Program manager Jobs in San Mateo, CA

Technical Program Manager (Body & Closures)

Location: Foster City, CA (Onsite)
Employment Type: 6-Month Contract (potential extension)
Pay Rate: $91.85/hour (W2 Only)
Industry: Automotive Technology / Autonomous Mobility

Note: No C2C or Corp-to-Corp

About the Opportunity

We're seeking a Technical Program Manager (Body & Closures) to support vehicle hardware development programs within the automotive technology and autonomous mobility industry.

In this role, you'll coordinate engineering activities across the product development lifecycle, from design and sourcing through validation, hardware builds, and production readiness. You'll work closely with mechanical engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, sustaining engineering, and external suppliers to manage schedules, track technical issues, and keep program milestones on track.

This opportunity is ideal for someone with experience in technical project coordination or physical product development who enjoys solving problems, managing multiple workstreams, and collaborating across engineering and manufacturing teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Program & Schedule Management: Develop, maintain, and communicate project schedules, milestones, and deliverables for body mechanisms, sealing systems, and structural integration programs.
• Supplier Coordination: Coordinate with external suppliers on hardware build plans, part deliveries, timelines, and program commitments.
• Issue Tracking & Resolution: Maintain issue trackers, monitor root cause analysis activities, and facilitate cross-functional efforts to resolve hardware and engineering issues.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Coordinate activities across mechanical engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and validation teams to support program execution.
• Engineering Change & Release Management: Track engineering sign-offs, drawing updates, engineering change requests, and technical data releases through established product lifecycle management (PLM) workflows.
• Hardware Build Support: Monitor build readiness, bill of materials (BOM) maturity, program risks, and technical dependencies to help maintain project timelines.
• CAD & Packaging Coordination: Support packaging investigations and component clash analysis using 3D CAD tools.
• Program Reporting: Maintain project documentation, communicate status updates, document meeting decisions, track action items, and escalate risks or roadblocks as needed.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities to improve program coordination, issue management, and engineering execution.

Required Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in technical program management, project management, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
• Experience supporting physical product development activities, such as design, sourcing, validation, hardware builds, or production readiness.
• Strong organizational and project coordination skills, including the ability to manage multiple workstreams and competing priorities.
• Familiarity with project management and collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet, or Microsoft Project.
• Working knowledge of 3D CAD tools such as CATIA, Siemens NX, or SolidWorks, particularly for packaging investigations or clash analysis.
• Familiarity with product lifecycle management (PLM) systems and engineering drawing or data release workflows.
• Understanding of mechanical hardware, manufacturing processes, or product integration.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Business, Project Management, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in automotive, autonomous mobility, robotics, aerospace, or consumer electronics product development.
• Familiarity with automotive body and closure components, including latches, hinges, actuators, or sealing systems.
• Experience coordinating external suppliers and tracking hardware build deliverables.
• Familiarity with engineering change management, BOM tracking, and manufacturing readiness activities.
• Interest in autonomous technology, robotics, and complex hardware systems.

Interview Process

1. Initial Interview: 30-minute video interview with the hiring manager.
2. Onsite Panel Interview: Approximately 90 minutes with the rest of the team.