Senior Technical Program Manager (Aerospace)

Location: Hybrid, based in Byron, California. On-site presence is required at the Byron facility, up to 4–5 days per week during active build, assembly, and integration phases and averaging around 2 days per week during desk-heavy phases. Travel to flight test facilities and key partner locations is required. Access to U.S. export-controlled information requires any necessary authorization under EAR and related U.S. export control laws.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) cargo drones for defense, commercial, and rapid-response middle-mile logistics.

What you will do

• Own prototype build execution, bring-up, hardware/software tuning, and end-to-end integration of the primary test platform and powertrain systems.
• Establish and manage integrated master schedules across hardware, software, and systems engineering to support flight test and certification milestones.
• Identify critical-path risks, system dependencies, and technical bottlenecks; facilitate trade studies, risk burn-down strategies, and architectural alignment.
• Coordinate Mechanical, Electrical, Flight Controls, Software, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams from prototype build through flight test and production.
• Lead program reviews, planning, executive reporting, and communication with leadership, external partners, and customers.
• Establish scalable program management, requirements tracking, change management, reporting, regulatory, and quality processes.

Requirements

• 6+ years of technical program management experience delivering complex hardware, software, or integrated electro-mechanical systems in aerospace, defense, robotics, automotive, or autonomous systems.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering programs through the full lifecycle, from concept trade studies to flight test and rate production.
• Deep technical literacy across hardware engineering, software development lifecycles, systems engineering, and flight test operations.
• Mastery of modern program management tools and methodologies, such as Jira, Confluence, MS Project, and Smartsheet.
• Ability to influence without authority, lead cross-functional engineering teams, and drive technical consensus in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and risk management capabilities with a focus on metrics-driven progress tracking.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, including Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Computer Science, Systems, or a related technical discipline.
• Ability to work in unstructured environments and build lean, effective processes while maintaining program momentum.
• Ability to meet requirements for access to information controlled under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including EAR.

Nice to have

• Experience managing VTOL, UAV, or electric/hybrid-electric aircraft programs.
• Familiarity with FAA or civil airworthiness certification processes, ARP4754A, DO-178C, DO-254, and AS9100 standards.
• Hands-on flight testing or flight hardware qualification experience.
• Experience scaling technical program management functions within high-growth engineering startups or aerospace primes.

Culture & Benefits

• High-ownership, high-impact work on autonomous cargo aircraft and middle-mile logistics systems.
• Collaboration across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, leadership, partners, and customers.
• Hybrid work with schedule flexibility varying according to program milestones and build cycles.
• Commitment to diverse perspectives, inclusion, innovation, and employee development.
• Employees are screened through E-Verify.