Staff Technical Program Manager, Software Engineering
mainspringenergy · Menlo Park, CA ·
- Work mode
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Staff
- Category
- Project management
- Experience
- 10+ years
- Company size
- 1000+
mainspringenergy · Menlo Park, CA ·
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Lead cross-functional software initiatives for a clean-energy hardware company, synchronizing agile development with long hardware cycles and driving execution of critical power-generation programs.
Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.
The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:
Mainspring is revolutionizing energy generation. As the Staff Technical Program Manager for Software Engineering, you are the operational catalyst for our most critical software initiatives. Operating as the 'Chief of Staff' for execution, you translate high-level strategy into high-velocity delivery. You bridge the gap between long-lead hardware cycles and agile software development, optimizing the operational workflows that allow our teams to scale. You don’t just manage the roadmap; you drive execution, adjudicate technical trade-offs, and hold the organization accountable to our most ambitious company goals.
Strategic Ownership & Execution: Own the program end-to-end, from concept to validation readiness. Build and maintain the integrated master schedule, ensuring software deliverables synchronize with hardware/EE long-lead time dependencies. Challenge organizational assumptions, set resource requirements, and remain fully accountable for executing on company goals and the product roadmap. Work directly with engineering teams to develop comprehensive project schedules, define clear milestones, identify and mitigate risks, and manage budgets
Engineering Excellence & Operational Discipline: Champion a culture of high-velocity execution by establishing and enforcing scalable engineering workflows. You will partner with engineering leadership to drive bug triage, validation planning, and Engineering Change (EC) management, ensuring our processes accelerate development and protect delivery timelines
Cross-Functional Orchestration: Partner directly with engineering leadership to drive solutions and navigate shifting priorities. Manage the critical path where disciplines intersect (e.g., firmware, controls, hardware), proactively resolving dependencies and keeping teams aligned across internal and external stakeholders
Reporting & Data-Driven Accountability: Serve as the "Single Source of Truth." Provide leadership with unvarnished, data-driven visibility into program health (RYG status, burn-down, and blocker lists). Track "Say/Do" ratios to improve forecasting accuracy and proactively communicate trade-offs, risks, and strategic recommendations at the executive level
Hardware/Software Integration & Alignment: Bridge long-lead hardware development cycles with agile software releases. Drive integrated HW/SW timeline alignment, proactively managing cross-functional dependencies across electrical, mechanical, controls, and firmware engineering to ensure seamless, co-validated product delivery
Multi-Layer Software Management: Lead and manage software development across all architectural tiers of the complex power generation product—including low-level firmware, core system software, application-level software, and cloud infrastructure. Ensure aligned milestones, robust interface contracts, and continuous integration across all component layers from inception to release
Required Skills:
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or an equivalent technical field
10+ years of experience in technical program management, specifically managing software development projects for complex hardware products in integrated environments (e.g., energy, automotive, mechatronics)
Technical Fluency: Ability to understand technical debates between Electrical, Software, and Controls engineers well enough to adjudicate priority and technical trade-offs
Full Lifecycle Mastery: Proven expertise in managing projects throughout the entire SDLC, including investigation, design, execution, and delivery to market. Ability to manage the feedback loop between development and real-world performance
Delivery Leadership & Accountability: Act as the single point of accountability for delivery decisions, executive reporting, and cross-team communication. You are responsible for aligning diverse functional groups to ensure the program meets its commitments
Process Governance & Change Management: Demonstrated capability as a change agent, identifying and delivering process changes that accelerate time-to-market while driving organizational consistency and efficiency
Communication: Exceptional executive presence; capable of moving seamlessly between high-level roadmap presentations and deep-dive bug triage with engineering teams
Hand-off & Collaboration: Experience partnering with DevOps/Release Management functions to transition validated code into deployment pipelines. You focus on the readiness of the software; you rely on the Release Management team to define the mechanics of fleet delivery
Software Process & Tooling: Deep familiarity with software development processes and proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Gantt charts, risk matrices, Smartsheet, Jira)
Cross-Functional Orchestration & Communication: Strong track record of managing complex, cross-functional projects with the ability to maintain a big-picture focus and provide clear, well-structured, and concise communication tailored to each stakeholder audience
Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.
In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.
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