Technical Program Manager

Job Description

What we do

The Technical Program Management Office (PMO) oversees the planning, execution, and delivery of technical projects within the Symbotic Products and Innovation Organization. The PMO establishes and implements the processes, standards, and methodologies for project management of NPI projects to support on-going innovations and solution/product deployments. The team ensures alignment with business objectives, manages key risks/issues, and coordinates resources to ensure successful project outcomes. The technical PMO team is responsible for handling reporting, communication, and stakeholder management across company functions and up through organization leadership.

Technical PMs work closely with product and engineering teams to define project scope, schedule, and budget. The team is actively involved throughout the entire project lifecycle, collaborating with teams to ensure successful technology insertion, deployment into production, and overall sustainment support.

This Principal role leads the technical program management of DPS (door per store), a multi-site deployment program moving from new product introduction into repeated site launches. Symbotic is scaling from proving technology to deploying it on committed customer dates, and this program sits at the center of that shift. The engineering program management structure for DPS is being built now, and this role builds it.

What you'll do

• Lead multidisciplinary teams to bring new products from concept through implementation, delivery, and support.

• Build and own the integrated engineering schedule for the DPS program, including defining the elements of that schedule where they do not yet exist; develop the underlying work plans directly with controls, software, simulation, and hardware teams and integrate them into a single program view.

• Establish and maintain work breakdown structure, critical path, dependency, and mitigation timing plans across engineering, NPI, manufacturing, and site launch, with constant updating, improvement, and follow-up

• Work closely with engineering managers and leaders, product managers/owners, to ensure rapid execution and on time, high quality delivery of complex projects. Interact with and motivate talented engineering teams across multiple locations, harness their high energy to deliver high quality products.

• Manage robotic/automation projects that automate inventory management and fulfillment at store level, deployed site by site across a multi-site launch program.

• Own site by site planning and launch readiness across the program, holding a plan that has to repeat and hold across many deployments rather than one.

• Manage technical development, integration and deployment for large-scale automation and robot systems from design to production deployment; manage engineering deliverables across multi-disciplinary engineering teams (software, mechanical, electrical, industrial and embedded controls).

• Foster a culture focused on transparency, speed of decision-making, and a synchronized partnership within product teams.

• Facilitate the resolution of issues, risks, and challenges that surface through the development lifecycle including NPD/R&D. process, production deployment and sustainment. Surface issues early enough to act on them rather than absorb them at launch.

• Manage cross-functional issue tracking to identify problems, track root-cause and corrective action plans; provide issue status across engineering teams and leadership.

• Ensure Symbotic's Product Development Process is followed, coach teams in executing the NPD process and best practices.

• Establish and codify engineering program management standards, cadence, and tooling for a scaling organization, so what is built on this program is repeatable across others.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent professional experience. MS or MBA beneficial.

• Minimum of 10 years of related experience in industrial automation, robotics, or complex capital equipment programs.

• Minimum of 7 years in a Program Management position, with demonstrated progression into senior program ownership

• Experience leading dynamic global programs exceeding $50 million from initiation through completion.

• Experience directing cross-functional and matrixed teams of 100 or more across engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, and site operations.

• Demonstrated experience establishing program management structure where it did not previously exist, including building work breakdown structures, critical path and mitigation plans, and functional work plans developed jointly with teams that did not have their own.

• Operates with full autonomy and sets technical program direction; able to define the engineering program management approach for a scaling organization, drive its adoption beyond a single program, and mentor other program managers in it.

• Extensive experience in highly integrated electro-mechanical systems, mechatronics, or robotics product development and manufacturing.

• Experience managing large-scale industrial automation or system integration programs.

• Experience with new product introduction or first-of-a-kind system builds, where hardware, controls, and software must converge on a single launch date.

• Experience interpreting customer contracts for scope, content, and obligations, and owning customer communication, timing reporting, open issues, and acceptance or runoff documentation.

• Comfortable working with all levels of management, including the executive leadership team.

• Willingness to fail quickly and often to succeed sooner when exploring solutions.

• Exemplify being the Team player. Conflict resolution and influencing skills are key to success.

• Open to pursuing multiple paths to get to the best solution and not being too proud of your own ideas to listen to others.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills.

• Experience negotiating resources in a matrix environment to work on multiple workstreams, setting clear priorities when juggling priority paths.

• Experience working with contract manufacturing partners and consultants.

• Respect and understanding of other disciplines; including Controls, Software, Design Engineering, Systems, Electronics, Quality and Manufacturing.

• Proficient in MS Project, MS Power Point, MS Excel, and Word; experience with ERP and PLM systems such as SAP or Enovia; JIRA and Visio a plus.

• PMP accreditation is a strong plus.

Our environment

• Up to 25% travel may be required. Employees must have a valid driver's license and the ability to drive and/or fly to client and other customer locations.

• The employee is responsible for owning a credit card and managing expenses personally to be reimbursed on a bi-weekly basis.

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