Director / Sr Program Manager, AI Accelerator

About the role

The Program Manager will lead the planning and execution of software and hardware product releases for Quadric's cutting-edge AI acceleration chips and embedded systems. This role is critical for managing the entire product lifecycle, from concept to final release, ensuring quality and adherence to scope.

Responsibilities

• Program and Project Management
• Own and program manage all aspects of complex Software (SW) Releases, ensuring on-time delivery, quality, and scope adherence.
• Execution and Tracking: Drive and track progress across engineering and cross-functional teams, identifying bottlenecks, mitigating risks, and proactively driving execution to meet program milestones.
• Process Implementation: Champion and enforce effective program management methodologies and best practices across the organization.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Facilitate and drive alignment between engineering (SW, HW, Silicon), product management, sales, operations, and external partners.
• Customer Engagement and Requirement Management
• Customer Advocacy: Act as the primary point of contact for technical program matters with key customers, translating their needs into actionable engineering tasks.
• Defect and Requirement Funnel: Manage the funneling of requirements and defects back to the engineering organization, ensuring clear prioritization and timely resolution.
• External Communication: Clearly communicate program status, risks, and dependencies to executive leadership, technical teams, and external stakeholders.
• Safety Certification and Compliance Certification Drive
• Lead the end-to-end program management for safety certification processes (e.g., ISO 26262, IEC 61508) for our products and associated tools, ensuring all necessary documentation and engineering rigor is met.

Requirements

• Experience: Minimum of 15+ years of progressive experience in a Program Management (PM) role, specifically focused on technical programs involving AI acceleration chips, embedded systems, software, and hardware.
• Education: Master's degree (MS) in Computer Science or a related technical field is required.
• Global Collaboration: Proven experience successfully working with and managing distributed teams and programs across multiple geographies and timezones.
• PM Tools Expertise: Deep expertise and proficiency with Program Management tools such as JIRA, GitHub Issues, and Quality Center (QC), including advanced reporting and workflow management.
• Domain Knowledge: Demonstrated ability to drive complex technical projects in the AI/ML and embedded processing domain.

Highly Desired Skills And Experience (Pluses)

• AI Compiler Knowledge: Good understanding and working knowledge of AI SW compilers (e.g., TVM, MLIR, LLVM, IREE).
• AI Frameworks and Kernels: Knowledge of AI kernel development and familiarity with popular deep learning frameworks like JAX, PyTorch, ONNX, and TensorFlow (TF).
• Professional Certification: Current Program Management (PM) certification (e.g., PMP, PgMP, CSM, SAFe) is a significant plus.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity
• Medical, dental, and vision plan options starting on day one
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Flexible paid time off (unlimited, non-accrual) to support work-life balance
• Company-provided lunches and a stocked kitchen
• Monthly parking or Caltrain passes
• Downtown Burlingame office location, close to shops, cafes, and local amenities
• Politics-free, highly collaborative environment
• Opportunity to build long-term career relationships in a company that values strong personal connections alongside professional excellence

Pay

$110,000 to $270,000

Schedule

Full-time