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Salary: USD 195,000 - 260,000 / annual
Kodiak Robotics is seeking a Head of Hardware Technical Program Management to lead program management across the hardware organization, spanning sensor systems, compute, electrical/mechanical integration, and vehicle-level hardware platforms. You will own end-to-end execution rigor for hardware from concept through validation to fleet deployment, and will lead a team of 3 TPMs covering these programs. This role reports directly to the Director of Program with high visibility across Engineering, Operations, and executive leadership.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning the hardware program roadmap: schedules, milestones, dependencies, and risk tracking across concurrent hardware programs (sensors, compute, harnessing, vehicle integration, etc.)
- Leading and growing a team of 3 TPMs, setting standards for program rigor, reporting, and cross-functional communication
- Partnering closely with Hardware Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Operations, and Safety/Compliance to de-risk programs
- Driving design reviews, gate reviews, and change management processes (ECOs/ECRs)
- Owning escalation paths: identifying blockers early and driving resolution
- Creating and maintaining program-level visibility for executives through status reporting, risk registers, and roadmap health
- Setting strategic direction for hardware program management processes, tooling, and metrics organization-wide (e.g., PLM systems, release processes)
- Representing hardware program status in cross-functional, executive, and customer-facing settings
- Acting as a key partner to hardware engineering leadership on org design, resourcing, and prioritization tradeoffs
Kodiak was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation. The company has developed an AI-powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector, delivering freight daily across the southern United States. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. The company is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test, and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 10+ years in technical program management, with deep experience in hardware (mechanical, electrical, or systems-level), robotics, automotive, aerospace, or similar hardware-intensive industries strongly preferred
- 4+ years managing TPMs or program managers directly, with experience developing senior individual contributors
- Deep familiarity with hardware development lifecycles: DFM/DFA, EVT/DVT/PVT-style validation gates, ECO/PLM processes
- Proven track record shipping complex hardware systems on schedule at scale, with a bias toward identifying and killing risk early
- Excellent executive communication: able to distill complex, multi-workstream programs into clear risk/status narratives for leadership
- Comfortable owning ambiguous, high-stakes problems with no clean home
- Bonus: experience with autonomous vehicle systems, sensor hardware (lidar/radar/camera), or safety-critical hardware development
