Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Aerospace, Deep Tech

Engineering Program Manager - Robotics

San Francisco, CAOnsiteFull TimePosted 2 months agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

Engineering Program Manager
Robotics
Hardware
0-to-1
schedule
budget
cross-functional coordination
robot autonomy
hardware programs
training data

Nice to have

large company
small company
startup environment
data centers
critical infrastructure

Role summary

Watney Robotics is seeking an Engineering Program Manager to own hardware programs focused on teaching robots new tasks through fixtures and rigs for training data generation. This 0-to-1 role requires managing schedules, budgets, and cross-functional coordination from program inception to validation. The ideal candidate is technically adept, capable of earning engineer trust without designing hardware, and has experience running hardware programs through their initial lifecycle, ideally transitioning from a large company to a smaller one. Experience in data center buildout and startup environments is preferred.

Our Mission

Expand human ambition in the physical world.

Critical infrastructure is constrained by labor shortages, hazardous working conditions, and operational complexity. Watney builds and deploys autonomous robotic systems that increase the speed and capacity of buildout, starting with data centers.

About the Role

At Watney, the Engineering Program Manager owns the hardware programs that teach our robots new tasks - the fixtures and rigs that generate the training data behind robot autonomy.

This is a 0-to-1 role, and every program you run touches the robot itself. You build the schedule, the budget, and the cross-functional coordination starting with the first task.

What You’ll Do

Own schedule, budget, and cross-functional delivery for the hardware programs that teach robots new tasks.
Take a program from first build to validated, with no existing process to lean on.
Work directly with the engineers designing and building the hardware - enough to earn their respect, not to do their job.
Grow into owning robot build and manufacturing programs as they need one.

You May Be a Good Fit If You:

Have run a hardware program at a large company through at least one 0-to-1 cycle.
Are technical enough that engineers trust your calls, without needing to design the hardware yourself.
Took what a big company taught you and proved it at a small one.
Are comfortable owning a program before anyone has defined what "done" looks like.

We’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive team. At Watney Robotics, we welcome people of all backgrounds and identities, and we make hiring decisions based on skills, experience, and potential. If you’re passionate about robotics but don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply!

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