Technical Program Manager, Hardware Systems

Rivet Industries•San Jose, CA

20h•$200,000 - $235,000

About The Position

Rivet is an American company building integrated task systems — fusing hardened hardware with software, sensors, AI, and networking — for industrial workforces and defense personnel. We create capabilities that multiply the effectiveness of every individual and withstand the world’s toughest environments. We serve the people who build, operate, maintain, and defend our way of life. From technicians and engineers to first responders and service members, they embody the hard work, ingenuity, and meritocratic values that drive Western prosperity. Yet too often they are forced to rely on outdated tools that fail under modern pressures. Rivet exists to reset that priority. At Rivet, you’ll join a mission-driven team that fuses disciplines to deliver decisive outcomes where they matter most. Whether shaping our technology, strengthening our partnerships, or building our culture, every role here contributes to equipping the front lines with the modern systems they deserve. Work Authorization Requirement: Due to the nature of our business and compliance with federal regulations, all candidates must be a "U.S. Person". Upon hire, you will be required to provide documentation verifying your status as a U.S. Citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or a protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). We're seeking a highly operational Technical Program Manager focused on hardware systems to drive execution across Rivet's complex hardware programs and customer deployments. You'll work across electrical, mechanical, optical, firmware, software, test, manufacturing, and program teams to keep hardware development and delivery aligned, on track, and moving quickly. You'll own the full lifecycle of programs—from requirements and development milestones through integration, qualification, production readiness, and customer delivery. The ideal candidate is technically curious, exceptionally organized, and comfortable bringing structure to complex, fast-moving work.

Requirements

Experience driving complex hardware or technical programs across multiple teams.
Strong technical intuition and systems thinking, with the ability to understand requirements, architectures, interfaces, dependencies, and tradeoffs.
Deep familiarity with hardware development, including design, prototyping, integration, testing, qualification, and production.
Exceptional organizational skills and operational discipline.
Ability to drive alignment, accountability, and decisions without formal authority.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
High ownership, sound judgment, and the ability to create structure in ambiguous environments.
Experience with hardware systems involving electrical, mechanical, optical, embedded, or electromechanical components.

Nice To Haves

Experience with AR/VR/MR technologies and products is strongly preferred.
Experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, automotive, industrial technology, or another technically demanding environment is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end execution of hardware programs, from requirements and design through integration, qualification, production readiness, and delivery.
Drive alignment across technical teams on priorities, ownership, dependencies, timelines, and tradeoffs.
Identify and mitigate technical, operational, manufacturing, and integration risks before they impact the program.
Coordinate integration, testing, design reviews, and other critical program milestones.
Maintain clear program plans, tracking systems, documentation, and reporting that provide real-time visibility into progress, blockers, and risks.
Partner with manufacturing and operations to manage production readiness, supply chain, tooling, and hardware availability.
Turn ambiguous technical work into clear plans, decisions, owners, and next steps.
Synthesize technical and program status into concise updates for leadership and customers.