Customer Program Manager

AEye•Pleasanton, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

AEye is seeking a Customer Program Manager to own customer programs across the lifecycle, from contract execution through delivery and handoff to support. The role manages both roadmap-driven customers building on 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 position works across Customer Programs, Field Engineering, Engineering, Operations, Legal, and Finance. The role is based in Pleasanton, California, with a hybrid schedule and in-person work at the Pleasanton office.

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; space flight hardware programs or builds are 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 flex between product-driven and contract-driven work.

Responsibilities

Serve as day-to-day program lead for assigned customers, from contract execution through delivery and handoff to support.
Maintain customer commitment baselines, including requirements, scope, milestones, deliverables, and assumptions; manage changes that affect scope, cost, or schedule risk.
Own customer-facing schedules, set expectations on dates, status, and risks, and lead customer reviews and milestone review materials.
Work with Field Application Engineers and Engineering to triage customer issues and escalations and drive them to resolution.
Translate customer needs into 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, data-handling requirements, and export-control requirements.
Coordinate third-party partners, vendors, and subcontractors, including scope, quotes, agreements, deliverables, and schedules.
Track partner commitments, quote expirations, purchase orders, and invoices, and raise schedule slips early.
Coordinate with Operations to align build, assembly, test, and shipment plans with customer commitments.
Partner with Finance on program budgets, cost tracking, forecasts, milestone billing, 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.