Technical Program Manager, Catalysis

SandboxAQ

11d•$156,800 - $294,000•Hybrid

About The Position

SandboxAQ is seeking a Senior Program Manager to lead the execution of its catalysis validation programs from planning through delivery. This role involves driving the operating cadence for experimental campaigns, coordinating work across computational scientists, data and machine learning teams, and external laboratory partners, and building the processes and metrics to translate technical results into validated industrial outcomes. The position also serves as a key operational partner to senior scientific leadership, enabling the team to move quickly, stay aligned, and scale execution effectively.

Requirements

8+ years managing applied R&D or scientific validation programs, ideally at the intersection of computational and experimental workflows.
Hands-on experience coordinating multi-party experimental validation campaigns (industrial labs, university partners, OEM testbeds), including SOW negotiation and sample/data logistics.
Technical fluency in catalysis, materials science, or chemical engineering sufficient to challenge experimental plans and interpret high-level results.
Track record of running compliance-grade reporting cadences (government, regulated industry, or large enterprise customer) and translating technical results into executive and external narratives.
Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical field.
US Persons (Permanent Residents or Citizens) only due to U.S. Government contractual requirements.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree strongly preferred.
Direct experience with heterogeneous catalysis programs, ALD/CVD precursor development, or semiconductor exhaust-gas abatement.
Familiarity with machine-learned force fields, DFT-derived datasets, or other modern computational catalysis workflows.
Experience operating against U.S. Government program requirements (CHIPS Act, DOE, DOD, or similar).
Experience scaling validation infrastructure from project-specific engagements to repeatable platform workflows.

Responsibilities

Own the catalysis validation program plan end-to-end: campaign sequencing, partner SOWs, sample logistics, data ingestion timelines, and milestone tracking against vertical and customer commitments.
Manage external validation partners (high-throughput experimentation labs, abatement OEMs, sensor manufacturers, precursor suppliers, and equipment OEMs) including contracting cadence, deliverable acceptance, and renew/expand/exit recommendations.
Coordinate internal hand-offs across Research Scientists, Computational/ML Scientists, Data Generation, and Platform Engineering to ensure validation results are captured, retrained into LQMs, and reflected in the next campaign cycle.
Operationalize the design-test-make-deploy pipeline for this vertical, including data governance, provenance, and reproducibility standards aligned to reporting expectations.
Drive risk, schedule, and resource trade-offs with the Vertical Lead and Product, escalating crisply to AISim leadership when decisions are needed.