Senior Technical Program Manager (Contract)

About Drivemode:Drivemode is a California-based division of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. We are a small, passionate team of software product innovators helping Honda Automotive be competitive in the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle market. We build application experiences for mobile devices. Are you passionate about creating next-generation delightful digital experiences for automotive? Maybe you have worked at some notable automotive companies in this capacity? Would you like to work on new products and product categories at Honda and help Honda invent the future of automotive? Then we would like to hear from you!Why Drivemode: Join Drivemode for an exciting startup environment and a vibrant culture that combines impactful work, competitive compensation, and excellent benefits. By becoming a part of our team, you'll contribute to a crucial mission that revolutionizes the way people engage with vehicles, addressing both business needs and the world's environmental challenges. This presents an exceptional opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and drive Honda's success in the Automotive market.About This Role:Drivemode is seeking a Senior Technical Program Manager, Program Intelligence to lead a critical transformation initiative focused on how complex programs are understood, governed, measured, and improved. This is not a traditional program-coordination role. The Contractor will work across Product, Engineering, QA, Architecture, and TPM/PMO to establish durable systems that connect requirements, scope changes, technical execution, validation, program economics, and business outcomes.The mission: build the operating intelligence layer that helps Drivemode answer, feature by feature and program by program: What are we building? Why? What changed? What systems are affected? What did the change cost in capacity or schedule? How was it implemented and validated? What risk remains? What outcome did the investment produce?This is an initial six-month contractor engagement. Based on business need, demonstrated performance, and measurable outcomes, Drivemode may consider a mutually agreed extension of up to six additional months. If exceptional results are demonstrated and key outcomes are achieved ahead of or by the end of the engagement, Drivemode may also separately consider the individual for a full-time opportunity. Neither an extension nor employment is guaranteed; any future engagement would be subject to separate approvals and agreement.Responsibilities: Requirements Governance & End-to-End TraceabilityDesign and establish a scalable requirements-governance model covering ownership, baseline, lifecycle, versioning, approval, and change historyCreate clear relationships among business, product, system, technical, implementation, and validation artifactsChange Request Management & Impact IntelligenceDesign and establish a structured Change Request (CR) operating model covering intake, classification, analysis, decision, approval, and closureConnect each material CR to affected requirements, features, services, APIs, dependencies, implementation scope, validation scope, and committed milestonesInternal Program Intelligence PlatformHelp define and evolve Drivemode’s internal Program Intelligence Platform from a traceability/reporting capability into a program-intelligence and decision-support systemConnect approved data across requirements, Change Requests, Jira, source control, validation systems, release information, program milestones, quality signals, and outcome metricsAI-Enabled Program Intelligence & AutomationDesign and build purpose-built AI-enabled tools, agents, and analytical workflows that operate on approved program data and integrate with Drivemode’s internal systemsGo beyond general-purpose AI assistants for writing or summarization; use AI as an engineering capability for program intelligenceTechnical Interface & Dependency TraceabilityImprove program-level visibility into APIs, services, mobile/backend interfaces, data flows, and external-system dependencies for priority GCA scopeConnect technical interfaces and dependencies to requirements, Change Requests, and implementation scopeProgram Economics, KPIs & Decision SupportDevelop practical mechanisms for understanding where engineering and QA capacity is being consumed at the feature or initiative levelMeasure or estimate the impact of requirement churn, Change Requests, rework, defects, delivery variance, and scope growthWhat We Are Looking For:8+ years of relevant experience spanning technical program management, technical product management, solution architecture, software engineering, platform programs, or similar workStrong technical fluency in backend/distributed systems, APIs, mobile/backend integration, and cross-system dependenciesDemonstrated ability to translate business or product intent into technical structures, execution plans, interfaces, and measurable outcomesHands-on experience building internal tools, automation, dashboards, or analytical systems using APIs and program dataApplied AI/agent experience is strongly preferred, especially building integrated workflows or services rather than only using general-purpose assistantsStrong systems thinking: ability to connect requirements, technical execution, validation, delivery, and business impactExcellent judgment and communication across Product, Engineering, QA, Architecture, TPM/PMO, and senior leadershipComfort operating autonomously in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment and leaving behind durable systemsEEOC StatementDrivemode is proud of a very diverse team with employees coming from 5 continents/20 countries as of today. Diversity in our workplace has played an important part in our success; we recognize each employee’s unique background, knowledge, experiences, ideas, and viewpoints which are all critical in developing a product that has the greatest impacts on drivers all over the world.Drivemode provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristics that make you unique.This is the position's hourly pay. Actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to demonstrated skill set, years and depth of relevant experience, and some role-dependent factors. We welcome direct conversations with each candidate about compensation in all of our initial calls.