Technical Program Manager, Software at Xona Space Systems in Burlingame, California

Job description

• Application
• As Software TPM, you'll own the execution of our software programs across navigation service, mission operations, and flight software -- working closely with our program lead and engineering teams to keep a fast-moving, highly interdependent software organization on track. Beyond running the program, you'll also build the connective tissue -- tooling, automation, and reporting.
• We're looking for someone who is software-first -- you think in releases, dependencies, and code -- but who is genuinely comfortable stepping into hardware territory: sitting in on bus/payload reviews, understanding integration and test constraints, and covering for the Satellite TPM when programs need an extra set of hands. If you want real ownership, proximity to the code and the constellation, and a chance to build both the program and the systems that run it, this role is for you!

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

Requirements

• 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
• Familiarity with GNSS, PNT systems, or mission operations concepts (telemetry, commanding, ground segment software, on-orbit anomaly response)
• Experience building bots, custom integrations across developer toolchains (GitHub, Linear/Wrike, Teams, Datadog, AWS/GCP), or internal developer portals
• Hands-on experience with satellite bus subsystems or RF/navigation payloads, or having worked through a full satellite program cycle from PDR/CDR through integration, test, and launch/operations
• Hands-on knowledge of workflow automation platforms (Temporal, n8n, Airflow, or similar)
• Prior experience as a software engineer or DevOps engineer before moving into technical program management
• PMP, Agile, or other PM certifications (nice to have, not a substitute for real program experience)

Skills

Required

• Program management
• Project management
• Software development lifecycle
• Systems thinking
• Hardware fluency
• Self-direction
• Communication

Preferred

• GNSS/PNT systems
• Mission operations concepts
• Bot development
• Satellite bus subsystems
• RF/navigation payloads
• PMP, Agile, or other PM certifications

Benefits

• The final job level and salary will be determined based on a range of factors including the candidate’s education, qualifications, knowledge, skills, abilities, and relevant experience. The listed salary range is provided to offer insight into potential compensation, but it’s not a guarantee of the final offer. While we include the full range to be transparent, offers most often fall within the middle portion rather than the top.