Position Summary

• Employment Type: Full-time
• Location: Cambridge, MA – On-site
• Reports To: Vice President of Operations
• Competitive base salary with early-stage equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, matching 401K benefits and paid life insurance
• 20 days PTO, 11 holidays, 5 sick days, 12 weeks parental leave

We are seeking a strategic, hands-on Principal Technical Program Manager to lead cross-functional teams in delivering innovative energy platforms and critical metal extraction systems. This role will drive execution throughout the product development lifecycle to ensure on-time delivery, exceptional product quality, on-target costs and effective allocation of resources.

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in project management, particularly in launching complex hardware products within a start-up environment.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead cross-functional teams (R&D, Engineering, Operations) to deliver new product initiatives from concept to deployment.
• Own and manage detailed project schedules. Partner with functional leaders to provide input to, and help manage, program-related budgets and resource plans to ensure timely delivery.
• Ensure all design control deliverables are completed per SOPs and regulatory standards.
• Collaborate with engineers and C-suite to align technical execution with business goals.
• Identify and mitigate program risks, escalate issues, and drive resolution across stakeholder groups.
• Interface with commercial and government customers and be able to represent the technical aspects of the Found Industries portfolio. Serve as the “voice of the customer” for follow-on business capture efforts and activities.
• Create, align, and provide regular project updates (written and verbal) to appropriate stakeholders and leadership; create presentations, dashboards, and executive summaries – both scheduled and ad-hoc.
• Build team ownership and commitment to project and business plans and define program milestones, deliverables, and associated resource requirements.
• Proactively assess program health and identify opportunities for program change; implement and manage changes and interventions to achieve timely program outputs.
• Proactively manage program-related actions and deliverables, holding team members and functional managers accountable for completion.
• Conduct highly effective cross-functional team meetings to ensure accountability and milestone achievements; create agendas and publish minutes/actions.
• Proactively manage performance issues and conflicts within the project team; work to resolve these issues in alignment with functional management.
• Provide input to functional leaders on team member performance and functional management support.
• Cultivate a team culture of continuous improvement and teamwork that strives to improve quality, safety, delivery, and cost.
• Actively build and foster collaborative relationships across all levels to improve overall outcomes and timely program execution.

Qualifications

Required

• Education: Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or STEM/related technical field and a passion for hardware development and relationship building.
• Experience: 10+ years of experience, specifically in technical project management and/or systems engineering, or related project management and/or systems engineering experience in a relevant industry.
• Experience leading or executing projects of any type of system from TRL 3-8.
• Extremely organized and detail oriented.
• Experience developing material and read-outs for regular - monthly, quarterly program reviews.
• Experience developing and maintaining a schedule with Microsoft project or similar tool.
• Excellent communication skills.

Preferred Attributes

• Prior experience in a fast-paced hardware start-up, pilot plant scale-up, or technology licensing environment.
• Understanding of government contract structure and reporting.