Technical Program Manager at Instrumental in Palo Alto, CA

Manufacturing advanced electronics requires understanding millions of signals generated across complex assembly processes. Instrumental builds systems that capture and analyze those signals — images, test results, and process data — enabling engineers to discover failures, identify root causes, and deploy production controls that improve yield and product maturity. Leading companies such as NVIDIA, Cisco, and Meta rely on Instrumental to accelerate new product development and scale manufacturing across global factories. Instrumental has become mission-critical for manufacturers building and scaling the next generation of AI infrastructure hardware.

We are seeking a versatile Technical Program Manager to join our tight-knit, high-performance team in Palo Alto. You will play a pivotal role in supporting customer deployments, coordinating technical programs, and ensuring our cutting-edge manufacturing AI solutions are delivered with excellence. You’ll wear multiple hats—from leading technical support and managing timelines, to building strong customer relationships and driving internal coordination across global teams.

This is a great opportunity for someone passionate about growing their career in project management and technology. The ideal candidate is technically savvy, highly organized, and deeply customer-oriented. You bring a collaborative mindset, communicate proactively, and are ready to make a real impact within a small, mission-focused team.

What You Will Do:

• Own Customer Deployments: You will collaborate closely with top electronics brands to deliver iconic products. You will act as an expert in customer build schedules and business priorities, serving as a liaison with Contract Manufacturers to ensure smooth implementation and efficient data extraction from the factory to the Instrumental platform.
• Represent Instrumental Onsite: Act as the primary point of contact for customer operations teams and manufacturing partners, addressing questions and resolving issues with professionalism and urgency. Travel within North America (and occasionally APAC) to support deployments and ensure product performance.
• Support Logistical Operations: Collaborate with both internal and customer operations teams to meet logistics requirements, including export compliance, for the seamless delivery of manufacturing and technical equipment worldwide.
• Drive Platform Adoption: Become an expert in Instrumental’s platform to boost customer engagement and provide frontline troubleshooting support. Lead platform training sessions to support both new implementations and ongoing customer success.
• Promote Operational Excellence: Follow established operational procedures while continuously identifying and advocating for process improvements to enhance efficiency and quality across deployments.

We’d Love to Chat if you Have:

• Industry Experience: 3+ years of professional experience in electronics manufacturing or a closely related field, with a strong understanding of industry standards, processes, and factory environments.
• Manufacturing Equipment Experience: Hands-on experience installing, assembling, and/or supporting electronics manufacturing equipment (e.g., vision systems, functional testers, calibration systems). Familiarity with MES system integration and data pipeline setup is a plus.
• Global Project Management: Strong project management capabilities, including planning, coordination, and cross-functional execution with international Contract Manufacturers (CMs), vendors, and internal stakeholders across time zones. Ability to manage multiple priorities in dynamic, fast-paced environments. Maintains a solutions oriented mindset around communication.
• Customer Relationship Management: Proven track record of building strong customer relationships. Able to engage customers directly, understand their needs, and deliver technical and programmatic support with empathy and clarity.
• Startup/Growth-Stage Agility: Experience in high-growth and/or agile work environments is a plus.
• Critical Thinking & Learning Mindset: Thrives when navigating ambiguity, solving open-ended problems, and learning on the fly. Demonstrated self-starter attitude with a strong sense of ownership and persistence.
• Language Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English are required; Spanish proficiency is a strong plus.
• In-person & Travel Flexibility: Ability to work at our Instrumental office and travel 10–20% of the time across North America and occasionally APAC region to support deployments and customer success.

We’re a growing team that consistently works collaboratively, is supportive of each other, and is highly energized by the opportunity for large impact. We actively work to promote an inclusive environment, valuing passion and the ability to learn. You’re encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn’t precisely match the job description!

At Instrumental, protecting company and customer information is a shared responsibility. All employees are expected to comply with company security and privacy policies and promptly report suspected security incidents or policy violations.

The following is a representative annual base salary range for this position within the Bay Area: $132,000-144,000. In addition, job level & salary opportunity is evaluated through our interview process – we review experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of each applicant.

Instrumental is very proud to offer a highly-rated variety of benefits including: Health, Vision, Dental, Public Transit/Commuter Plans, and Maternity/Paternity Leave.