Principal/Staff Technical Program Manager, Engineering
IT, Operations
San Francisco, CA, USA
USD 165k-230k / year + Equity
Simbe builds Tally, an autonomous shelf-scanning robot deployed at fleet scale in enterprise grocery and retail. Tally is a ROS-based robotics platform paired with edge and cloud AI/computer vision, a cloud data platform, and retailer-facing reporting systems, spanning multiple hardware generations and product lines (mobile, fixed, RFID). Delivering a release means coordinating hardware, on-robot software, AI models, and cloud systems simultaneously, on a schedule where the finish line is a working robot in a real store, not a demo.
We're hiring a Technical Program Manager to be the connective tissue across this system: the person who can see the full dependency graph, from a hardware decision through the robot's software stack, through the AI model, through the cloud pipeline, to what a retail partner sees on their dashboard, and make sure nothing falls through the seams between teams.
What you'll own
The cross-functional schedule for Simbe's highest-stakes programs: new Tally generation launches, fleet-wide software/hardware migrations, and large retail rollouts with hard external dates
Integration checkpoints wherever domains meet: hardware-to-ROS (on-robot software), CV model deployment onto the robot (edge inference, with real-time and compute constraints on the robot itself) alongside cloud-side model updates and data pipeline flow, and backend-to-retailer-facing reporting. For each, you define what "done" means, who owns it, and what happens when it slips
Deployment readiness end to end: a program isn't complete when engineering ships it, it's complete when it's live and stable in stores. You own the handoff from build to field.
Visibility into risk before it's a crisis: dependency mapping, a standing cross-functional review cadence, and a top-risks list that leadership actually trusts because you can defend it technically
Your first 30 days
Build a single dependency graph spanning hardware, embedded software, cloud/data platform, and AI/CV for the two highest-priority programs
Identify and document the top risks to the nearest hard external date, with enough specificity that engineering leads agree it's accurate
Stand up a lightweight cross-functional review cadence with real inputs from each function, not a status meeting
What you bring
Hands-on technical experience: you've personally built, integrated, or debugged a complex product that spans physical hardware and robotics software, not just managed a team that did.
Depth in at least one of hardware/robotics software (ROS or comparable middleware) or cloud/data platforms, real fluency across the others.
Comfort driving a room of engineers who don't report to you. You guide decisions and shape estimates through technical insight and collaborative problem-solving.
A track record on programs where a hardware or software slip has real-world consequences, a customer site, a fleet in the field, a fixed external date, not just an internal roadmap
The instinct to build only as much process as removes friction. This role exists because delivery today depends heavily on a small number of people going above and beyond. The job is to build the systems and cadence that make that unnecessary, not to add processes that slow down people who are already delivering.
What this role is not
Not a project coordinator tracking a spreadsheet someone else fills in
Not scoped to hardware alone: you're equally at home in a conversation about a ROS navigation stack issue, an edge CV model that's missing its inference budget on-robot, and a cloud data pipeline delay
Not a substitute for engineering leadership: you drive cross-functional execution, you don't own the technical roadmap or make architecture calls
165000 - 230000 USD a year