Technical Program Manager, Manufacturing Systems
Gridware
Company Overview
What They Do
Gridware is a pioneering startup focused on enhancing grid resilience through innovative technology. Their core offering, Active Grid Response (AGR), utilizes pole-mounted Gridscope sensors that monitor various conditions on distribution power lines in real-time. These sensors are powered by solar energy and communicate through device-to-device, cellular, and satellite networks, ensuring continuous operation regardless of grid voltage (source: gridware.io). The technology is designed to detect a range of issues, including vegetation contact, downed lines, and equipment failures, enabling utilities to perform predictive maintenance and dynamic de-energization to prevent wildfires and outages (source: cbsnews.com). Target markets include U.S. electric utilities, particularly in wildfire-prone areas like California and the Midwest, with plans for international expansion in the future (source: promptloop.com). Their products integrate seamlessly with utility operations management systems, covering over 90 million field hours and serving 40% of U.S. customers through partnerships (source: gridware.io).
Projects & Track Record
Gridware has successfully deployed approximately 13,000 sensors across eight states, particularly in California's high-risk wildfire areas, covering around 1,000 miles of power lines. Their technology has been credited with preventing wildfires, as evidenced by reports of alerts that stopped smoldering vegetation from igniting (source: cbsnews.com). Notable integrations include partnerships with PG&E for high impedance fault detection and a pilot project with Puget Sound Energy aimed at improving storm and wildfire repair prioritization. In one instance, a Northern California circuit experienced a 70% reduction in outage patrol times, while a Midwest utility saved 400,000 outage minutes across four circuits (source: gridware.io). Ongoing projects include a 2024 pilot with NorthWestern Energy in Montana City, focusing on real-time asset monitoring to mitigate wildfire risks (source: northwesternenergy.com).
Recent Developments
In the past two years, Gridware has raised significant funding to support its growth and expansion efforts. In 2024, they announced a $26.4 million Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital, following a $10.5 million seed extension in 2023 co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Fifty Years (source: gridware.io). This funding is aimed at enhancing their U.S. operations and preparing for international deployments. Additionally, Gridware has received recognition for its innovative technology, including being named one of Time magazine's Best Inventions in 2022 for their Gridscope sensors and having founders featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2023 (source: engineering.berkeley.edu). The company continues to deepen its partnerships with utilities, including a pilot program with NorthWestern Energy set for late 2024 (source: northwesternenergy.com).
Working There
Gridware offers a variety of engineering-focused roles, including positions in software engineering, electrical design engineering, data engineering, and technical recruiting. The company is built by linemen and engineers, reflecting a culture that emphasizes collaboration with field workers and a mission-driven approach to wildfire prevention (source: climatepeople.com). Hiring is concentrated at their Bay Area headquarters, where they are rapidly expanding their team to support sensor production and deployment efforts. The culture at Gridware is described as rigorous and mission-oriented, with a strong focus on achieving real-world results, such as the significant field hours logged by their technology (source: gridware.io). While specific employee benefits are not detailed in the sources, the venture-backed nature of the company suggests competitive startup perks may be available (source: cbsnews.com).
Last updated on Feb 23, 2026 | Report an issue
Job Description
The Technical Program Manager, Manufacturing Systems owns the strategy, implementation, and ongoing evolution of ERP and manufacturing systems, acting as the connective layer between manufacturing operations, enterprise software, and data engineering teams. This role ensures that systems are designed as scalable, productized platforms rather than one-off implementations.
Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end ERP implementation and program management, including:
- Requirements definition, process mapping, and vendor selection
- System configuration and validation
- Data migration and cutover planning
- Go-live and post-implementation stabilization
- Configuration for manufacturing modules (MRP, BOMs, routings, inventory, quality, costing)
- Own relationship with ERP vendors and implementation partners with expectation to move teams off spreadsheets and manual workarounds.
- Make pragmatic decisions on configuration vs customization vs custom build, with explicit bias toward minimizing customizations for scalability.
- Ensure implementation timelines align with operational milestones
- Own integration between ERP, MES, PLM, WMS, and external systems
Scale & Stabilize Manufacturing Systems
- Own the roadmap for manufacturing systems as production volume, SKUs, and complexity increase
- Ensure manufacturing processes (BOMs, routings, MRP, costing, inventory, quality, etc) are scalable and auditable
- Identify and eliminate manual processes and fragile workarounds
- Prepare systems for multi-site manufacturing as we scale
Product Ownership
- Act as Product Manager / Product Owner for ERP and manufacturing platforms
- Define system vision, roadmap, and success metrics
- Maintain and prioritize backlog across implementation, enhancements, and technical debt
- Balance operational urgency with platform stability and future needs
- Partner with business and technical stakeholders to gather requirements and align priorities
- Collaborate with engineering and vendors to deliver solutions from discovery through release
Software & Data Engineering Integration
- Partner with software engineers to design clean, API-driven integrations
- Collaborate with data engineers to define manufacturing data models
- Ensure ERP data is reliable, timely, and analytics-ready
- Support planning, forecasting, finance, and operational reporting needs
- Ownership of master data integrity
Cross-Functional Leadership & Change Management
- Serve as the primary interface between Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, Engineering, SW, and Data Engineering
- Drive alignment on standard processes during implementation
- Lead user acceptance testing and training strategy
- Manage change in a fast-growing organization
Required Skills
- 5+ years of experience across manufacturing systems, ERP, product management, or related roles
- Led at least one full ERP implementation in a manufacturing environment
- Strong hands-on experience with manufacturing ERP modules:
- BOMs, routings, work orders, MRP, inventory, costing
- PLM -> ERP integration / EBOM to MBOM
- Proven ability to translate manufacturing workflows into system and data requirements
- Experience working directly with software engineers and technical teams
- Comfortable owning ambiguous, cross-functional initiatives in a scaling company
Bonus Skills
- Experience with dashboarding or reporting tools (Excel power user, SQL, or BI tools a plus)
- Experience in the energy, utilities, or hardware startup space.
$160,000 - $180,000 a year
At this time, Gridware is unable to provide visa sponsorship or immigration support for this role. We're only able to consider candidates who are currently authorized to work in the country of employment without visa sponsorship now or in the future.
This describes the ideal candidate; many of us have picked up this expertise along the way. Even if you meet only part of this list, we encourage you to apply!
Benefits
Health, Dental & Vision (Gold and Platinum with some providers plans fully covered)
Paid parental leave
Alternating day off (every other Monday)
"Off the Grid", a two week per year paid break for all employees.
Commuter allowance
Company-paid training
Apply now
Job expired?Please let Gridware know you found this job on Rejobs. This will help us grow and get more people to work on renewable energy!
Apply now
Job expired?Please let Gridware know you found this job on Rejobs. This will help us grow and get more people to work on renewable energy!
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About the role
April 6, 2026
Full time
Company
- San Francisco, California, United States
5+ years
UTC-07:00
