Senior Technical Project Manager

Overview Lightship is the first American all-electric recreational vehicle manufacturer currently developing an aerodynamic, battery-powered trailer for the electric age. As the macro transition to an all-electric transportation ecosystem accelerates, Lightship is bringing the increased convenience and superior performance that electrification offers to a pastime enjoyed by over 11 million American families. Honoring Diverse Perspectives Lightship is committed to hiring and developing top talent from diverse backgrounds. We believe representing and supporting diverse groups is key to the success of our team members, customers, shareholders and the achievement of our mission and vision. We operate in a collaborative environment with a flat organizational structure and expect a high degree of integrity, autonomy and creativity from all members of the team. About the Role As a Technical Project Manager (TPM) you will lead complex, cross-disciplinary projects from studio concept through customer delivery. This role requires a strong foundation in systems engineering and project management principals, with the ability to provide technical leadership within engineering teams and between operations, quality, and business stakeholders. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable making daily decisions, managing schedules, budgets, and risks as they are translating technical requirements, solving engineering problems, aligning multidisciplinary teams, and driving execution against strategic objectives.  What success looks like: - Projects are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with strategic objectives. - Cross-disciplinary teams are aligned, informed, and executing effectively. - Risks are identified early and mitigated before impacting cost, schedule, or quality. - Technical decisions are made with a system-level perspective and long-term impact in mind. Responsibilities - Project Management and Strategic Planning

Lead end-to-end planning and execution of technical projects, including scope definition, schedules, budgets, milestones, and deliverables.

Delegate and manage day-to-day tasks and development activities across team members as well as host regular core team meetings.  

Develop and maintain integrated project plans that account for dependencies across hardware, software, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain.

Track progress against objectives, KPIs, identify deviations early, and drive corrective actions to keep projects on track.

Facilitate design and phase-gate reviews as well as provide regular executive status updates with clear, data-driven communication.

Collaborate with leadership to align project roadmaps with business and product strategies. 

Identify and evaluate tradeoffs between cost, schedule, performance, and risk to support informed decision-making.

Work across the program management teams to propose and execute changes that address the highest risks from a company wide perspective

Escalate issues appropriately with clear options and recommendations.

Responsibilities - Systems Engineering and Technical Leadership

Translate high-level business and customer needs into clear technical requirements and success criteria.

Apply systems engineering principals to capture design architecture and ensure requirements traceability is maintained through verification.

Generate interface definition and dependencies to maintain alignment across subsystems.

Lead technical discussions, trade studies, DFMEAs, risk assessments, and decision-making forums to resolve complex, cross-disciplinary issues and drive early design choices, validation, testing activities to reduce downstream risk.

Review regulatory requirements and ensure all systems are designed to meet them.

Serve as a technical lead and act as the primary point of contact across engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software), ensuring system-level performance, reliability, safety, and compliance objectives and tests are met.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field; or equivalent practical experience.

6+ years of experience in technical project or program management for automotive, industrial, manufacturing, aerospace, or similar complex, electro-mechanical systems.

Strong understanding of systems engineering principles and product development lifecycles.

Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority.

Excellent organizational, analytical, and communication skills.

Experience managing technical risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree in Engineering, Systems Engineering, or Business (MBA).

PMP, PgMP, or similar project management certification.

Experience in automotive, regulated, safety-critical, or highly engineered products.

Familiarity with Agile, hybrid, and traditional project management methodologies.

Hands-on technical background in hardware, software, or embedded systems.

Equity

Lightship compensation consists of the yearly salary above plus equity, which gives you a stake in the company.