Staff/Sr Staff Technical Program Manager, Hardware Systems - Mountain View, CA, United States
$189,000 - $252,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 3 August 2026 by the employer.
Lightmatter invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™.
About the role
This role drives program execution for Lightmatter's Hardware Systems team, managing schedules, resource planning, priorities, and cross-functional alignment for projects spanning electrical, mechanical, and system engineering. You will manage programs for our 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, from early design through production.
What you'll do
- Own program coordination across all Hardware Systems activities, maintaining an integrated schedule and resolving resource contention.
- Drive cross-functional alignment between Hardware Systems and other teams, facilitating meetings and following up on action items.
- Manage team-wide resource loading and capacity visibility, flagging overallocation risks and driving trade-off discussions.
- Build and maintain integrated program schedules that reflect hardware development realities, including bring-up milestones, NPI phases, and EVT/DVT/PVT gates.
- Coordinate material flow within the Hardware Systems team, tracking component orders, PCB fab runs, PCBA, mechanical assemblies, and engineering samples.
- Serve as the primary hardware program interface with external contract manufacturers, fabricators, and assembly houses, managing schedules and tracking deliverables.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field.
- 5+ years of program management experience in hardware engineering, with direct exposure to electrical and mechanical development cycles.
- Proven track record managing concurrent engineering programs with shared resources and overlapping timelines.
- Deep familiarity with hardware development processes and terminology across the full lifecycle—including PCBA, mechanical enclosures, PCB fabrication, system integration, bring-up, EVT/DVT/PVT, and production.
- Proven experience coordinating with contract manufacturers (CMs) and ODMs to manage schedules, track deliverables, and resolve open issues.
- Hands-on experience with material flow, component tracking, and BOM management.
- Expert in project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Jira, Smartsheet, or equivalent platforms.
Nice to have
- Experience managing programs for complex hardware development.
- Experience defining and improving program management processes in a startup or new business unit.
Skills: program execution, hardware systems, electrical and mechanical development, NPI phases, contract manufacturers
This role has been open 75 days — well above the 45-day median for Technical Program Management roles.
Technical Program Management · Photonics
|
Open roles in category
26
|
Median days open
45 d
|
Median salary
$189k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Lightmatter | All employers we track in this specialty (26 roles · 16 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 2 | 26 |
| Median days open | 54 d | 45 d (+9 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $189k |
Skills observed across this category: program execution, hardware systems, electrical and mechanical development, NPI phases, contract manufacturers
Who's hiring in this category
- Coherent Corp · 4 open roles · median 17 d
- Apple · 2 open roles · median 26 d
- Ayar Labs · 2 open roles · median 80 d
- Ayo · 2 open roles · median 46 d
- Lightmatter (this employer) · 2 open roles · median 53 d
- Lumentum · 2 open roles · median 25 d
How we counted: 26 open Technical Program Management (Photonics) roles from 16 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 18 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there. Figures refresh nightly.