Technical Program Manager

About Smart AccessSmart Access is the AI execution layer for supply chains. We're a Frontline Execution Platform that helps the world's largest warehouses, manufacturers, and logistics operations close the gap between defined standards and actual frontline behavior. Our platform connects standards, observations, coaching, and operational intelligence into a single execution loop that drives consistent, measurable performance on the frontline.We work with operational leaders, frontline supervisors, safety teams, and continuous improvement leaders to systematically close the execution gap—the distance between what standards prescribe and what actually happens in day-to-day operations. As supply chains increasingly adopt AI, Smart Access is uniquely positioned to become the operational intelligence layer that AI agents rely on to drive frontline execution.Smart Access recently closed its Series A funding round, marking a significant milestone in the company's growth. This is an exciting time to join: the team is lean, the trajectory is steep, and the people we hire today will play a foundational role in shaping how the company scales. If you thrive in a high-ownership, high-impact environment and want to help build a category-defining company from the ground up, we'd love to talk with you.The RoleYou'll be the connective tissue across engineering, product, and leadership. Working closely with engineering leadership, you'll keep engineers accountable and unblocked, own our bug and quality process end to end, map and manage cross-team dependencies, tighten our delivery process, and give leadership a clear read on where things stand. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who thrives on turning ambiguity into a plan and a messy backlog into predictable delivery.What You'll DoDrive execution across multiple concurrent engineering workstreams — keep teams on schedule, surface risks early, and hold owners accountable to commitments.Partner with engineering managers to improve planning predictability by challenging assumptions, identifying risks early, tracking estimation accuracy over time, and helping teams continuously improve delivery confidence.Map and manage dependencies between teams, features, and external integrations (WMS, HRIS, and other operational systems), so nothing falls through the cracks.Own and continuously improve our delivery process in Jira — sprint hygiene, epic and roadmap tracking, workflows, dashboards, and reporting that accurately reflect the state of delivery.Run the operating cadence: standups, sprint planning, retrospectives, bug triage, and cross-team syncs that are tight, useful, and outcome-oriented.Be the point person for bugs — own triage, prioritization, and resolution. Drive issues to closure with engineers, keep the bug backlog under control, and make sure the right things get fixed first.Establish and evolve a lightweight bug management process in Jira, including severity and priority standards, SLAs, dashboards, and reporting that provide real-time visibility into engineering quality.Coordinate release readiness by ensuring cross-functional dependencies, critical defects, and launch risks are visible and addressed prior to release.Keep stakeholders informed on quality, delivery status, risks, and tradeoffs through clear, concise updates that enable timely decision-making.Identify and remove bottlenecks; streamline handoffs between product, engineering, design, and go-to-market.Build lightweight systems, templates, and operating rhythms that scale with the team—without adding unnecessary process or bureaucracy.Track launches end to end, from specification through release and post-launch follow-up.What You Bring5+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, Engineering Program Management, or a closely related role within a software or SaaS environment.Strong understanding of Agile software development practices and the judgment to adapt them pragmatically within a fast-moving startup environment.A proven track record of delivering complex, multi-team software initiatives while earning the trust and respect of engineering teams.Comfortable holding engineers accountable—driving commitments, surfacing risks, and facilitating difficult conversations while remaining collaborative and solutions-oriented.Experience owning bug, quality, or incident management processes—from triage and prioritization through resolution and stakeholder communication.Has a grasp of IT, infosec, and compliance fundamentals—understands SOC 2 and can partner with engineering and solutions to track controls, evidence, and audit-readiness as part of delivery, keeping security and compliance work from slipping through the cracks.Deep proficiency with Jira, including workflow design, dashboards, reporting, and process improvement.Strong technical grounding. Comfortable working with engineers building in Python and Django, reading tickets and pull requests, reproducing issues, reasoning about system dependencies, and participating meaningfully in technical discussions.Excellent negotiation, facilitation, and conflict resolution skills. Able to build alignment across engineering, product, and leadership while navigating competing priorities.Familiarity with modern AI-assisted development workflows (e.g., Claude Code) or genuine enthusiasm for working in an AI-forward engineering organization.Excellent written and verbal communication skills—you can tailor a message for an engineer and for an executive in the same afternoon.Strong prioritization and risk management instincts—you know what matters now, what can wait, and where intervention will have the greatest impact.Comfortable with startup ambiguity and change; you build the process the team needs, not the process a playbook says to build.Nice to Have2+ years of hands-on software development experience earlier in your career.Experience at an early-stage B2B SaaS or enterprise software company.Background in industrial technology, frontline operations, logistics, manufacturing, or supply chain.Experience defining and tracking engineering delivery metrics such as sprint predictability, cycle time, defect trends, release readiness, or similar operational KPIs.