Hardware System Technical Program Manager

Hardware System Technical Program Manager

We're Impulse. We're a team of engineers, designers and innovators based in San Francisco who believe making good decisions for your home and the environment should not come at a cost to your lifestyle. We're dedicated to building delightful, high-performance products for everyday needs that enable rewarding, long-term, scalable solutions for whole-home electrification.

We're looking for individuals excited to join an early-stage, VC-backed growing company with powerful aspirations to make positive change in a major industry - come build with us!

About the Role

As a Hardware System Technical Program Manager (TPM) at Impulse, you will lead the cross-functional delivery of complex hardware systems and their integration into our innovative products. This role entails the management of the entire hardware product lifecycle, spanning from concept through production and launch. The core team will include Mechanical, Electrical and Firmware Engineers while integrating closely with Product Management, Finance, Tech Ops, Marketing and Impulse leadership. You will serve as the backbone for hardware execution, working closely with our team at Impulse and with our joint development.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of demonstrated experience with leading hardware product development teams with focus on the systems integration and cross-functional dependencies.
• Experience with managing and reporting of the master schedule for hardware builds, proto-typing, and validation activities, ensuring alignment with overall product milestones.
• Experience with representing hardware teams and its priorities across the organization, clearly communicating risks, status, and trade-offs. This should include the ability to represent technical disciplines that are outside your area of expertise.
• Deep experience working with products that touch several of the following areas: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, DFM/DFA, manufacturing processes, and product validation/testing.
• Demonstrated experience of working closely with counterparts outside of the hardware org that include Product Management, Software, Manufacturing, and Operations.
• At least 1 year of experience with international partners to jointly develop and manufacture products that includes overseeing the partner's design, build, and test activities over the full product development life cycle.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; you will be working within a globally-distributed team in different time zones and conciseness is key.
• Strong reasoning and analytical skills and the ability to make and explain difficult decisions; you'll be expected (and empowered!) to make decisions for the entire organization.
• Travel (10-15%) both domestically and internationally.
• Proven experience collaborating across disciplines and functions, recognizing that cross-functional partnership drives success
• Demonstrated ability to manage ambiguity in a constantly evolving environment
• High ownership mindset; able to operate independently in an evolving environment
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of tasks and results while holding yourself and others to high standards
• A bold, experimental mindset that embraces risk and thinks beyond current limitations
• Strong communication skills with the ability to deliver honest, constructive feedback with both care and directness.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with overseeing tools and processes for managing programs that include scheduling and management of tasks, issues and risks.
• Experience with building and managing phase-gate hardware product development processes from the ground up.
• Experience working in consumer electronics, energy systems, or automotive industries.
• Prior systems or project engineering roles and experience with requirements definition and management for complex electromechanical systems.
• The ability to speak Mandarin.

What's in it for you:

• Meaningful equity in a fast-moving company with top investors
• Generous benefits include health, vision, dental, commuter, fitness and 401k (with company match)
• Help define culture for a diverse, inclusive, and global team

Base salary range: $165,000/yr - $185,000/yr. Exact compensation may vary based on skills and experience. This is an onsite role in our San Francisco office (with the possibility of potentially working remotely 1 day a week).

Impulse is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and prohibit discrimination and harassment. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone feels safe and welcome.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for sponsorship now or in the future.