Technical Project Manager / Technical Program Manager

A&K Robotics•Vancouver, BC

23d•Onsite

About The Position

A&K Robotics develops autonomous mobility technology designed to help people move through large, complex spaces with more freedom and independence. Our Cruz™ Mobility Pod is an all-electric, AI-enabled micro-mobility solution created for real-world environments, operating in dynamic, human-centered spaces like airports. We partner with leading airports and airlines to deliver more accessible and efficient travel experiences. We are seeking outstanding, ambitious individuals to join our team as we experience rapid market growth. This role is crucial for driving execution across a highly cross-functional system, sitting at the intersection of hardware, software, autonomy, and real-world deployment. The Technical Program Manager will act as a force multiplier, unlocking time, reducing friction, and improving execution across hardware and software workstreams while ensuring alignment with company priorities. As we transition from pilots to scalable deployments, the focus shifts to ensuring system reliability in real environments, coordinating teams with different paces, managing inter-system dependencies, and proactively identifying risks. This is not a traditional program management role; we seek someone who can bring structure to a fast-paced, interdependent environment without hindering execution, create clarity amidst ambiguity, and drive momentum across complex, evolving initiatives. The work directly contributes to shaping the future of travel and making a tangible difference in how people move globally.

Requirements

5+ years’ experience in deep tech or building technically rigorous, complex systems (strong technical foundation required to understand and coordinate work effectively)
2+ years’ experience leading teams to ship products or software to market in a quick and iterative manner as a Program Manager or similar role.
Comfortable operating in environments where things are not fully defined, and able to bring clarity without needing perfect information.
Demonstrated project planning experience, including coordinating schedules, allocating staff time, and creating development roadmaps that account for complex task interdependencies.
Ability to work on and prioritize multiple simultaneous initiatives, understanding how they are connected and making tradeoffs when necessary.
Customer-centric mindset, with an ability to stay clear-minded when adapting and being flexible for a quickly-evolving market.
Hands-on experience with basic prototyping, fabrication, manufacturing, or testing/QA.
Exceptional problem-solving skills - ability to work within constraints, budgets and think outside the box.
Exceptional interpersonal skills – conflict resolution, motivation, mentoring.
Pride in work and attention to the smallest details.
Takes ownership and responsibility for tasks and actions, and leads by example.
Excellent writing skills that demonstrate organization and understanding of the big picture, while enabling efficient and effective communication of each team member’s work in the context of overall team goals and strategy.
Demonstrated aptitude for using Jira or other similar project management software, with an ability to quickly adapt to and master new tools as needed.
Bachelor of Computer Science, Engineering, Science, or other technical discipline.

Nice To Haves

Experience with autonomous mobile robots or self-driving vehicles
Experience with electronics, sensors, firmware, communication protocols, and/or power management
Experience with mechanical design and CAD
Experience with DFM principles
Experience writing code (preferably C++)
Experience with common software development life cycle methodologies such as Agile and CI/CD, and adhering to best practices, including common design patterns
Understanding of modern AI/ML systems, including foundational models and their capabilities and limitations
Familiarity with deploying or integrating ML models into real-world systems
Exposure to data pipelines, dataset curation, or model evaluation workflows

Responsibilities

Coordinating our multi-disciplinary team across highly interdependent hardware and software workstreams to help us scale.
Collaborating with team members to turn vision into reality, understanding customer needs and incorporating them into execution strategies.
Accelerating new feature development by building and maintaining detailed project plans, coordinating schedules, allocating resources, and maintaining clear ownership.
Creating clear documentation, architecture overviews, and technical roadmaps to facilitate efficient and scalable collaboration across the company, with customers, 3rd party vendors and partners.
Anticipating potential project challenges early and proactively devising risk mitigation strategies, including proposing practical solutions for adaptable and smooth project execution in dynamic and uncertain scenarios.
Regularly preparing and presenting reports on the progress of initiatives to key stakeholders, including executive leadership.
Building and sustaining relationships with essential or strategic partners and suppliers, recognizing both their immediate importance and long-term value to the company's goals.