Staff Technical Program Manager, Software Engineering
Lead cross-functional software initiatives for a clean-energy hardware company, synchronizing agile development with long hardware cycles and driving execution of critical power-generation programs.
- Compensation
- $151.4K–$178K / yr
- Location
- Menlo Park, CA
- Work setup
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Staff
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 10+ years
- Category
- Project management
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or an equivalent technical field
- 10+ years of experience in technical program management, specifically managing software development projects for complex hardware products in integrated environments (e.g., energy, automotive, mechatr
- Technical Fluency: Ability to understand technical debates between Electrical, Software, and Controls engineers well enough to adjudicate priority and technical trade-offs
- Full Lifecycle Mastery: Proven expertise in managing projects throughout the entire SDLC, including investigation, design, execution, and delivery to market. Ability to manage the feedback loop betwee
- Delivery Leadership & Accountability: Act as the single point of accountability for delivery decisions, executive reporting, and cross-team communication. You are responsible for aligning diverse func
- Process Governance & Change Management: Demonstrated capability as a change agent, identifying and delivering process changes that accelerate time-to-market while driving organizational consistency an
- Communication: Exceptional executive presence; capable of moving seamlessly between high-level roadmap presentations and deep-dive bug triage with engineering teams
- Hand-off & Collaboration: Experience partnering with DevOps/Release Management functions to transition validated code into deployment pipelines. You focus on the readiness of the software; you rely on
- Software Process & Tooling: Deep familiarity with software development processes and proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Gantt charts, risk matrices, Smartsheet, Jira)
- Cross-Functional Orchestration & Communication: Strong track record of managing complex, cross-functional projects with the ability to maintain a big-picture focus and provide clear, well-structured,
Full description
About Mainspring
Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.
The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:
- Pragmatic Optimism
- Excellence without Ego
- Proactive Collaboration
Job Overview
Mainspring is revolutionizing energy generation. As the Staff Technical Program Manager for Software Engineering, you are the operational catalyst for our most critical software initiatives. Operating as the 'Chief of Staff' for execution, you translate high-level strategy into high-velocity delivery. You bridge the gap between long-lead hardware cycles and agile software development, optimizing the operational workflows that allow our teams to scale. You don’t just manage the roadmap; you drive execution, adjudicate technical trade-offs, and hold the organization accountable to our most ambitious company goals.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Ownership & Execution: Own the program end-to-end, from concept to validation readiness. Build and maintain the integrated master schedule, ensuring software deliverables synchronize with hardware/EE long-lead time dependencies. Challenge organizational assumptions, set resource requirements, and remain fully accountable for executing on company goals and the product roadmap. Work directly with engineering teams to develop comprehensive project schedules, define clear milestones, identify and mitigate risks, and manage budgets
- Engineering Excellence & Operational Discipline: Champion a culture of high-velocity execution by establishing and enforcing scalable engineering workflows. You will partner with engineering leadership to drive bug triage, validation planning, and Engineering Change (EC) management, ensuring our processes accelerate development and protect delivery timelines
- Cross-Functional Orchestration: Partner directly with engineering leadership to drive solutions and navigate shifting priorities. Manage the critical path where disciplines intersect (e.g., firmware, controls, hardware), proactively resolving dependencies and keeping teams aligned across internal and external stakeholders
- Reporting & Data-Driven Accountability: Serve as the "Single Source of Truth." Provide leadership with unvarnished, data-driven visibility into program health (RYG status, burn-down, and blocker lists). Track "Say/Do" ratios to improve forecasting accuracy and proactively communicate trade-offs, risks, and strategic recommendations at the executive level