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Technical Program Manager, Software

Xona· Engineering
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Burlingame, California$145k - $175kFull-timePosted 1w ago

About the role

Software TPM responsible for executing software programs across Nav Service, Mission Ops, and flight software; builds tooling, automation, and reporting to keep a fast-moving software organization in sync with hardware programs in a satellite context.

Responsibilities

  • Software Schedule Ownership: Own and maintain the software development schedule across Nav Service, Mission Ops, and flight software (GNC, FSW, payload core), tracking progress against milestones, managing critical path, and keeping the program honest -- especially through the transition from Design/Build/Test into on-orbit operations
  • Cross-Functional Coordination: Serve as the program hub across Nav Service, Mission Ops, and flight software teams -- translating technical progress into shared plans and clear accountability. Partner tightly with the Satellite TPM to keep software and hardware programs in sync at every shared interface (software readiness, bus interfaces, on-orbit test campaigns)
  • Release & Dependency Management: Support release management and dependency tracking across all software teams, ensuring releases are coordinated, tested, and deployed without surprises to downstream teams or live operations
  • System Automation & Tooling: Identify manual operational overhead across teams and build the lightweight tooling, bots, and integrations to eliminate it -- connecting platforms like GitHub/GitLab, Wrike/Linear, Teams, and monitoring tools into a single source of operational truth
  • Risk & Issue Resolution: Surface risks early, maintain the risk register, and work directly with technical leads to resolve blockers before they hit the schedule. Escalate to program leadership with context and a recommended path forward.
  • Program Reporting: Prepare and deliver regular software program status to leadership, maintaining a clear and accurate picture of schedule health, open risks, delivery predictability, and upcoming decisions -- automating this reporting wherever possible so status is always current, not just current when someone asks
  • Process Building: Help develop lightweight, effective program management processes suited to a small team moving fast -- minimizing meeting bloat through automation and async workflows, with real input into how TPM operates at Xona
  • Hardware Fluency & Flex Coverage: Maintain working fluency in bus and payload development -- enough to sit credibly in integration and test reviews, understand how hardware milestones affect your software schedule, and step in on hardware program coordination or backfill the Satellite TPM when the program needs it

Qualifications

  • 4–7 years of program or project management experience in complex software development, with meaningful exposure to aerospace, robotics, or another hardware-adjacent technical field
  • Direct experience program-managing software teams through both active development and live/operational phases -- you understand that priorities, cadence, and risk look different once something is running in production (or in orbit)
  • Strong systems thinker who can track interdependencies across multiple software workstreams -- and their interfaces with hardware -- without losing the critical path
  • Comfortable operating in hardware environments -- you don't need to have owned a bus or payload schedule, but you've been close to spacecraft, robotics, or other complex hardware programs that avionics, RF, or integration/test
  • Proficient enough as a programmer (Python, TypeScript/Node.js, or Go) to build and deploy lightweight internal tools, bots, and automations yourself
  • Self-directed and comfortable operating with limited oversight
  • Clear communicator who can work credibly with engineers and summarize status cleanly for leadership

Skills

Required:Software project managementCross-functional coordinationRelease and dependency managementSystem automation/toolingHardware fluencyProgramming

Benefits

  • Not specified in the description
Last updated Oct 14, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Xona

Next Era Navigational Intelligence | Xona

Xona is the navigation infrastructure company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.

Location servicesPulsarGNSSNavigationPNTsatellites
Company profileWebsite

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