Senior Technical Program Manager (TPM) - Robotics Platforms

About Blue River Technology

We are Blue River, a team of innovators creating intelligent machinery to solve monumental problems for our customers in farming, construction, and forestry. We empower these industries with safer, more sustainable, and profitable solutions, reducing reliance on scarce labor. As part of John Deere, we align with the vision to "innovate on behalf of humanity" by tackling high-value, high-uncertainty challenges in AI, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics. Blue River Technology acts as an R&D flywheel, building new products and platforms that create significant value for both Deere and its customers, pushing the boundaries of autonomous machines and precision farming equipment.

Our people are central to our success. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, our mission-driven team is defining the new frontier of robotics, relentlessly asking hard questions, iterating rapidly, and getting hands-on in the field to ensure tangible, positive impact on the planet.

Blue River Technology is based in Santa Clara, CA.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly technical, collaborative Senior Technical Program Manager (TPM) to guide the evolution of our core technology platforms. This team is responsible for building the robotics engineering foundations that enable our autonomy and automation programs to build, train, and operate intelligent machines at scale. In this role, you will connect advanced machine learning with scalable infrastructure. We value thoughtful program ownership and trajectory facilitation over passive administration or information brokerage. The ideal candidate is energetic, learns quickly, thrives in highly collaborative spaces, and is ready to operate as a deep owner of high-impact program outcomes.

• Employment Type: Full-Time
• Work Location: Remote in the United States
• Visa Sponsorship: Possible for this position.

Job Responsibilities

A combination, not necessarily all-inclusive, of the following:

• Serve as the outcome and domain owner for a portfolio of technical programs; be prepared to bootstrap ambitious, ambiguous, large-scale strategic initiatives into clear, structured execution paths.
• Weave complex, cross-organizational interdependencies into a singular, harmonious program strategy that unifies diverse engineering groups.
• Evangelize the program’s strategy across the core platform engineering teams and the robotics programs that use our foundational tooling.
• Replace administrative status updates with an authoritative, bottom-up framework that clearly articulates milestones, sequences, and critical paths to executive leadership.
• Act as a high-velocity roadblock smasher, using your program tooling to identify engineering bottlenecks and re-chart course as necessary to guarantee high-quality, on-time program delivery.
• Build the connective tissue between cross-functional groups, ensuring deep understanding, operational symmetry, and goal alignment across teams.
• Shape and contribute deeply to strategic roadmaps for developing our robotics platform.
• Work cross-functionally to develop best practices and development processes in a dynamic environment, driving impact through the deployment of key initiatives and garnering adoption of those processes.

Required Experience and Skills

• At least 7+ years of experience driving complex, cross-functional technical programs.
• Strong track record of building alignment across diverse technical teams without formal authority.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex architectural concepts into clear, actionable program milestones.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline; or equivalent practical experience.
• Proficiency with agile project management tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with large-scale systems.
• Excellent communication, time management, and prioritization skills.
• Systems design or technical architecture experience, with the ability to understand and contribute to high-level system design discussions.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Background in machine learning, computer vision, and/or robotics.
• Experience managing data science, machine learning, computer vision, robotics, or autonomy programs.
• Experience with cloud-based full-stack engineering development, including frontend, backend, and infrastructure.

Compensation

• Pay Range: $133,000 - $238,000 per year. Base pay depends on experience, qualifications, education, location, and skills.
• Total Compensation: Includes base pay, an annual performance bonus, and a competitive benefit package.
• Note: An alternative role or level may be identified during the recruitment process, with an updated pay range provided.

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We are investing in programs for recruiting, mentorship, career development, and learning to support our DEI goals. We encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't align completely with every qualification. We are an equal-opportunity employer and provide reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities.