Staff System Engineering Program Manager
About The Position
ŌURA is seeking a Hardware Program Manager to join its Hardware PMO. The role leads a major technical hardware effort from early prototype through PVT, creating clarity, urgency, and accountability across a complex, cross-functional team. The position coordinates Hardware Engineering—including mechanical, electrical, firmware, science, and test—and partners with Product, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and other teams to deliver a high-quality product within agreed scope, schedule, and budget. The program manager leads the core team, surfaces decisions and risks early, and communicates program health to executive leadership. Responsibilities include integrated planning and scheduling, hardware build coordination through EVT, DVT, and PVT, budget management, risk and dependency management, issue resolution, stakeholder alignment, and accurate program reporting. The position also contributes to continuous improvement of Hardware PMO practices and product development processes. This is a hybrid role based in ŌURA’s San Francisco office.
Requirements
- At least 5 years of experience leading technical programs or complex product development, preferably in consumer hardware.
- Experience coordinating hardware development across multiple disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, firmware, science or systems, and test.
- Experience leading a hardware program through NPI stages and coordinating prototype or factory builds.
- Strong program-management fundamentals, including integrated scheduling, critical-path management, budget tracking, risk management, dependency management, and action closure.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams through ambiguity, influence without direct authority, create accountability, and maintain strong working relationships.
- Confidence leading core team forums and presenting clear, concise program status and risks to executive or senior leadership audiences.
- Strong judgment and communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical issues into decisions, trade-offs, and actionable plans.
- Desire to learn, take on challenges, and drive results while protecting product quality and customer outcomes.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with EVT, DVT, and PVT.
- Experience with program-management and collaboration tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, Confluence, and Google Workspace.
- Familiarity with PLM systems such as Teamcenter or Arena.
Responsibilities
- Lead a major hardware program or workstream from early prototype through PVT, aligning teams on scope, objectives, deliverables, milestones, and launch-critical outcomes.
- Coordinate integrated execution across mechanical, electrical, firmware, science, and test teams, connecting plans, dependencies, decisions, and deliverables.
- Build and maintain the integrated schedule, critical path, milestone plan, and action log; identify dependencies and hold owners accountable for commitments.
- Plan and coordinate hardware builds from early prototypes through EVT, DVT, and PVT, including objectives, readiness criteria, materials and resources, issue triage, and follow-up on build learnings.
- Lead core team meetings with clear agendas, focused discussion, documented decisions and actions, and follow-through between meetings.
- Unblock teams, drive timely decisions, align stakeholders on recovery plans, and escalate execution risks with options and recommendations.
- Identify, assess, and manage program risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies, ensuring mitigation plans have owners, dates, and measurable closure criteria.
- Manage the program budget, including planning, tracking actuals and forecasts, identifying variances, and presenting trade-offs or corrective actions.
- Prepare and present concise, decision-oriented program updates to executive and senior stakeholders, including status, schedule, budget, accomplishments, risks, decisions needed, and recovery plans.
- Partner with Hardware Engineering and functional leaders to align resources, technical priorities, and program commitments, and make cross-team impacts and trade-offs visible.
- Coordinate with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and manufacturing partners on build readiness, issue resolution, and the path through PVT.
- Maintain accurate program documentation and reporting, including plans, decisions, risks, budgets, build readiness, and status.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of Hardware PMO practices and product development processes.
Benefits
- Competitive salary and equity packages.
- Health, dental, and vision insurance, plus mental health resources.
- An Ōura Ring and employee discounts for friends and family.
- 20 days of paid time off, 13 paid holidays, and 8 days of flexible wellness time off.
- Paid sick leave and parental leave.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
