Technical Program Manager

Shift5 • Arlington, VA

7h • $140,000 - $175,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Shift5 is seeking a Technical Program Manager - Engineering Operations to join our team. In this role, you’ll serve as a critical bridge between Program leadership and core Engineering teams, translating high-level program priorities into actionable, well-sequenced engineering plans. You will manage cross-functional execution across hardware, software, firmware, platform, and systems, ensuring complex program commitments and milestones are met. Reporting within Engineering Operations, you will work closely with engineering managers, technical leads, and product teams, operating onsite as needed alongside technical and customer-facing teams to support product deployment, adoption, and fleet health. You'll be a major factor in driving operational excellence that keeps defense and commercial fleets running safely and reliably.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in technical program coordination, engineering operations, project/program management, or a closely related role within cross-functional technical environments.
• Strong track record in milestone tracking, dependency management, risk mitigation, resource/capacity planning, and cross-team facilitation.
• Proven ability to translate customer/program needs into technical plans, communicate engineering constraints clearly, and drive alignment across teams without direct authority.
• Hands-on experience with Jira, Confluence, and other modern program planning, reporting, and collaboration tools.
• Highly organized and comfortable navigating ambiguity, with demonstrated empathy for end-users to effectively integrate feedback into engineering decisions.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with integrated hardware and software systems, aerospace, defense, or other highly complex technical environments.
• Experience delivering software or hardware in support of U.S. Government-funded programs.
• Active Secret clearance or the ability to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate execution across hardware, software, firmware, platform, and systems teams to translate program priorities, milestones, and requirements into actionable engineering plans.
• Track milestones, dependencies, risks, and resource constraints using Jira, Confluence, and custom dashboards; proactively identify, manage, and escalate execution risks to protect commitments.
• Facilitate cross-functional planning sessions, status reviews, and alignment meetings with engineering managers, TPMs, and program leadership to align timelines, sequencing, and ownership.
• Manage and prioritize incoming requests from customers, internal users, and field teams, balancing user responsiveness with engineering capacity and strategic organizational priorities.
• Partner with Engineering and Operations teams to gather requirements, build feedback loops, and continuously improve internal products, tooling, capacity planning, and reporting workflows.
• Work onsite alongside technical and customer-facing teams as needed to support product deployment, implementation, adoption, and ongoing operations.

Benefits

• Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their families
• Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions
• Employer-paid Life and Disability Insurance
• Uncapped paid time off policy
• Flexible work & remote work policy
• Tax-deferred public transit benefits with Metro SmartBenefits (DC/MD/VA)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed