Technical Program Manager, Hardware

About Gradient

Join us at Gradient, where our purpose is to revolutionize home comfort while championing environmental sustainability. Our mission is to combat the escalating challenge of climate change by redefining how homes are heated and cooled. Today, the environmental impact of heating and cooling systems surpasses that of the entire transportation sector, and without intervention, this trend is set to escalate drastically.

At Gradient, we believe that ensuring comfortable living spaces shouldn’t come at the cost of our planet. We envision a future where every individual can enjoy the luxury of a comfortable home without contributing to carbon emissions. Our high-efficiency, low-carbon heat pump is just the beginning of our journey toward fully decarbonizing buildings.

By joining Gradient, you’ll be at the forefront of a movement to make sustainable living accessible to all, ensuring healthier communities and a brighter, greener future.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Technical Program Manager to drive the execution of complex hardware development programs and cross-functional engineering initiatives. In this role, you'll work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, and external partners to ensure programs move forward efficiently, technical changes are well managed, and teams stay aligned on priorities, timelines, and deliverables. You'll play a key role in coordinating new product development and product iterations, managing engineering change processes, supporting supplier collaboration, and ensuring technical documentation and product data remain accurate and organized. This is a hands-on individual contributor role at a growing hardware company. We're looking for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, is comfortable working through technical complexity, and brings the organization, follow-through, and initiative needed to keep multiple programs moving forward.

Compensation: The anticipated base salary range for this role is $140,000 - $160,000 plus equity and benefits. Actual compensation may vary based on experience, qualifications, and location.

Location: This is a hybrid position with 1-2 days/week onsite at Gradient’s San Francisco headquarters. 

Responsibilities:

Technical Program Management

• Lead cross-functional program management for new hardware product development and product iterations, including planning, timelines, milestones, dependencies, and deliverables.
• Coordinate engineering activities across hardware, firmware, manufacturing, and other functional teams to ensure alignment and timely execution.
• Identify program risks, blockers, and resource constraints; proactively drive resolution and escalate issues as needed.

Engineering Change Management & Product Data

• Maintain and manage product Bills of Materials (BOMs) within Arena PLM, ensuring accuracy and alignment with engineering and manufacturing requirements.
• Own and coordinate Engineering Change Order (ECO) workflows, including tracking approvals, managing change documentation, following up with stakeholders, and ensuring changes are completed and properly recorded.
• Track engineering changes that may affect product compliance, certification, or regulatory requirements, ensuring potential impacts are identified and reviewed by appropriate stakeholders.
• Improve the organization, accessibility, and consistency of engineering documentation across tools such as Google Drive, Confluence, Jira, and Arena.

Supplier & Manufacturing Coordination

• Serve as a key technical program contact for external engineering and manufacturing partners, coordinating development activities, technical deliverables, schedules, and issue resolution.
• Lead technical program coordination for PCBA development, working directly with external suppliers and internal engineering teams to manage technical requirements, engineering changes, schedules, and deliverables.
• Coordinate manufacturing-related initiatives, including tooling transfers, supplier transitions, and production readiness activities.

Field Programs & Cross-Functional Initiatives

• Coordinate pilot deployments, field trials, and validation programs, ensuring stakeholders are aligned on objectives, timelines, responsibilities, and deliverables.
• Support cross-functional initiatives involving Engineering, Customer Experience, Sales, and external partners.
• Track progress, consolidate findings, and help ensure learnings from pilot programs and field activities are communicated to relevant teams.

Qualifications: 

• 5+ years of technical program or project management experience, preferably in hardware product development, manufacturing, or complex electromechanical systems.
• Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional engineering programs from development through validation, manufacturing, or production.
• Strong understanding of hardware product development processes, including engineering changes, product revisions, testing, and manufacturing dependencies.
• Hands-on experience working with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems, ideally Arena, including BOM management and Engineering Change Orders (ECOs).
• Experience coordinating with external engineering partners, suppliers, or contract manufacturers.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple programs, track dependencies, and drive accountability across teams.
• Technical fluency and the ability to communicate effectively with hardware, electrical, mechanical, firmware, and manufacturing engineers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical issues, project status, and risks to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong attention to detail, particularly when managing technical documentation, engineering changes, and product data.
• Proactive, resourceful, and comfortable driving execution without direct authority in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, a technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with HVAC, appliances, climate technology, consumer hardware, or other complex electromechanical products.
• Experience with PCBA development, electronics manufacturing, and external engineering partners.
• Familiarity with regulatory compliance, product certification, and the impact of engineering changes on certified products.
• Experience coordinating international suppliers, manufacturing transfers, or tooling relocations.
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, Google Workspace, and other engineering documentation or project management tools.
• Experience managing pilot deployments, field validation programs, or product testing initiatives.
• Experience working in an early-stage hardware company where responsibilities span engineering, operations, and manufacturing.
• Passion for Gradient's mission to make heating and cooling more comfortable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable.

Benefits 

• Equity
• Medical/vision/dental/life/disability insurance
• 401k
• Paid parental leave
• Professional Development Stipend
• Commuter benefits
• Flexible PTO 

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive company. We seek to create a culture where everyone can belong because we believe that people do their best work when they can show up every day as their authentic selves. We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives.

Gradient is an equal opportunity employer. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law.