Technical Project Manager

Brightsmith is partnered with a fast-growing clean energy technology company based in Austin, Texas, that is redefining how the world generates reliable, scalable power. At roughly 60 people, this is a company at a genuinely formative stage — small enough that your work matters immediately, well-funded enough to be building something real.

They are deploying a proven energy technology designed to be manufactured at scale and installed rapidly — combining the rigor of aerospace-grade engineering with the speed and ambition of a hardware startup. The tailwinds behind what they're building are significant, and the team they're assembling reflects that ambition.

The Role

They are hiring a Technical Project Manager to take ownership of complex hardware programs end-to-end. This is a senior, high-impact role for someone who has spent their career in the trenches of physical product development — not managing software sprints or generic cross-functional initiatives, but owning the messy, capital-intensive reality of building hardware that has to work.

Day to day, you could be working across:

• Owning program plans, milestones, budgets, and risk registers across one or more technical hardware programs
• Managing cross-functional stakeholders across engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and external partners including EPCsBuilding and maintaining rigorous project tracking systems
• Gantt charts, dashboards, daily check-ins — that keep every contributor aligned and accountable
• Anticipating bottlenecks before they become problems and driving resolution quickly
• Supporting regulatory processes, audits, and qualification milestones where required
• Acting as the connective tissue between technical teams and broader business objectives
• This is not a back-office program management role.
• The right person will be deeply engaged with the engineering substance of what's being built and credible enough to lead from the front — someone who has sat in design reviews, understood tolerance stack-ups, and knows what it actually takes to move a hardware program from prototype to production.
• Who They're Looking For
• A degree in Mechanical, Systems, Electrical, or a related engineering discipline
• A career built specifically in hardware — not adjacent, not "technical" in a loose sense.
• Aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, robotics, automotive, or complex industrial equipment
• Direct experience owning programs through the full hardware lifecycle: concept, design, prototyping, qualification, and production ramp
• Comfort with the physical realities of hardware — supply chains, long-lead components, manufacturing tolerances, test campaigns — not just theoretical program frameworks
• Able to build structure and drive accountability in ambiguous, fast-paced startup environments
• Exceptionally organised, proactive, and execution-oriented — you anticipate problems, not just react to them
• Strong cross-functional communicator who can manage engineers, suppliers, and senior stakeholders with equal confidence
• Austin-based and excited by a fully on-site, collaborative culture
• Must be a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder (no visa sponsorship available for this role)

Compensation

Competitive base salaryDiscretionary performance bonusFull-time, on-site, Austin TX