional development.
• Relocation assistance available depending on role eligibility.