Defense Technical Program Manager

Kodiak•Mountain View, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense. Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense. Kodiak is seeking a Defense Technical Program Manager to lead execution of autonomy and platform capabilities supporting defense and government-adjacent customers. This role is responsible for driving complex, cross-functional technical programs that require high rigor, clear accountability, and strong coordination across engineering, product, operations, and external stakeholders. You will help ensure that defense programs are delivered with the predictability, documentation, and risk management expected in government-facing environments, while still moving with startup speed.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in technical or program management supporting autonomy, robotics, aerospace, defense, or other complex safety-critical systems.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Experience managing programs with external customers, contractual milestones, or government-style delivery expectations.
Strong understanding of software and systems development lifecycles, including integration, verification, and validation.
Demonstrated ability to operate in environments requiring high rigor, documentation, and accountability.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to align engineering, product, and leadership while maintaining safety and quality standards.
Interest in defense or government-adjacent applications of autonomous systems.

Nice To Haves

experience working with government customers, primes, or defense contractors.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end execution of defense-focused technical programs, from requirements definition through delivery, test, and customer acceptance.
Partner closely with engineering teams to plan, build, integrate, and validate autonomy and platform capabilities for defense use cases.
Collaborate with product, operations, and leadership to translate customer, mission, and contractual requirements into clear technical scope and execution plans.
Lead cross-team technical planning, ensuring requirements are traceable, dependencies are understood, and delivery plans are realistic and defensible.
Work with product managers to manage scope, tradeoffs, and change control while maintaining delivery commitments.
Build and maintain integrated program roadmaps that align features, milestones, reviews, and dependencies to schedules.
Establish and manage program operating rhythms (milestone reviews, risk reviews, readiness checkpoints) appropriate for government-facing programs.
Identify, track, and mitigate technical, schedule, and integration risks; escalate issues with clear options and recommendations.
Drive closure of top program risks and quality issues, including prioritization of critical defects and system-level performance gaps.
Communicate program status, risks, and decisions clearly to internal leadership and, when appropriate, external partners or customers.
Support technical decision-making by articulating constraints, assumptions, and downstream impacts.
Improve tools, processes, and documentation practices to support repeatable, auditable execution in defense contexts.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)
Fidelity 401(k)
Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)