Technical Program Manager

Kela Technologies

11h

About The Position

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Technical Program Manager to own the execution of complex, multidisciplinary programs. This role involves partnering closely with engineering, product, operations, and company leadership to translate program objectives into clear plans, priorities, deliverables, schedules, and ownership. You will drive programs from early requirements and system definition through design, integration, qualification, production, and field delivery. The ideal candidate will develop and maintain integrated program plans, identify critical-path activities, manage dependencies and risks, and lead cross-functional execution across internal teams and external partners. This role requires a strong technical understanding, excellent communication skills, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, a technical discipline, business, or a related field.
Five or more years of experience in technical program management, systems engineering, engineering project management, operations, or a related role supporting complex technical products.
Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional programs involving multiple engineering disciplines.
Experience managing programs that combine hardware and software development, system integration, manufacturing, and testing.
Strong project-management skills, including the ability to develop schedules, establish priorities, manage dependencies, track risks, and drive action across teams.
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with evolving requirements, limited structure, and competing priorities.
Strong technical aptitude and the ability to understand system architectures, interfaces, development lifecycles, technical risks, and verification approaches.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate clearly with engineers, executives, customers, vendors, and government stakeholders.
Strong attention to detail, sound judgment, and a demonstrated commitment to quality and follow-through.
Ability to take ownership of complex problems, create structure where needed, and drive work to completion with limited direction.
Experience working with government customers, government contracts, proposals, contractual deliverables, or technical data requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience delivering aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, unmanned systems, or other highly integrated technical products.
Experience taking a new hardware or software-enabled product from development through qualification, production, and delivery.
Experience with defense-system safety, qualification testing, compliance documentation, technical reviews, or government concurrence processes.
Experience managing external suppliers, contract manufacturers, test laboratories, and other technical partners.
Familiarity with government contract structures, statements of work, contract data requirements lists, data-item descriptions, and formal delivery documentation.
Experience supporting production planning, configuration management, supplier management, or manufacturing-readiness activities.
Experience developing or improving organizational processes, program reporting, communication plans, and execution workflows.
Experience with tools such as Linear, Notion, Jira, Google Workspace, or equivalent program-management platforms.
Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to use data and metrics to inform priorities, recommendations, and decisions.

Responsibilities

Own the execution of complex, multidisciplinary programs spanning hardware, software, systems engineering, manufacturing, testing, supply chain, and customer delivery.
Partner closely with engineering, product, operations, and company leadership to translate program objectives into clear plans, priorities, deliverables, schedules, and ownership.
Drive programs from early requirements and system definition through design, integration, qualification, production, and field delivery.
Develop and maintain integrated program plans that connect technical development, procurement, manufacturing, testing, documentation, and customer milestones.
Identify critical-path activities, technical and schedule dependencies, resource constraints, and execution risks. Drive mitigation plans and escalate issues when necessary.
Lead cross-functional execution across internal teams and external partners, ensuring that decisions, actions, owners, and deadlines are clearly documented and followed through to completion.
Serve as a central point of coordination between engineering teams, company leadership, customers, government stakeholders, vendors, test facilities, and manufacturing partners.
Own preparation and coordination of key program reviews, customer deliverables, technical data packages, test documentation, status reports, and other contractual or programmatic submissions.
Work with engineering teams to establish clear requirements, interfaces, configuration baselines, verification plans, and acceptance criteria.
Coordinate system integration and test activities, including test planning, hardware availability, facility scheduling, readiness reviews, issue resolution, and delivery of test results.
Partner with manufacturing and supply-chain teams to support production readiness, supplier execution, material availability, build planning, production tracking, and delivery commitments.
Establish practical program-management processes, tools, and reporting structures that improve execution without creating unnecessary overhead.
Track and clearly communicate program status, risks, decisions, dependencies, and areas requiring leadership attention.
Create clarity in fast-moving or ambiguous situations, remove obstacles, and proactively drive teams toward decisions and results.
Develop sufficient technical understanding of the system architecture, interfaces, requirements, and development risks to ask effective questions, challenge assumptions, and facilitate informed decisions.
Support proposal efforts, statements of work, program estimates, customer requests, and planning for future phases of work.