Technical Program Manager, Mission Integration
Confidential search. The hiring company's identity and full role details are shared with candidates under NDA.
Company: Venture-backed defense-technology startup
Function: Mission Integration (new team)
Location: San Francisco Bay Area — full time, on-site, embedded with engineering
Reports To: Head of Mission Integration
Travel: ~25%
Compensation: $140K–$180K + equity
About the Client
A venture-backed defense-technology startup building autonomous aerial systems for defense customers is standing up a new Mission Integration function, and this is the mid-level (junior-mid) seat on that team.
About the Role
Mission Integration owns the downstream end of technical program management for the company's aerial platforms: everything from a system's first flight through handoff to the customer training teams. The mandate is to keep programs on schedule, keep engineering and the growth (sales) side aligned, and make sure each platform is genuinely ready for the mission the customer needs.
The function exists to close a widening gap between engineering reality and what growth is selling. The TPM works from the engineering side to make sure everyone understands where systems actually stand today, and that this reality is reflected in the commitments and timelines the company agrees to. This is the same function as the Associate TPM role; the difference is level and the depth of independent ownership expected.
This is not an engineering role. The job is to understand how engineers work and speak their language, not to do the engineering. It sits between the product manager (who sets direction on what to build) and delivery: the product manager decides what gets built, Mission Integration gets it done. Expect to live in Gantt charts and schedules, review statements of work, keep contracts honest against engineering reality, and also to get hands-on with the systems in the field, including flying them.
Several platforms are already fielded and more are in development. A few current test-team members with program management experience are moving into this function, and the team is adding headcount as the platform count grows.
Responsibilities
- Own the downstream program management for one or more platforms end to end: from first flight through handoff to the customer training and demo teams.
- Drive schedules and milestones, managing competing priorities across multiple programs.
- Keep engineering and growth aligned so that sales commitments and delivery timelines reflect the true state of each system.
- Review statements of work and partner with the growth and engagement teams so that contracts reflect engineering reality.
- Manage the handoff to customer support, training, and demo teams as new products launch.
- Get hands-on with the platforms in the field, including flying them.
- Translate field insights back into actionable feedback for engineering and product.
Who you will work with
- Engineering / product side: software developers, product managers, flight test engineers, flight test pilots, hardware development engineers.
- Delivery side: customer support and training teams, demo teams, and engagement managers (who own account management and statement-of-work execution), with some interface to the growth / sales side.
Location & travel
- Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, full time and on-site. The role must be embedded with the software and hardware development teams; remote does not work for this seat.
- Travel is roughly 25%, primarily to US exercises for product handoff to training and demo teams.
- Willingness to travel abroad occasionally to get hands-on with real customers and real applications is a plus.
Requirements
Must-Haves
- 5–10 years of experience. A candidate with roughly 5 years may qualify if they were an engineering officer doing program management in the military; otherwise this seat generally calls for meaningful private-sector experience, ideally in hardware tech.
- Track record on the technical program management path: schedules, milestones, cross-functional delivery, statements of work.
- At least one area of technical expertise relevant to the product — software or hardware — drawn from unmanned systems, robotics, aviation, aerospace, mechanical engineering, or a recon / ISR background.
- Ability to work with engineers and speak their language without doing the engineering.
- Strong organization and program discipline across multiple concurrent efforts.
- Comfort in a fast-scaling startup where the role evolves as the product matures.
Nice-to-Haves
- Defense-tech background (defense tech is viewed broadly as a strong source).
- TPM experience at an established defense-tech company.
- Experience with unmanned systems, ISR, robotics, or aviation.
- Agricultural-drone experience (agricultural / sprayer-drone operators map well to this work and to the field environment).
- Growth-stage company experience.
- A candidate who has been out of the military for some time and moved into tech, preferably hardware tech, is a strong profile for this level.
Not a fit
- Legacy prime contractor background, unless the candidate is exceptional. The prime-contractor mindset is the wrong fit for the company's current stage.
Process
This is a confidential search. An NDA is required before the company's identity and full role details are shared. We screen for interest at a high level first, then read candidates in once an NDA is in place.