Principal Technical Program Manager

Found Industries•Cambridge, MA

9d•Onsite

About The Position

Found Industries is seeking a strategic, hands-on Principal Technical Program Manager to lead cross-functional teams delivering innovative energy platforms and critical metal extraction systems. The role drives execution throughout the product development lifecycle, with a focus on on-time delivery, product quality, target costs, and effective resource allocation. The position is based on-site in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and reports to the Vice President of Operations. The successful candidate will bring deep project management expertise, particularly in launching complex hardware products in a start-up environment. They will coordinate technical execution with business goals, support customer-facing and business-development activities, and keep stakeholders informed through regular project updates and reviews. Found Industries is a Cambridge-based industrial technology company developing technologies to recover critical materials from industrial processing streams and convert aluminum into fuel for industrial heat and power. Its mission is to strengthen U.S. energy and materials security.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a STEM or related technical field.
10 or more years of experience in technical project management, systems engineering, or related project management or systems engineering in a relevant industry.
Experience leading or executing projects involving systems at any stage from TRL 3 to TRL 8.
Highly organized and detail-oriented.
Experience developing materials and readouts for regular monthly and quarterly program reviews.
Experience developing and maintaining schedules with Microsoft Project or a similar tool.
Excellent communication skills.
Passion for hardware development and relationship building.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional R&D, Engineering, and Operations teams in delivering new product initiatives from concept through deployment.
Own and manage detailed project schedules, and work with functional leaders on program budgets and resource plans.
Ensure design-control deliverables are completed in accordance with standard operating procedures and regulatory standards.
Collaborate with engineers and C-suite leaders 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, represent the technical aspects of Found Industries’ portfolio, and serve as the voice of the customer for follow-on business capture.
Create and deliver regular written and verbal project updates, presentations, dashboards, and executive summaries for stakeholders and leadership.
Build team ownership of project and business plans, and define program milestones, deliverables, and resource requirements.
Assess program health, identify opportunities for program changes, and manage interventions to achieve timely outputs.
Manage program actions and deliverables and hold team members and functional managers accountable for completion.
Conduct cross-functional team meetings, establish accountability and milestone tracking, and create agendas and publish minutes and action items.
Address project-team performance issues and conflicts in alignment with functional management.
Provide functional leaders with input on team-member performance and management support.
Promote continuous improvement and teamwork to improve quality, safety, delivery, and cost.
Build collaborative relationships across organizational levels to improve outcomes and program execution.