Customer Program Manager

AEye, Inc•Pleasanton, CA

4h•$130,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

AEye is seeking a Customer Program Manager to own the customer lifecycle from contract through delivery across its product lines. The role manages a portfolio of roadmap-driven customers using existing sensor platforms and contract-driven space and government programs shaped by committed milestones, controlled requirements baselines, and formal change control. The Customer Program Manager serves as the customer's day-to-day program lead and the internal owner of commitments, translating customer needs and contractual obligations into executable plans. The role works across Customer Programs, Field Engineering, Engineering, Operations, Legal, and Finance. The position is based in Pleasanton, California, and follows a hybrid schedule with in-person work at the Pleasanton office. It reports to the Manager, Customer Programs & Field Engineering. This is a full-time role with a stated base compensation range of $130,000–$160,000, plus bonus and RSUs.

Requirements

At least 4 years of program or project management experience in a hardware, technology, or engineering-driven environment.
Experience communicating directly with customers or external stakeholders, including setting expectations, reporting status, and handling escalations.
Ability to manage schedule, scope, risk, and change across multiple concurrent programs.
Comfort working day to day with engineers and the technical details of hardware or sensor products; engineering credentials are not required, but the role requires asking informed questions and understanding the answers.
Strong written communication and documentation skills, with experience using Jira and Confluence or similar tools.
Experience coordinating across functions such as Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Legal or Contracts.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Ability to work on-site at the Pleasanton, California facility on a hybrid schedule.

Nice To Haves

Government contracting experience, including milestone-based contracts and prime-to-sub flowdown; experience with space flight hardware programs or builds is a bonus.
Experience taking programs through formal milestone reviews such as PDR or CDR and qualification campaigns.
Exposure to compliance environments such as AS9100/ISO 9001, export control (ITAR/EAR), or controlled information handling.
Partner or supplier oversight experience, including statements of work, quotes, and delivery tracking.
Experience in government, smart infrastructure, or intelligent transportation markets.
Familiarity with requirements management, traceability, or interface control documentation.
Experience in LiDAR, sensors, robotics, automotive, or other hardware product environments, and ability to work across product-driven and contract-driven programs.

Responsibilities

Serve as day-to-day program lead for assigned customers from contract execution through delivery and handoff to support.
Maintain customer commitment baselines covering requirements, scope, milestones, deliverables, and assumptions; manage change control for changes that add scope, cost, or schedule risk.
Own customer-facing schedules, set expectations about dates, status, and risks, and conduct regular customer reviews and prepare milestone review materials.
Partner with Field Application Engineers and Engineering to triage customer issues and escalations and drive them to resolution.
Translate customer needs into clear, prioritized demand for engineering planning in partnership with the Technical Program Manager.
Manage space and government programs with formal milestone reviews, contractual deliverables, and milestone-based payments; track progress against contract obligations.
Support requirements traceability and interface documentation for contract-driven programs in partnership with systems engineering.
Coordinate contract-requirement flowdown to internal teams and suppliers with Legal and Quality & Compliance.
Support customer insight requests, compliance reporting, and data-handling and export-control requirements.
Coordinate third-party partners, vendors, and subcontractors supporting customer programs, including scope, quotes, agreements, deliverables, and schedules.
Track partner commitments, quote expirations, purchase orders, and invoices, and raise schedule slips early.
Work with Operations to align build, assembly, test, and shipment plans with customer commitments.
Partner with Finance on program budgets, cost tracking, forecasts, and milestone billing; support timekeeping and cost-reporting processes.
Work with Legal on contract terms, amendments, NDAs, and export-control obligations.
Help define, document, and maintain the customer lifecycle process, including handoffs among Sales/BD, Customer Programs, Engineering, and Operations.
Report status, risks, and decisions needed in recurring cross-program reviews.
Maintain program documentation, including status reports, risk and issue logs, and decision records.