Staff Technical Program Manager, Robotics Systems

Staff Technical Program Manager

We're looking for a Staff Technical Program Manager to serve as the operational and strategic backbone of Mind Robotics' core platform development. This is a founding program management role — the connective tissue between our hardware, software, and data collection teams as we scale from prototype to fleet deployment.

You will own the integrated master plan for our robotics platform: the full-stack convergence of dexterous hardware, real-time control systems, and the data flywheel that trains our models. You are not a timeline tracker. You are a systems thinker who can hold the big picture, identify dependencies before they become blockers, and push every team to deliver against a shared roadmap. This role is the difference between hardware and software operating in parallel — and operating as one.

You will work directly with our founder and functional leads. You will make this company move faster.

What You'll Do

Cross-Functional Program Leadership

• Own the integrated master program plan across hardware, software, and data collection — maintaining a single source of truth for milestones, dependencies, and critical path items.
• Identify and surface cross-functional risks before they become schedule-critical blockers; drive resolution with urgency and clarity.
• Serve as the primary connective layer between the hardware engineering, software/ML, and data operations teams — ensuring no workstream operates in isolation.
• Lead structured program reviews that keep leadership and teams aligned on priorities, trade-offs, and resource requirements.

Hardware Program Management

• Manage the complexity of our electromechanical system: part-level ownership, supplier lead times, sourcing strategies, and DVT/EVT iteration cycles.
• Build and maintain a rigorous parts and supplier tracking system — ensuring every component on the critical path has an owner, a plan, and a fallback.
• Partner closely with the hardware lead to translate design decisions into program-level implications across the full stack.
• Proactively model the downstream impact of hardware iteration loops on software readiness and data collection timelines.

Hardware-Software Integration

• Own the integration checkpoints where hardware and software must converge — defining the criteria, the owners, and the escalation path when they don't.
• Ensure software feature development is sequenced against hardware availability; prevent decoupled roadmaps from creating surprise dependencies.
• Drive alignment on platform commitments — gripper design, sensing modalities, actuation systems — so that data collection and model training are never blocked by an unresolved hardware decision.

Roadmap & Milestone Execution

• Translate high-level product goals into a detailed, dependency-mapped roadmap with clear ownership at every stage.
• Define and track the program milestones that matter: hardware readiness gates, data collection launch criteria, model deployment checkpoints, and fleet scale targets.
• Hold the team accountable to commitments without creating bureaucratic drag — this is a role about velocity, not process for its own sake.

Core Responsibilities — First 6 Months

Immediate (Days 1–30)

• Integrated roadmap audit: Map the current state of hardware, software, and data collection timelines into a single dependency graph. Surface the top 5 cross-functional risks within the first 30 days.
• Supplier & parts baseline: Establish a living tracker for all hardware components on the critical path — lead times, ownership, sourcing status, and risk flags.
• Program cadence: Stand up a lightweight but rigorous cross-functional program review cadence with standardized inputs from each team.

Near-Term (Days 30–90)

• Hardware-software integration plan: Define the formal integration checkpoints for the first full system build — criteria, owners, and go/no-go gates.
• DVT/EVT planning: Working with the hardware lead, map the full iteration loop plan through first deployable units — including resource requirements and schedule risk.
• Data collection dependency map: Partner with the data lead to ensure the data flywheel build plan is gated appropriately against hardware readiness milestones.

Six-Month Milestone

• Path to fleet: Own and maintain the program plan for our first meaningful robot deployment in Normal — with all cross-functional dependencies resolved, resourced, and tracked.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in technical program management, with significant experience owning hardware-software integrated systems at a senior IC level.
• Proven track record managing complex electromechanical programs through full development cycles — from early prototype through production or scaled deployment.
• Deep instincts around hardware lead times, supplier management, and the downstream program implications of physical iteration cycles.
• Experience in robotics, autonomous systems, automotive (EV/software-defined vehicle), semiconductor systems, or adjacent deep tech hardware industries.
• Exceptional cross-functional operator: known for bringing clarity to ambiguous programs, not adding process overhead.
• Strong technical foundation — comfortable engaging directly with mechanical, electrical, and software engineers at a level of depth that earns credibility.
• Startup builder mentality: you create structure from ambiguity, own outcomes end-to-end, and move with urgency.
• Experience scaling hardware systems from 0 to meaningful fleet deployment is a strong plus.