Technical program manager h1.location_city

Foundation Robotics

Foundation is developing the future of general purpose robotics with the goal to address the labor shortage. Our mission is to create advanced robots that can operate in complex environments, reducing human risk in conflict zones and enhancing efficiency in labor-intensive industries. We are on the lookout for extraordinary engineers and scientists to join our team. Your previous experience in robotics isn't a prerequisite it's your talent and determination that truly count. We expect that many of our team members will bring diverse perspectives from various industries and fields. We are looking for individuals with a proven record of exceptional ability and a history of creating things that work.

Our culture is frank and honest about who we are, so that people can decide for themselves if this is a culture they resonate with.

Why You Should Join

• You like working in person with a team in San Francisco.
• You are highly technical - regardless of the role you are in. We are building technology; you need to understand technology well.
• You deeply believe that this is the most important mission for humanity and needs to Happen Yesterday.
• You care about aesthetics and design inside out. If it's not the best product ever, it bothers you, and you need to "fix" it.
• You don't need someone to motivate you; you get things done.

Why are We Hiring for this Role:

• Own end-to-end program execution
• Define scope, milestones, owners, success metrics, and delivery outcomes (time, cost, budget, change control).
• Lead cross-functional planning across ME, EE, Software, AI, Operations, and Leadership.
• Build and maintain integrated execution plans that connect strategy to daily work, dependencies, and measurable progress.
• Drive effective change control by framing technical tradeoffs as structured decisions with clear options, risks, and implications.
• Establish forecasts, measure execution against them, and improve the mechanisms that increase learning rate and reduce friction.
• Design and refine prototype build procedures to enable rapid design-test-learn cycles.
• Maintain dashboards, reviews, and reporting that provide real-time, data-driven visibility into program health.
• Build scalable processes to eliminate recurring challenges (integration, pilot-to-production scaling, cross-team synchronization).

What Kind of person are we looking for:

• 3 (minimum for Senior) to 10+ years spanning hands-on engineering and technical leadership (TPM, engineering management, or equivalent) on complex multidisciplinary products.
• Proven track record delivering integrated hardware-electronics-software systems from concept through manufacturing release.
• Strong technical fluency grounded in real build experience able to recognize when a decision requires more rigor vs when to move fast.
• First-principles thinking with sound instincts for strategic tradeoffs (e.g., buy vs. build, specialization vs. generalization).
• Experience with mechanical systems involving motion, kinematics, sensing, and closed-loop control, and software for embedded or hardware-adjacent systems. Strong bias for ownership and clarity in ambiguous environments.
• Experience with iterative, incremental hardware development in fast-moving or startup contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous programs breaking them down into fundamental components, dependencies, and a fast cycle-time execution model.
• Strong executive presence and communication trusted by both technical teams and leadership.
• High EQ and sound judgment navigating complex people dynamics across technical organizations.
• BS or higher in relevant engineering field, or equivalent experience
• Experience driving reliability growth, scaling readiness, and manufacturing release processes.

We provide market standard benefits (health, vision, dental, 401k, etc.). Join us for the culture and the mission, not for the benefits.

The annual compensation is expected to be between $150,000 - $280,000. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.