Innovation Program Manager

1. Create and evolve the stage gate / lean innovation framework and toolset.
2. Coach 4-8 concurrent project teams, ensuring milestones, learning objectives, and decision gates are clear and met.
3. Drive structured customer discovery, prototype development and testing, and iteration to validate value propositions and product market fit.
4. Manage integrated schedules, budgets, and risk registers; surface issues early with mitigation plans.
5. Report progress and ROI to senior leadership; enable cross project knowledge sharing through demos and retrospectives.

1. Bachelor s or higher in Engineering/CS/Robotics
2. 8+ years managing complex tech programs, with 2 years in advanced hardware software systems or robotics.
3. Hands on experience with TRL/stage gate methods, agile/scrum, lean startup and design thinking.
4. Proficiency with project tracking and collaboration tools (e.g., Jira, Azure DevOps,Miro).
5. PMP, PMI ACP, or equivalent certification desired.

Essential Skills

1. Systems thinking across mechanical, electrical, software, and ML domains.
2. Data driven experimentation and decision making.
3. Budgeting and financial management for R&D portfolios.
4. Clear communication and facilitation across technical and commercial stakeholders.
5. Empathy for engineers, customers, end users, and funders