Senior Engineering Program Manager II - New Ventures

Responsibilities

• Location: Onsite in Scottsdale, AZ (travel 20-30% -- Taiwan, Belgium, Poland, vendor sites)
• Reports to: Director, PMO - Robotics & New Ventures
• Direct Reports: None initially; potential to build hardware program operations team
• INTEGRATED SCHEDULE & EXECUTION
• Own the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) across drone, GCS, radio, and supporting subsystems -- from SP2 design through EVT, PVT, and mass production -- ensuring all workstreams are synchronized, dependency-mapped, and resource-loaded
• Manage the cross-functional integration points where design, manufacturing, firmware, test, and certification converge -- these are where execution breaks down, and your job is to see it before it happens
• Drive formal change control: evaluate scope, schedule, and cost impacts of proposed changes before they are accepted; maintain a change log with full traceability
• Ensure configuration management discipline across hardware revisions, BOM versions, ECOs, and firmware builds so that every unit in every location is on a known, controlled configuration
• GOVERNANCE & PHASE GATES
• Own phase gate execution (Concept, SP, EVT, DVT/PVT, Mass Production) with formally defined entry/exit criteria, evidence packages, and readiness reviews
• Prepare and present gate readiness assessments to leadership -- evidence-based arguments for why the program is or is not ready to proceed, not status slides
• Establish and enforce governance cadence: weekly execution reviews, bi-weekly risk reviews, monthly executive briefings, and ad-hoc decision forums when issues demand rapid resolution
• Maintain the decision log -- every material decision, who made it, what alternatives were considered, what evidence supported it, and what constraints applied
• RISK MANAGEMENT
• Own the risk register end-to-end: identification, qualitative and quantitative assessment (likelihood, severity, detectability, schedule/cost impact), response planning, and active monitoring
• Conduct structured risk analysis using FMEA methodology for hardware and manufacturing processes
• Drive risk response strategies (avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept) with assigned owners, funded mitigations, and measurable triggers
• Quantify schedule confidence on key milestones -- probabilistic assessment, not single-point estimates
• Track risk velocity and trending: which risks are heating up, which are cooling down, and what the aggregate posture looks like week over week
• STAKEHOLDER & EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION
• Serve as the primary hardware execution voice to VP-level and C-level leadership -- milestone readiness, risk posture, budget health, and critical path
• Translate complex technical situations into decision frameworks: options, tradeoffs, recommendation, and rationale
• Represent the hardware program in cross-program reviews, QBRs, MBRs, and customer trial readiness assessments
• Manage expectations proactively -- bad news delivered early with a mitigation plan is always better than surprises

Benefits

Additional Information

Join Axon and be a Force for Good. At Axon, we're on a mission to Protect Life. We're explorers, pursuing society's most critical safety and justice issues with our ecosystem of devices and cloud software. Like our products, we work better together. We connect with candor and care, seeking out diverse perspectives from our customers, communities and each other. Life at Axon is fast-paced, challenging and meaningful. Here, you'll take ownership and drive real change. Constantly grow as you work hard for a mission that matters at a company where you matter.

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