Senior Program Manager

Bonsai Robotics•San Jose, CA

9d•$150,000 - $195,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Senior Program Manager who can bring order to a fast-moving, resource-constrained organization — someone comfortable wearing multiple hats, working with lean teams, and helping us bring the proper program discipline needed to scale. You'll be the connective tissue across Product Management, Hardware Engineering, and Software Engineering — driving schedules, owning scope, managing budgets, managing dependencies, surfacing risk, and keeping leadership aligned on program status.

Requirements

PMP certification
5+ years program management experience in a hardware-and-software product environment (robotics, autonomous systems, industrial hardware, or similar)
Demonstrated ability to manage schedules and dependencies across product management, mechanical/electrical, and software engineering teams
Comfortable operating in a small, fast-paced startup environment with limited process scaffolding — you'll be building some of it
Strong command of program management tools (e.g., Jira, Gantt chart, etc.) and reporting to leadership stakeholders
Excellent written and verbal communication; skilled at aligning Product and Engineering stakeholders with different priorities and vocabularies
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Systems Engineering, Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in both startup and larger/established company environments — able to bring scalable process rigor without over-engineering for a small team
Experience in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or embedded systems
Familiarity with Agile and stage-gate/NPI processes and how to reconcile them in one program

Responsibilities

Serve as the programs leader and primary link between cross functional product development teams; Product, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality.
Own end-to-end program plans spanning product, hardware development (mechanical, electrical, manufacturing), and software development (firmware, controls, autonomy stack).
Build and maintain integrated program charters, scopes, budgets and schedules, identifying cross-team dependencies and critical path risks before they cause slip.
Run program cadences (stand-ups, milestone reviews, leadership-level status updates) across product and engineering disciplines.
Track budget, scope, and resourcing against plan; escalate tradeoffs to leadership with clear options.
Manage risk registers and drive mitigation plans for technical and schedule risk.
Coordinate with supply chain/procurement on hardware lead times and how they affect integration milestones.
Serve as the primary point of contact for program status to leadership stakeholders.
Help formalize program management processes and reporting as the company scales.