Technical Project Manager

SET Development•Washington, DC

About The Position

SET Development is supporting a confidential, venture-backed aerospace company developing first-of-kind space-based solar power systems — designed to deliver continuous baseload energy from orbit to ground, 24/7, across entire continents, without batteries or seasonal constraints. This is an IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE POSITION! This is an early-stage, high-impact engineering environment. You will own real decisions, work across disciplines, and contribute directly to hardware that will fly. If you're looking for a highly structured, process-heavy program environment, this will not be a fit. If you want to build something that has never been built before — keep reading. We are seeking a Technical Project Manager to lead complex, cross-functional engineering programs at the intersection of space systems, energy infrastructure, and advanced technology platforms. This role requires someone who can operate at the system level—not just managing schedules, but driving execution across engineering, product, and operations teams in high-stakes environments. You will be responsible for ensuring delivery across programs involving hardware, software, and integrated systems, while maintaining alignment with business objectives, technical constraints, and customer expectations.

Requirements

7–12+ years in technical program/project management
Experience managing complex engineering programs (not just IT/software)
Strong understanding of: Systems engineering environments Hardware + software integration Technical development lifecycles
Proven ability to manage cross-functional engineering teams
Experience with program tools (Jira, Smartsheet, MS Project, etc.)
Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills

Nice To Haves

Background in: Aerospace / space systems Energy systems / infrastructure Defense or high-reliability engineering environments
Familiarity with: Systems engineering frameworks (INCOSE-style thinking) Agile + waterfall hybrid environments
CPM, CPSM, or equivalent
PMP or equivalent certification (not required, but useful)

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end delivery of complex technical programs (scope, schedule, risk, budget)
Drive execution across multidisciplinary teams (systems, software, hardware, operations)
Establish and enforce program governance, reporting, and delivery cadence
Translate between engineering teams and business stakeholders
Ensure alignment across system architecture, requirements, and execution plans
Identify integration risks across subsystems early and proactively mitigate
Interface with senior leadership, customers, and external partners
Drive decision-making with clear trade-offs, risks, and recommendations
Maintain program transparency with structured reporting and metrics
Identify program risks (technical, schedule, resource)
Implement mitigation strategies and escalation frameworks
Prevent scope creep and uncontrolled changes
Build scalable PM processes, tools, and reporting structures
Improve execution discipline across engineering and program teams
Support long-term program planning and roadmap alignment